Making Pretzels

This is my favourite, and one of the easiest recipes, I have been using the past year or so. I came across a recipe for a Master Sweet Dough while flipping through my cousin's Bon Appétit last spring. There are also six separate recipes which use this dough, but I have only ever made the soft pretzels. It is super easy to do, and quite fast, if you exclude the rising time. I make the dough in my food processor, and there is no kneading involved.

Master Sweet Dough from Bon Appétit http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2012/04/master-sweet-dough

Ingredients

2/3 cup whole milk

5 tablespoons sugar, divided. (I often cut down on the sugar)

1 3/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (from one 1/4-ounce envelope)

2 large eggs, room temperature

2 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces, room temperature, plus 1/2 tablespoon, melted

Preparation

Stand Mixer Method

Heat milk in a small saucepan over medium heat or in a microwave until an instant-read thermometer registers 110°–115°. Transfer milk to a 2-cup measuring cup; stir in 1 Tbsp. sugar. Sprinkle yeast over milk and whisk to blend. Let sit until yeast is foamy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs; whisk until smooth.

Combine remaining 4 Tbsp. sugar, flour, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. (If making Vanilla Cloverleaf Sweet Rolls, scrape in seeds from vanilla bean. If making Apricot-Anise Tarts, add aniseed.) Add milk mixture. With mixer running, add 1/2 cup room-temperature butter, 1 piece at a time, blending well between additions. Mix on medium speed for 1 minute. Knead on medium-high speed until dough is soft and silky, about 5 minutes.

Brush a medium bowl with some melted butter; place dough in bowl. Brush top of dough with remaining melted butter; cover with plastic wrap. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with plastic; chill.

Let dough rise in a warm, draft-free area until doubled in size, 1–1 1/2 hours (or 2–2 1/2 hours if dough has been refrigerated).

Food Processor Method

No stand mixer? Don't worry. Fit your food processor with the standard chopping or dough blade, then make the milk mixture according to the dough recipe (above), including whisking in the eggs. Combine remaining 4 Tbsp. sugar, flour, and salt in food processor. (If making Vanilla Cloverleaf Sweet Rolls, scrape in seeds from vanilla bean. If making Apricot-Anise Tarts, add aniseed.) Pulse to blend. Add milk mixture; process until combined. With processor running, add 1/2 cup room-temperature butter, 1 piece at a time, blending well between additions. Process until dough is soft and silky, 2–3 minutes longer. Dough will be sticky but should not be greasy. If it is greasy, process for an additional 1–2 minutes. Transfer dough to the buttered bowl and continue with recipe as directed.

Dough, after it has risen for 1.5 hrs

Dough, punched down by my daughter

Sweet Pretzels http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2012/04/sweet-pretzels

Ingredients

Master Sweet Dough (see above)

All-purpose flour (for dusting)

1 large egg white

6 tablespoons pearl sugar

Ingredient Info:

Pearl sugar, a coarse sugar used for deco-rating baked goods, is available at specialty foods stores and kingarthurflour.com.

Preparation

Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment. Punch down dough; divide into 12 equal pieces.

Working with 1 piece at a time and keeping remaining dough covered with a kitchen towel, roll dough on a lightly floured surface into a 17-inch- long rope. Form rope into a U shape. Lift top of left end; fold over or under opposite side; press together gently about two-thirds down from the top of right side. Lift right end up, fold over, and press in or tuck under, forming a pretzel shape. Repeat with remaining dough. Divide pretzels between sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart. Loosely cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel. Let dough rise in a warm, draft-free area until slightly puffed but not doubled in size, 30–45 minutes.

Meanwhile, arrange racks in upper and lower thirds of oven; preheat to 375°. Beat egg white and 2 tsp. warm water in a small bowl. Brush each pretzel all over with egg wash, then sprinkle each with 1/2 Tbsp. pearl sugar.

Bake for 10 minutes; rotate baking sheets and continue baking until pretzels are golden, 6–8 minutes longer. Let pretzels cool on a wire rack.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

My daughter helped me make the dough by measuring the sugar, yeast, and flour. She also tried to crack the eggs, and mixed them nicely. She poured the eggs into the yeast mixture, and blended the two. Once the dough had risen, she punched it down, and helped me make the ropes of dough. She was responsible for forming the pretzel shapes, and was partial to the bow shape, as opposed to the round, or heart shape. From start to finish, the pretzels take less than three hours. I think I would bake them for less than 10 minutes, initially. As you can see below, the top pretzels got much browner than the bottom ones. I usually give them to my daughter as part of her lunch. I also cut down on the sugar in the recipe, and rarely sprinkle them with sugar.

Not as easy as playdough

Twisted with love

After second rise

Can you tell which ones were on the top rack first?

These pretzels are a favourite in our house. I have tried other recipes, but these are the easiest, and fastest, and they get eaten. The Master Sweet Dough can also be used to make cinnamon rolls/sticky buns. Happy baking!

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