New York-Style Soft Pretzels

New York-style Soft Pretzel

Here is a shout out to my friend Susan. She likes NY-style soft pretzels. I like them too, but would I ever buy one off of a NYC hot dog stand? Nuh-uh...NEVER, NEVER, NEVER! If you've ever seen where those hot dog carts are stored when it's time to call it a day, you would understand why.  It's a dark place and I'm 99.9% sure infested with rats. In addition, I have witnessed one vendor drop some pretzels on the street and put them back on the cart. You can bet your you know what that those will be part of the next day's inventory.
If you are craving a NY-style pretzel, go the extra mile and make your own.

After the bagel disappointment, I was thinking these pretzels might turn out less than stellar.  Lucky for me the stars and moon were all aligned because these were really out of this world good.  The recipe from the sophisticated gourmet is an adaptation of a Martha Stewart pretzel recipe.

Roll dough into an 18 inch rope

Form a U-shape then twist

Voila!

Warm and ready to eat.

Serve with your favorite mustard.

New York-Style Soft Pretzels Recipe
Adapted from Martha Stewart
Makes 12

Ingredients:
2 ¼ teaspoons (¼ ounces; 1 envelope) active dry yeast
⅛ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
2 teaspoons (8 grams) granulated sugar
1 cup (8 fl. oz) warm water (100º to 110ºF)

1 cup (128 grams) Bread Flour
2 cups (256 grams) All-Purpose Flour
2 tablespoons salted butter, softened

Vegetable oil, for bowl and baking sheets

¼ cup (72 grams) baking soda
1 ½ tablespoon granulated sugar

1 tablespoon pretzel salt / course grain sea salt

Egg, beaten
1 teaspoon water

Preparation:

Mix yeast, sea salt, sugar, and warm water in a small bowl, whisking until sugar dissolves. Let stand until foamy, about 5 to 10 minutes.

Place flour into a large bowl. Using two butter knives, a pastry cutter, or your fingertips, cut the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Slowly pour yeast mixture over flour mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon or your hands to combine. Using your hands, gather dough together. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until it is no longer sticky, about 5 minutes.
Lightly brush a large bowl with oil and turn the dough to coat. Cover with plastic, and let rise in a warm place, until the dough has doubled in size. About 1 hour. (Note: If you want, you can place the bowl of dough in the refrigerator over night)

Cut dough into 12 equal pieces, and roll each into an 18-inch rope. Form a U shape with 1 rope, and twist ends together twice. Fold twisted portions backward along center of U shape to form a circle, then gently press ends of rope onto dough to seal. Transfer to an oiled baking sheet, and repeat. Let rise for 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 475ºF.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and add baking soda and 1 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar. Boil pretzels in batches until puffed and slightly shiny, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Transfer to wire racks to drain.Place pretzels on an oiled baking sheet. Mix the 1 teaspoon water and egg in a small bowl. Brush each pretzel with the egg wash. Sprinkle the with the pretzel salt or course grain sea salt (I used the latter).

Bake until golden brown and cooked through, about 15 minutes. Pretzels will keep, uncovered at room temperature for up to 12 hours.

Re-warm in a 250-degree oven if desired, toast the pretzels in a toaster, and serve with mustards.

Notes: Be sure to oil your pan well...they will stick to the pan if you don't.