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Pretzels
• 125g active starter
• 220g water
• 1/4 cup melted salted butter
• 2tbsp milk
• 20g brown sugar (2tbsp)
• 450g unbleached all purpose flour
• 8g fine sea salt
Baking Soda bath
• 3 cups of water
• 2 tbsp baking soda
Topping
• 3 tbsp salted butter, melted
• Coarse sea salt
Easy Cheese Sauce (ingredients and recipe below)
Make the pretzel dough:
1. Combine starter, water, melted butter, milk, and brown sugar in the bowl and mix well until milky.
2. Add flour and fine sea salt. Stir and knead until everything is well combined. The dough should be firm, but slightly tacky.
3. Cover and let the dough rest for 30minutes, then moisten hand and perform coil folds. Cover and let rest again.
4. Perform 3-4 sets of coil folds over 2-3 hrs. Always moistening hands during the folds.
5. Cover tight and let proof in the fridge for 12 hours overnight.
Form pretzels:
1. The next day, remove the dough from the refrigerator.
2. Divide dough into 8 equal pieces.
3. Roll each piece of dough into a 25-30" rope. If the dough is too hard to handle and keeps bouncing back, let the dough rest for a bit to relax the gluten. Then continue rolling until the dough is atleast 25” in length.
4. To shape, lay the rope into a "U". Then cross the ends over each, then twist (see the video). Then hold the portion of the pretzel dough that has been twisted and fold it down to the bottom of the "U" and gently press the ends into the bottom of the pretzel.
5. Repeat with remaining dough.
6. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 30 min to bring pretzels in to room temperature.
Prepare the baking soda bath:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F, prepare two large baking sheets.
2. Bring 3 cups of water to a boil. Once boiling, take pan off the heat and slowly add 2tbsp of baking soda. Slowly mix and let cool for a little bit.
3. Dip pretzels one at a time in the salt bath and place it on the prepared baking sheets.
Bake
1. Bake pretzels at 400 degrees F for 20-25 minutes until dark brown.
2. Remove from oven, immediately brush each pretzel generously with melted butter and sprinkle with course Maldon salt.
3. Best serve warm with homemade cheese sauce or Dijon mustard drizzled with honey. Enjoy!
Easy Cheese Sauce for Pretzels
• 2 tbsp of butter
• 1 tbsp of flour
• 1/4 cup of heavy cream
• 1/4 cup of milk
• 1 cup of cheese of choice
• salt and pepper to taste
• garlic powder and paprika (optional)
1. Melt 2 tbsp of butter in a saucepan.
2. Add 1 tbsp of flour to melted butter and fry to make a nice golden roux, about 5 minutes.
3. Very slowly add 1/4 cup of heavy cream and 1/4 cup of milk, while whisking vigorously. You want a smooth, gravy like consistency.
4. Slowly add your choice of cheese (sharp/white cheddar, mozzarella, swiss, or combination).
5. Season to taste with salt and pepper (optional garlic powder and paprika for extra flavor and color).
6. If the sauce is too thick to your liking, feel free to add more milk a little bit at a time. Serve immediately with your fresh sourdough pretzel! Enjoy!
Music: Sunset Conversation by rrarebearbeats