Pretzel time

There are few snack foods that top pretzels in this life of mine. Popcorn and a good cheese platter are in the upper ranks, but ever since I was small, I've kept a permanent place on my palate for pretzels. It all started with an old ice bucket on my Oma's counter that was always stocked with tiny twists and sometimes sticks. In junior high, I used to microwave those frozen cardboard knots known as Super Pretzels, which you would sprinkle with water and salt before zapping them to Super Perfection. I got so sick of them that I usually steer clear of them now. Then Pretzel Time came into my life at the Boise Towne Square Mall, which offered those flabby, doughy pretzels with the golden brown crust coated with an irresistible, buttery dew. Then I had my first real Bavarian pretzel in Munich, and though it was much drier than what I would find at my American mall, I loved that taste of its deep, dark mahogany crust. Today, my pretzel nirvana is often just a bag of Rold Gold, occasionally dressed up with cheese (E-Z cheese included) or mustard.

I've made pretzels a few times from scratch, and while they've turned out okay, they always seem to be missing that quintessential pretzel taste - that caramelized, smoky aroma. I really liked Smitten Kitchen's recipe for soft pretzels, but they too lacked the outer pretzel taste and deeply colored crust I was looking for. Then one day I was at Auntie's Bookstore, killing time before trivia night, and I saw this:

An entire book devoted to pretzels, with the exact type of pretzel I wanted to perfect pictured on the front cover?! Sold.

This book is hardcore in that it calls for food-grade lye in the cooking water. Other differences from past recipes: butter, beer, and barley malt syrup are in this dough. That's the ticket.

I was so anxious to make these that I forewent the lye solution and used the other listed option of baked baking soda (bake 1/4 c. baking soda for an hour at 250 degrees in an aluminum pie tin, or any oven proof container covered with aluminum foil). I also couldn't get my hands on the barley malt syrup quite yet so I used another substitute of brown sugar. Also, the pilsner it called for was not in my fridge, but Pacifico was, so that went in its place, too. Needless to say, I didn't follow the recipe exactly, but the fact that I got so much closer to the right taste makes me excited to try the real deal soon.

It's worth noting that you should plan to make the dough the day before you want to eat the pretzels to allow the dough a full 24 hours to develop a nice flavor.

Basic pretzel recipe
the "I-can't-wait-to-buy-the-right-ingredients" version
Adapted from Pretzel Making at Home

Makes 8
(or halve this recipe to make 4)

2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
1/2 c. warm water
1 T. firmly packed brown sugar (or barley malt syrup)
3 1/4 c. (420 g) unbleached all-purpose or bread flour (I used AP)
1/2 c. cold light beer, like Pacifico, or a pilsner for echt deutsche Brezeln
2 T. unsalted butter, room temp, plus more for greasing bowl
2 tsp. fine sea salt
1/4 c. of baked baking soda (see note above)
Topping of choice, like a nice crunchy salt and/or poppyseed

Day 1: mixing and proofing
This is a good time to bake your baking soda while you do the other prep work. After it cools, place it in an air-tight container until you use it tomorrow.

Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water in your mixing bowl. Stir in the sugar or syrup and let it sit 5-7 minutes until the yeast is foamy. Stir in the flour, beer, butter and salt until it forms a shaggy dough. Attach a dough hook to your standing mixer and let it knead the dough at a medium-low speed for 5-8 minutes. The dough should be smooth and slightly tacky, not dry or wet. Add a little extra flour or water if it's not the right consistency after 5 minutes. You can, of course, just knead this by hand.

Transfer the dough to a lightly buttered bowl, large enough to hold the dough after it's doubled in size. You can technically wait a couple hours with the dough at room temperature or warm place and keep going, but I strongly suggest you stick it in the fridge and finish the next day. Cover it tightly with plastic wrap or a lid and let it become what it needs to be.

Day 2: the day you've waited for
Line two large baking sheets with parchment and set aside.

Turn the dough out to an unfloured work surface and divide it into eight equal pieces. Take one piece and pat it into a small rectangle, about 3x5". Roll it up, lengthwise, and continue rolling a rope, starting at the center and working your way out. At this point, the rope will likely shrink back but that's okay. Just set it aside for now and repeat this process with the other seven. Return to the first and, now that it's a bit more relaxed, roll it out to 12-16", and then, when it's ready to go further, keep going to 24-28". The middle should be fatter than the ends.

Holding each end of the rope, forming a "U," quickly bring your hands together to make the dough cross a couple times. You'll probably need to practice this, but if you want, you can just lay it on the work surface and manually cross the arms. Fold the ends down to complete the pretzel shape, allowing the ends to hang 1/4" inch off the bottom. Place each finished pretzel on the parchment lined sheet and cover with a damp towel.

Let the pretzels rise for 30 minutes, or until doubled in bulk.

Meanwhile, heat the oven to 500 degrees at least 20 minutes before the pretzels go in the oven.

Heat a large pot with 8 cups of water and the baked baking soda (or lye) to boiling, then, after the baking soda completely dissolves, reduce the heat to a gentle, constant simmer.

Place one or two pretzels into the cooking liquid, and using a slotted spoon, flip them after 10 seconds, then remove them after another 10 seconds and place back on the parchment-lined sheet. They should be floating the whole time they're in the water.

Once all the pretzels have taken their baths, slash the fat bottom portion with a sharp paring knife, brush them with an egg wash (egg yolk + tsp. water) and sprinkle with desired toppings.

Bake the pretzels until they are that beautiful mahogany color, 8-12 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through. Transfer pretzels to cooling rack and wait 10 minutes before tearing one open.

If possible, eat these the day they are made, particularly if you've salted them (the salt eventually liquifies if you store them for more than a day). Keep them at room temperature, uncovered, for up to 12 hours, then store them for a couple days in an air-tight container. You could also freeze them for a month.