One More Reason To Abandon the Mall: Buttery Pretzels at Home!

Cakes and Breads / September 17, 2014

There was a day when roaming the mall was fun. Yeah, I know. It’s not fun anymore is it. Crowds, vendors trying to slather you with European wonder lotion, and one too many athletic shoe stores to name just a few of the reasons I’ve given it up for good.

There’s no significant void in my life in its absence. I still get exercise, I can shop online when Belk has a sale, and the escalator is still running, running, running; even as we speak. (That’s sort of comforting.) What I do miss was that moment of weakness when you just had to have one of those soft, buttery, salty pretzels.

Say no more. I discovered and tried a recipe for HOT BUTTERED FLUFFY PRETZELS, posted by fifteenspatulas.com (One of the best food blogs EVER,) which, as she predicted, tastes EXACTLY like those good old mall pretzels. Although I have a new found respect for those 14 year-olds that could flip, twirl and place a perfectly shaped pretzel on the sheet. (It’s kinda hard, actually!) I realize that alas, I am much happier baking these at home.

These beauties are easy, work JUST as the recipe states, and will certainly eliminate the last of any regrets you may have about abandoning yet another 90’s habit: THE MALL.

Soft Buttered Mall Pretzels

Recipe taken directly from Fifteen Spatulas

Makes 8

Soft Pretzels

Recipe adapted from Glenda’s Hot Buttered Pretzels who adapted from King Arthur Flour.

Ingredients:

For the Dough:

12.5 oz all purpose flour (2.5 cups)
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp sugar
2.25 tsp instant quick rise yeast
1 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
For the Topping:
1/2 cup warm water
1 tbsp baking soda
Vegetable oil for greasing the sheet
pan
Coarse sea salt, for sprinkling
3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Direction:

Combine all the dough ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer, and mix with the paddle attachment until somewhat combined (or just mix by hand with a wooden spoon). Change to the dough hook and knead on medium low for 5 minutes. The dough should feel soft and smooth, not sticky to the touch.
Lightly dust the dough with flour, then place in a ziploc bag and let the dough rise for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F, and lightly grease a baking sheet with vegetable oil. You could also do
parchment paper if you can find one that’s rated high enough (most parchment papers I’ve seen only go up to 420 degrees F).
Remove the dough from the bag and place onto a lightly oiled countertop. Divide the dough into 8 pieces (just cut it with a knife).
Whisk to combine the warm water and baking soda and cook in the microwave for 1 minute. FYI it’s not going to dissolve completely, and that’s okay. Roll each of the eight pieces into a long rope, and shape each one into a pretzel (see the step-by-step photos on the blog post to see how to do this). Dip each pretzel into the soda wash and place onto the greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt, then let them rest for 10 minutes.
Bake for 9 to 10 minutes until the pretzels are golden brown. Brush the pretzels with the melted butter while they are hot out of the oven, so the bread can soak up all the buttery goodness. Mmm. Enjoy while they are hot, and keep in mind these don’t taste as amazing the next day. So this pretty much means that you’re allowed to eat all of them now =) Enjoy!”