Philly Style Pretzel Dough Recipes

THE BEST PHILADELPHIA SOFT PRETZELS EVER

Steps:

• In mixing bowl add warm water and yeast. Stir until the yeast is completely dissolved.
• Add the sugar. Stir. Gradually stir in the flour. The dough will become stiff and dry. That's what you want.
• Sprinkle some flour on the counter or on a board. Flour your hands, too. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes.
• Form the dough into a ball. Place the ball of dough back in the bowl and cover the bowl with a dish towel. Let the dough rise in a warm, dark place for at least 30 minutes, or until the dough has doubled in size.
• While the dough rises, heat the oven to 400F degrees. Grease or butter a cookie sheet.
• Fill a saucepan half full of water, add the baking soda, and bring the water to a slow boil.
• When the dough is finished rising, put it on a floured surface. Flour a rolling pin and roll the dough into a square shape, about 1/4-1/2 inch (6-10 mm) thick. Cut the dough into 1/2-inch (or so) wide strips. They don't have to be perfect.
• Twist each strip into a pretzel shape, pinching the ends so they don't fall apart. Be careful not to let the strips stretch too thin as you handle them.
• Place a pretzel on a spatula and lower it into the boiling water for 5-10 seconds. It will puff up and float. Use the spatula to remove the pretzel from the water. Place the pretzel on the greased cookie sheet. Repeat this with the other pretzels.
• In a small bowl, beat the egg for 1 minute. Use a pastry brush to coat the top of each pretzel with the egg. Sprinkle salt over the pretzels.
• Bake for about 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown.
• Serve with warmed mustard or melted cheese. YUM!

PHILLY STYLE PRETZEL DOUGH

Steps:

• Sprinkle the yeast on the 1 1/2 cups warm water in mixing bowl and agitate slightly to dissolve. Add the sugar and dissolve.
• Add the flours and salt, knead until smooth and elastic.
• Let rise until doubled, about an hour. The card didn't specify if it should be covered or not.
• When the dough is almost done rising, make the baking soda bath with the baking soda and 2 cups warm water. Make sure to stir it often!
• After the dough has risen, punch the air out of it.
• Divide the dough into 12 pieces on a clean surface, roll into a long rope about 1/2 inch thick, and shape-- such as circles, twists, nuggets, hearts, traditional shape, etc.
• For traditional pretzel shape, shape the rope like a U cross the two ends over each other, pull the ends down and attach them at the bottom of the U.
• Carefully dip each pretzel in the the baking soda bath for 20 seconds, and place on a greased baking sheet.
• Allow the pretzels to rise again til doubled in size-- not listed on the recipe card (they need to describe some of these recipes better!) but I am assuming it to be roughly another 60 minutes because the prep time is listed as 120 minutes total.
• Bake at 450F for about 10 minutes or until golden-brown.
• Now here's the fun part-- brushing and seasoning/decorating! Melted butter and olive oil work for brushing, about 4 tablespoons (more or less depending on how much you like) will work for 12 pretzels, that's what is listed on the recipe card but I decided not to include it because some people may not want to brush it on. If youdidn't bake your toppings on, brush with butter and oil and proceed with your own ideas or the ones I and the magazine suggest.
• For toppings, kosher salt is the main one for traditional pretzels. But why not try a cinnamon-sugar mixture like coarse pearl sugar and primo quality cinnamon? Sesame seeds, or a mix of black and toasted sesame seeds by themselves or with some garam masala and olive oil. Garlic salt and parmesan cheese (the powdery kind!) for Italian pretzels, with your favorite pizza or pasta sauce as a dipper! Use your favorite herbs, fresh or dried! Dulce de leche sauce and dried apples for gourmet pretzels! The sky's the limit!

ONE BIG PHILLY PRETZEL

Steps:

• Preheat oven 450 degrees F.
• Lightly flour a clean work surface. Knead dough into a ball. Roll dough out into a large rope. Form a large figure-8 with the dough on a baking sheet. Brush with the egg and sprinkle generously with salt. Bake 15 to 20 minutes until risen and nicely browned.
• Let cool before serving. Serve with good, spicy mustard.

PHILLY-STYLE PRETZELS

Steps:

• Mix the sugar, water and yeast; stir to dissolve.
• (If you're using instant yeast, skip this step, simply combining all of the ingredients at once.) Add the white wheat flour, malt, salt, and enough unbleached flour to make a soft (but not sticky) dough.
• Knead well, place in a bowl, and let rise till doubled.
• Divide the dough into 16 pieces.
• Roll each piece into a log, and shape the logs into pretzels.
• In a large pot, boil together 6 cups of water and 2 tablespoons baking soda.
• Put 4 pretzels at a time into the boiling water, and cook for 1 minute.
• Transfer boiled pretzels to a lightly greased baking sheet.
• When all the pretzels have been cooked, paint them with an egg glaze (1 egg mixed with 1 tablespoon water) and sprinkle with salt or seeds (if desired), then bake in a preheated 450°F oven for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the pretzels are well-browned.

PHILLY STYLE SOFT PRETZELS

Steps:

• Dissolve yeast in warm water in large mixing bowl.
• Stir in teaspoon salt, sugar and 2-cups of flour.
• Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour t make dough easy to handle.
• Turn dough onto lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic. (about 5-minutes).
• Place in greased bowl; turn greased side up. Cover: let rise until doubled (about 60-minutes). Dough is ready if an indentation remains when touched.
• Heat oven to 425°.
• Punch down dough and cut into 16-equal parts. Roll each part into a rope about 18� long. Twist each rope into a pretzel shape.
• Brush pretzels with beaten egg and sprinkle coarse salt. Bake until pretzels are golden brown (about 15-20 minutes).
• If using self-rising flour omit 1-teaspoon of salt.

CHEWY PHILADELPHIA-STYLE SOFT PRETZELS

Steps:

• In a saucepan, heat milk just until bubbles form around the edge; remove from the heat and stir in brown sugar. Stir until dissolved then set aside. Meanwhile, combine warm water and yeast. Let stand for 3 minutes then add the cooled milk mixture. Beat in flour until smooth. Cover and set aside for 45 minutes to rise.
• Stir down the dough then gradually add flour, baking powder, and salt. Place on a floured surface and knead for 5 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Roll into a 16' x 10-inch rectangle then cut into 1/2-inch wide strips. Roll each strip into a rope and twist into large pretzels. Let rise about 30 minutes.
• Bring a large kettle of salted water to a boil. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lower the pretzels gently into the boiling water for about 5 seconds then remove and place 2-inches apart on a greased baking sheet.
• Beat egg and water and lightly brush the pretzel tops. Sprinkle with coarse salt and bake at 400 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown.