There is nothing better than biting into a warm soft pretzel, and these easy semi-homemade pretzel-style rolls do not disappoint.
Instead of going through all of the fuss of making my own dough, I took a bit of a shortcut and used frozen bread from the freezer section in the grocery store.
To make things even easier, I didn’t even try to shape the dough into actual pretzel shapes. Well, OK, I actually did try making the pretzels into the traditional shape. But, in the end, forming the pretzels into rolls was much easier, and they were more tender after baking than the traditional pretzel versions.
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A simple baking soda bath and egg wash brush gives the plain dough the distinct color and flavor of pretzels, resulting in a tender, delicious snack. I like to serve the pretzels warm with a little soft butter and lots of spicy German-style mustard.
Servings: Yields 18 soft pretzel bites
2 frozen bread loaves
6 cups water
1⁄3 cup baking soda
1 egg yolk
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Coarse ground kosher salt
Flour for work surface
- Place the frozen dough into a parchment-lined baking sheet. Allow it to thaw.
- On a floured work surface, divide each loaf into 12 pieces, creating 24 pieces between the two dough loaves. Roll each piece into a ball. Line a new baking sheet with parchment paper and place the dough balls onto the baking sheet. Cover the dough balls with a kitchen towel and allow the dough to rise for 20 to 25 minutes.
- Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Bring 6 cups of water along with the 1/3 cup of baking soda to a rolling boil.
- Beat the egg yolk with a couple teaspoons of water. Set aside the egg wash.
- Carefully drop each pretzel into the boiling water with baking soda for 10 to 12 seconds. Use a slotted spoon to remove the pretzel bites, placing them onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Brush each roll with a little egg wash. Sprinkle it with a bit of kosher salt.
- Bake the pretzels in the heated oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until they have turned a deep medium brown. Remove the rolls from the oven. Serve warm with your favorite spicy mustard.
This article was originally published in the October 2022 issue of 225 magazine.