Pretzel Rolls

By Addie

I once had these pretzel rolls that were served as a bread starter at a restaurant I was dining at. I loved the shape and look of the rolls but I was a little disappointed because they didn’t really taste like pretzels.

After that, I came across a few pretzel rolls posts and made a note that I wanted to try making them at some point, but then I forgot about it. Recently, I saw some homemade pretzel rolls posted by fellow SD blogger Vicki of A Work in Progress, and I really wanted to make them. Hers came out so much prettier than mine so you should definitely take a look at hers. (photo above)

She used a recipe provided by Stresscake, which is actually an adaption of Alton Brown’s soft pretzel recipe which I use all the time for my soft pretzel creations.

The pretzels are supposed to have a slash mark on the top exposing the white underneath but I was having trouble slashing my dough without the dough getting indented and losing its round shape, so a lot of my slash marks didn’t pierce the skin of the dough properly.

Also my pretzel balls ended up having a two-tone colors, with the bottom being much darker than the surface of each roll. I think what happened was that when I was poaching the dough, my water level wasn’t high enough so the bottom side got exposed to more water and ended up being much darker than the top of the dough which wasn’t really poached properly.

Also I didn’t have any pretzel salt to decorate with. So they don’t look perfect, but they still tasted great. Dense, soft and chewy on the inside, they are like a soft pretzel, but with more of the soft inside layer. These rolls taste good on their own but would be great for a sandwich too.
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Makes 18 rolls (adapted from an Alton Brown recipe)

If you use a bread machine, dump the dough ingredients in the order listed and hit the “dough” cycle – my machine does the whole cycle in 1½ hours – then pick up at the shaping step and proceed with the recipe. If you don’t feel like getting pretzel salt then kosher salt or a large grain sea salt like Maldon will work. Just don’t use table salt. Ick.

Ingredients

• For the dough:
• 1 1/2 cups warm water (110°F or comfortably warm to the touch)
• 1 Tablespoon active dry yeast (1 package) – not quick rise yeast
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 4 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• For the poaching & glazing:
• 1/4 cup baking soda
• large saucepan of
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• Pretzel salt

Preparation

Step 1

For the dough:

Combine the water and the yeast in the bowl of a standing mixer and let rest 5 minutes until foamy.

Add the remaining ingredients (sugar, flour, salt, butter) and mix with the dough hook until thoroughly combined, the dough comes together and is rather silky – but not sticky – to the touch.
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First rise:

Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.

Punch down and turn out onto a lightly floured surface.

Line two sheet pans with parchment paper or Silpat mats.
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Shaping:

Cut the dough into 18 pieces, roughly 2 ounces each. (Or really any size you wish, keeping in mind that you’re going to have to poach them in the baking soda solution so they need to fit into your pan. A large slim baguette would be wonderful but how are you going to poach the thing?)

To shape, take a piece of dough and start forming a nice round, smooth ball by pulling the sides to the center and pinching to seal. By doing this, you’re creating a smooth skin around the dough ball.

Place, pinched side down, on a counter and lightly cupping your hand around the dough ball, rotate your hand in small circles lightly rolling the ball around the palm of your hand. This takes some practice.

Space evenly on the prepared sheet pans, pinched seam side down, leaving at least 1” between each roll.
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Second rise: ..

Cover with a tea towel or a light film of plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes until doubled.

Preheat oven to 425°F and place oven racks on the lowest and middle positions.
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Poaching:

In a large saucepan, bring 2 quarts of water to a low boil.

Add the baking soda and lower heat to a simmer.

Carefully slip the rolls into the poaching liquid, seam side down.

Poach for 30 seconds then carefully turn the roll over in the liquid.

Poach other side for 30 seconds then remove with a spider or slotted spoon to the same prepared sheet pans, seam side down.

Repeat with the remaining rolls, leaving at least 1” between rolls for baking.
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Glaze:

With a pastry brush, glaze each roll completely with the lightly beaten egg making sure to coat all sides completely.

Top each roll with a sprinkle of pretzel salt.

With a sharp straight edged knife, cut a slash or “X” in the top of each roll.
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Bake:

Bake the rolls for 15-20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking – top to bottom, front to back – for even browning.

Cool completely (try to resist snatching one or two while warm. I double dog dare you.)

Rolls are best eaten on day of baking (most especially when warm with a little butter) but they store pretty well in the freezer, tightly wrapped. Reheat in a damp paper towel for 30 seconds in the microwave.