Who doesn't love a good soft pretzel? With a variety of topping options, your craving - whatever it may be - will definitely be sated! These pretzels freeze wonderfully. Keep a batch in the freezer for a quick and easy treat!
Author: Chelsea
Serves: 10 pretzel twists
Ingredients
Pretzel Dough:
1½ cups warm water
1 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp sea salt
2¼ tsp instant yeast
4½ cups flour
¼ cup (1/2 a stick) butter, melted
8 cups water
½ cup baking soda
1 egg, lightly beaten
.
Garlic Parmesan:
5 cloves garlic, crushed
3 Tbsp butter, melted
3 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
.
Cinnamon Sugar:
1 Tbsp cinnamon mixed with 4 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp butter, melted
.
Everything:
4 tsp poppy seeds.
4 tsp sesame seeds.
4 tsp dried garlic
4 tsp dried onion
1 tsp sea salt
.
Sea Salt & Rosemary:
3 Tbsp fresh rosemary
3 Tbsp sea salt
.
Pepperoni Pizza:
Mini pepperoni, sliced thin
Mozzarella cheese, sliced thin
Instructions
Preheat oven to 200°F.
To make the dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, mix together warm water, sugar, salt and yeast; let sit for 5 minutes until frothy. Add the flour and butter and mix on low speed until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, approximately 5 minutes. Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with aluminum foil, and place in the oven. TURN OVEN OFF. Let the dough rise in the warm oven for about 1 hour until it has doubled in size.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 10 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a 16-inch rope, fold it in half, twist end over end, and shape into a circle, pinching the ends together.
Preheat the oven to 425°. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.
Bring 8 cups of water and baking soda to a boil in a large pot.
Using a flat spatula, drop the pretzel twists into the boiling water and boil for 45 seconds. Depending on the size of your pot you may need to boil one at a time. Remove twists from the water and brush lightly with the beaten egg. Proceed with your topping of choice.
Garlic Parmesan topping: Spread the garlic over the tops of the pretzels, then sprinkle lightly with Parmesan. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until golden and puffed. Remove from oven and brush a bit of melted butter over the tops, then sprinkle with more Parmesan. Serve warm.
Cinnamon Sugar topping: Bake pretzels for 12-14 minutes, until golden and puffed. Remove from oven and brush lightly with melted butter, then generously cover with cinnamon sugar mixture. Serve warm.
Everything topping: Mix together the poppy seeds, sesame seeds, dried garlic, dried onion, and salt, then sprinkle over top of the pretzels. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until browned. Serve warm.
Sea Salt & Rosemary topping: Sprinkle rosemary and sea salt over the pretzels. Bake 12-14 minutes, until golden and puffed. Serve warm.
Pepperoni Pizza topping: Place the pepperoni and mozzarella slices on the pretzel tops, making sure to get some in all the crevaces. Bake 12-14 minutes, until golden and puffed. Serve warm.
Notes
If freezing, once all pretzels have been twisted (step 3), place on a baking sheet and freeze, transferring to a ziploc bag once solid. When ready to eat, remove from freezer (don't thaw!) and continue with step 4. Bake for an extra 1-2 minutes.
Recipe by Port and Fin at https://portandfin.com/soft-pretzel-twists/