From Brad Smith Home Brew ...
Bavarian Soft Pretzels and Beer
As a change of pace, I've included a non-brewing recipe today, but one I think you will enjoy!
Nothing goes better with a cold homebrewed beer than a big soft pretzel fresh from the oven!
Today we’re going to set
homebrewing aside and look instead at a recipe for large, Bavarian beer pretzels.
Below is a recipe I’ve used for years to create delicious pretzels at home:
Soft Pretzel Recipe – makes one dozen large pretzels:
-1 packet active dry bread yeast
-1 cup warm water
-2 tablespoons soft butter or margarine
-2 3/4 cups bread flour
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1 tablespoon sugar
-5 teaspoons baking soda (for glazing)
-Coarse salt (if desired)
Instructions:
- In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 cup warm water and packet of yeast.
- Mix in 1-1/2 cups of flower, the 2 tblsp margarine, 1/2 tsp salt and tblsp sugar. Beat the entire mixture for 3 minutes to mix well.
- Slowly mix in the remaining 1-1/4 cups of flour, and knead dough until all of the flour is mixed in and dough loses its stickiness.
- Set aside in bowl, and let it rise until dough reaches approximately double its original size.
- Divide dough into twelve approximately equal pieces. Using your palms, roll each piece into 18″ lengths about pencil thickness. Loop and twist the lengths into pretzel shapes and place on a greased baking sheet. Allow pretzels to rise again until they approximately double in girth.
- Preheat oven to 475 degrees, and ready a boiling solution of 4 cups of water, and the 5 tsp of baking soda in a shallow non-aluminum (note – aluminum may react with baking soda).
- With a plastic spatula, carefully lift each pretzel from the sheet and lower it into the boiling baking soda solution for 15-20 seconds. This will glaze the pretzels once you bake them.
- Sprinkle the pretzels with coarse salt (if desired, they’re great without salt as well), and bake approximately 7-10 minutes until browned.
Serve warm, topped with mustard or cheese, and a pint of your favorite beer.
There is nothing more wonderful than a fresh hot pretzel with a nice cold homebrew!