Handmade Homemade Soft Pretzel Recipe

Emily and I decide to make these pretzels for her Girl Scout troop.  Let me tell you friends, this was a super fun project! We had a lot of fun in the kitchen making these!  I hope that you try it, too!  We doubled the recipe.  I don't usually do this with a first time recipe but I needed quite a few for Girl Scouts and of course some for home! Have you made pretzels?? 

Soft Pretzels

Preparation Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups very warm water
• 1 tablespoon sugar 
• 2 teaspoons salt 
• 1 (.25 oz) package active dry yeast
• 22 ounces flour, about 4 1/2 cups (we used half of it with whole wheat flour)
• 2 ounces coconut oil, melted (about 1/4 cup) 
• 2 quarts water
• 1/2 cup baking soda
• 1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water, optional (we didn't do this)
• salt (we used kosher salt)

Directions:

Pour water into the bowl of a standing mixer and stir in sugar and salt until dissolved. Sprinkle the yeast on top but do not stir. Allow to proof for 5-10 minutes, until the yeast begins to foam.

Add the flour and coconut oil to the yeast mixture. Using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Turn the speed up and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, around 4 to 5 minutes. 

Remove dough from the bowl. Oil the bowl with coconut oil and place ball of dough back in. Lightly grease the top of the dough ball. Cover the top of the bowl with a damp towel and let sit in a warm place for approximately 1-2 hours or until the dough has doubled in size. *We made a double batch so we divided the dough into 2 bowls to rise. From previous experience with bread if I double a batch, I always split it to proof so not to slow down the double time. 

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Stir the water and baking soda together and bring to a boil in a large pot.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface lightly oiled with extra coconut oil and divide into 10 equal pieces.We divided the dough into 12 pieces.

Roll out into pretzel shapes and place on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper and greased with coconut oil.

Place 1 pretzel at a time into the boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove with a large, flat spatula and place back unto lined cookie sheets. Brush with optional egg wash if desired. 

Bake until dark golden brown in color, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and serve with melted butter, salt, cinnamon sugar and other toppings/dips of choice.

Here are pictures of our process. 

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