Sourdough Pretzel Rolls

By

Modified from http://www.melskitchencafe.com/amazing-soft-pretzel-rolls/ and http://www.sourdoughhome.com/index.php?content=convert

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Ingredients

  • Dough:
  • 1 c fed sourdough starter
  • 5/4 c warm milk (about 100-110F/ 38 C)
  • 3/4 c warm water (about 100-110 F/38 C)
  • 2 T canola or vegetable oil
  • 2 t salt
  • 13/2 - 8 c unbleached all-purpose flour
  • Water Bath and Extras: [NEXT TIME: Try reusing and replenishing with maybe 1/2 volume of water bath]
  • 2 qt water
  • 2 t sugar
  • 2 T + 2 t baking soda
  • Coarse salt for sprinkling

Preparation

Step 1

Place the sourdough starter in a large bowl with about 580 g. flour. Add all the milk or water to make a stir-able thick batter. You don't want a dough but a batter.

Cover the bowl and set aside the mixture in a warm place for 14 to 16 hours. The longer it stands, the more sour it gets. This sponge mixture will get bubbly and light.

Now add all the additional ingredients except the remaining flour (salt and oil).

Add one cup of flour and mix well. Continue to add 1/2 cups of flour until the dough is similar in texture to bagel dough and should be slightly more stiff and less sticky than, say, roll dough, but definitely still soft and not over-floured.

Using a scale, portion the dough into 15 pieces and roll each piece of dough into a lovely little round ball.

Lay out the rolls on lightly greased parchment or a lightly floured counter. Make sure the dough balls won't stick! Cover with plastic wrap to prevent them from drying out. Let them rest in a warm place for 90-120 minutes.

While the dough rests, bring the water, sugar and baking soda to a boil in a large 5-6 quart saucepan.

Working with one piece of dough at a time, carefully take it off the parchment or counter, flip it over in your hand and pinch the bottom to form a little pucker and help the dough form a nice, taut ball. Take care not to deflate the dough; you should pinch just the very edge of the dough.

Preheat the oven to 425 F / 220 C.

Place 3-4 dough balls in the boiling water and boil for 30 seconds to 1 minute on each side (the longer you boil, the chewier the baked pretzel roll will be).

With a spatula, remove the dough from the boiling water and let the excess water drip off into the pan. Place the boiled dough balls onto lined baking sheets (lined with lightly greased parchment or a silpat liner).

Using a very sharp knife or razor, slice 2-3 cuts into the top of each unbaked roll about 1/4-inch deep or so. It's important to use a very sharp blade so that it cuts the dough without deflating it. It's ok if the dough looks wrinkly and kind of funny. It will work itself out during baking. Lightly sprinkle each dough ball which you plan on eating within a day with coarse salt.

Bake for 20-22 minutes until the rolls are deep golden brown.

Freeze any rolls that you will not eat within a day. The day or so before you want to use them, take the rolls out of the freezer to thaw. Before using them, sprinkle with water and salt and warm in the microwave or oven.

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