Oh man – I always said if I ever wrote a recipe I would NOT write the novel that we all scroll immediately past to get to the good stuff at the end. So while I could share with you all the sap about how baking has kept me sane during this never ending quarantine, or that I have made these so many times, at the request of my family, that I am now making up different things to do with them, I won’t – because I know what you are here for. Without further adieu, the good stuff:

The Base Recipe for All Other Variations:

Ingredients:

For the Dough:

• 1 Cup whole milk
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast (about 1 packet)
• 3 Tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2 1/4 Cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt

You’ll Also Need:

• 2 Tablespoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 Cups warm water
• Coarse salt
• Butter, melted in a small bowl

Directions:

• Heat the milk to about 110º F – don’t make it too hot or you will kill your yeast!
• Stir in the yeast and let it sit until it blooms (about 3 minutes)
• Mix the brown sugar with the melted butter so the sugar dissolves and add to your stand mixer, then add your milk/yeast
• Add the flour 1 cup at a time, mixing well in-between each and then add the salt
• Knead the dough for about 10 minutes (yes, you read that right, 10 whole minutes) with a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment, or by hand until smooth and elastic (I hope for your poor arm’s sake you have a stand mixer)
• Place the dough in a greased bowl turning once and cover with plastic wrap – I just use the bowl of the mixer. Pull the dough out, spray generously with PAM, plop the dough back in the bowl and turn to coat then cover with plastic wrap, pushed loosely down on top of the dough
• Let it rise for 1 hour in a moist, warm place until doubled in size (if your oven has a ‘Proof’ setting, now’s the time to use it!)
• After your dough has roughly doubled in size, preheat your oven to 400º F (remove your dough first if it was proofing in your oven!)
• Mix the baking soda and hot water, set aside

Now let’s make some pretzels! A few things I have learned along the way:

• TIP ONE: Keep your dough covered with plastic at all times or it dries out and becomes hard to roll
• TIP TWO: I DO NOT flour my counter or the dough or my hands. Just put your flour away at this point, you don’t need it.  I find that the slight stick to my cold granite counter-tops is perfect for rolling nice even logs
• TIP THREE: Don’t stress about how perfect your pretzels look, I promise they will taste good anyway

To make your pretzels:

• I grab about a handful of dough from the bowl for each pretzel (re-cover in-between)
• Roll that beautiful sticky dough on your counter-top until you have a nice thin snake log thing (about a foot and a half?)
• Now do the twist-a-loo to shape it into the perfect pretzel (fancy diagram below)

• Dip the pretzel into the now warm baking soda and water mixture, ensuring you coat all sides
  • EXTRA TIP – I like to make 6 pretzels before I do any baking soda dipping – Once I have enough pretzels for a pan, I dip them all then immediately put them in the oven
• Plop that now somewhat goopy mess onto a parchment lined baking sheet, rearrange the dough back into a pretzel shape if necessary
• Sprinkle with a generous helping of course salt
• Bake at 400º F for 8-10 minutes
• While hot, brush with melted butter – then try not to burn your mouth because you are too impatient to let it cool 🙂

I like to make a cheese sauce to dip these bad boys in – milk, flour, butter, cheese – the sharper the better.

Variations:

Cinnamon Sugar

You’ll need:

• Cinnamon sugar mix

To make:

• Make the same as above, but DO NOT sprinkle with salt before baking. Once out of the oven, brush with melted butter and sprinkle with a cinnamon sugar mix

Stuffed Garlic Parm Pretzels

You’ll need:

• Shredded mozzarella cheese
• Shredded Parmesan cheese
• 2 Tablespoons melted butter
• 1-2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons fresh chopped parsley

To Make:

• Make the dough the same as above – when making the pretzels, roll your log then smash it so you have a very long rectangle
• Place shredded mozzarella all down the center of the dough
• Pinch the sides of the dough back together around the cheese (turning it back into a round-ish log)
• Twist the pretzel into the traditional shape and place on a parchment lined sheet –  TIP, ensure the seam is pinched well and placed DOWN on the sheet otherwise it will burst open during baking
• Mix the melted butter, garlic and parsley and brush over each pretzel
• Sprinkle with the shredded parm and bake for 8-10 minutes in a 400º F oven

Stuffed Pizza Pretzels

You’ll need:

• Shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 egg
• Pepperoni

To Make:

• Make the dough the same as above – when making the pretzels, roll your log then smash it so you have a very long rectangle
• Place shredded mozzarella all down the center of the dough
• Pinch the sides of the dough back together around the cheese (turning it back into a round-ish log)
• Twist the pretzel into the traditional shape and place on a parchment lined sheet –  TIP, ensure the seam is pinched well and placed DOWN on the sheet otherwise it will burst open during baking
• Place the pepperoni on the pretzel, pinching lightly to get it to stay stuck around the dough
• Brush the egg on top of the pretzel
• Sprinkle with extra mozzarella if you want (trust me, you want) and bake for 8-10 minutes in a 400º F oven

I wish you, and your waist, luck on your pretzel making journey! If you come up with any fun variations, I would love to hear about it! Drop me a note in the comments!