Philly Style Soft Pretzels 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 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.

HOMEMADE SOFT PRETZELS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 475. Dissolve yeast thoroughly in 1/4 cup of warm water. Mix in 1 tsp white sugar. Leave for 5-10 minutes or until yeast becomes foamy.
• Stir in the additional 1 cup of water.
• Combine 4 cups of flour and salt.
• Mix to combine flour and salt mixture with yeast and water mixture. The dough should be stiff and smooth, not sticky. If needed, add more flour to reach this consistency.
• Knead the dough for 10 minutes or until it feels more elastic.
• Round the dough into a ball and place it back in the mixing bowl. Cover and place it in a warm area, allowing it to rise for 45 minutes to an hour.
• After dough has doubled in size, pinch off a small amount. Make a long coil for large homemade soft pretzels or short coils for pretzel knots.
• Make a heart shape or a figure 8 for regular pretzels and simply tie in a knot for mini pretzel knots. Wet the ends and pinch the dough a bit to get it to stick if needed.
• Place completed pretzel shapes on a baking sheet and allow to rise.
• Dissolve the baking soda in water on the stove top and bring it to a boil. I find a wider pot or even a wok works well for this, as the pretzels will float.
• Once the water comes to a boil, drop the pretzels in one at a time, one minute per side. (For the knots, you can put several in at a time.)
• Turn over after one minute.
• Remove and place on a cooling rack to dry off a bit.
• Once the pretzels have cooled for a moment, you can sprinkle Kosher salt if you please. (Add the salt too soon and it will melt. Add the salt too late and the dough will be dry and it won't stick.)
• Repeat for all remaining pretzels.
• Place all pretzels of the same size on a baking sheet.
• Place in oven and bake for 12 minutes for full-sized pretzels. Watch closely for soft pretzel knots as they are smaller and will likely take only 5 - 8 minutes.
• Remove from the oven when color matches a traditional soft pretzel. Cool and enjoy!