Soft Pretzel Rolls

I'm going to go ahead and admit that I had NEVER tasted a pretzel roll until about 2 weeks ago. It was soft, warm, pretzel-y and delicious slathered with cream cheese. Like all things store bought, I knew if I looked around and got creative I could make these at home for a fraction of the cost. I'm also not afraid to admit that I'm cheap like that. We're working with this new grocery budget ya'll...I gotta make the dollars stretch!

Anyhoo, I looked around the internet and saw many, many, MANY recipes for pretzel rolls. I chose this recipe from Alton Brown because, well because I trust AB. He's never let me down with a recipe yet and we have made a ton of his stuff. I have confidence in the guy and once again his recipe was more than I had imagined. These rolls tasted exactly like the ones I had tasted and they were so easy to boot. Win-win.

Don't let the steps discourage you. This is just like making any other yeast bread, with the extra poaching step in there. Really, really simple. Also, I made these in my bread machine and the dough was wayyyyyy too sticky. You need a really nice firm dough here so I would recommend making them in a stand mixer and finishing the kneading by hand.

Soft Pretzel Rolls

• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) yeast
• 4 1/2 cups flour
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted
• 10 cups water
• 2/3 cup baking soda
• pretzel or kosher salt for the tops
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon water

In the bowl of your stand mixer, mix together the water, sugar, salt and yeast. Let it sit for 5 minutes. Add the flour and butter and mix with a dough hook until well combined. You an either 1) put your mixer on medium speed and mix until very smooth and elastic or 2) take it out of the bowl and onto a floured counter to knead until it is smooth and elastic. Make sure the dough is not sticky at all by this point. Put into a greased bowl and let raise until double, about 1 hour. 

When the dough has risen, punch down and divide into 18 pieces. Shape each piece into a ball and place onto a greased or non-stick sprayed cookie sheet. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let the dough rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. In a large pot, add the water and baking soda. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to about medium. You still want the water to be gently boiling. Add in 3-4 of the dough balls and let them poach 30 seconds on one side, flip over and poach another 30 seconds on the other side. Remove from the water with a slotted spoon, being sure to drain off all of the water. Place back on the cookie sheet and repeat until all of the rolls are done. Beat the egg yolk and water together; brush the rolls and sprinkle on the salt. Bake in a 450 degree oven for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool on a cooling rack at least 5 minutes before serving.

That is it! Lovely, delicious pretzel rolls can be yours in just about 2 hours. You should make them. You really, really should :)

I've linked this recipe to Little House Living's Old Fashioned Recipe Exchange and Fresh Eggs Daily Farm Girl Friday Blog Fest