Soft Pretzels

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Sunday, 16 June 2013 13:18

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 package active dry yeast
  • 3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
  • 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for greasing
  • 1 teaspoon fine salt
  • 3 tablespoons baking soda
  • 1 1/2 cup warm water
  • 2 tablespoons coarse salt

Instructions:

  • Warm the milk in a saucepan until it's about 110 degrees; pour into a medium bowl and sprinkle in the yeast. Let the yeast soften, about 2 minutes; stir in the brown sugar and 1 cup flour with a wooden spoon.

  • mix in 2 tablespoons softened butter. Add the remaining 1 1/4 cups flour and the fine salt to make a sticky dough.

  • Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, adding more flour if needed, until smooth but still slightly tacky, about 5 minutes. Shape into a ball, place in a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

  • Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Punch the dough to deflate it, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 6 pieces. Roll and stretch each piece with the palms of your hands into a 30-inch rope, holding the ends and slapping the middle of the rope on the counter as you stretch. Form each rope into a pretzel shape.

  • Dissolve the baking soda in warm water in a shallow baking dish. Gently dip each pretzel in the soda solution, then arrange on to a greased baking sheet (or line the baking sheet with silpat or parchment) and sprinkle with the coarse salt. Bake until golden, 10 to 12 minutes.

  • Melt the remaining 8 tablespoons butter in a shallow dish. Dip the hot pretzels in the butter, turning to coat; place on a wire rack to let excess butter drip off.

  • Serve with mustard dipping sauce.