Hot Buttered Fluffy Pretzels

Holy SMOKES these are delicious.  Auntie Anne’s ain’t got nothing on me because now I’ve got a killer recipe for freshly made fluffy buttery pretzels, and it only costs me 50 cents and a little bit of time to make every time.  The wonderful lady that I have to thank for bringing these pretzels into my life is Glenda of Busy-At-Home.  I was assigned her blog for this month’s Secret Recipe Club, and I was really impressed with how many different areas her blog covers.  She not only posts recipes, but does home & garden posts, money saving posts, and so on.  Here’s how to make homemade pretzels:

Yield: 8 pretzels

Dough Ingredients:
12.5 oz all purpose flour (2.5 cups)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2.25 tsp instant yeast
7/8 to 1 cup lukewarm water (the amount used depends on the humidity in your kitchen)

Topping Ingredients:
1/2 cup warm water
1 tbsp baking soda
vegetable oil for greasing the sheet pan
coarse sea salt, for sprinkling
3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Directions:
Combine all the dough ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer, and mix with the paddle attachment until somewhat combined (or just mix by hand with a wooden spoon).  Change to the dough hook and knead on medium low for 5 minutes.  The dough should feel soft and smooth, not sticky.

Lightly dust the dough with flour, then place in a ziploc bag and let the dough rise for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.  Lightly grease a baking sheet with vegetable oil.

Remove the dough from the bag and place onto a lightly oiled countertop.  Cut the dough into 8 pieces, and let rest for 5 minutes.  Look at all the lovely yeast bubbles!

In the meantime, whisk to combine the warm water and baking soda and cook in the microwave for 1 minute (fyi it probably won’t dissolve completely).

Roll each piece into a long rope, and shape into a pretzel.    Make the first loop:

Then take the other end and pull it through the first loop:

Dip each pretzel into the soda wash and place onto the greased baking sheet.  Sprinkle with coarse sea salt, then let rest for 10 minutes.

Bake for 9 to 10 minutes until the pretzels are golden brown.  Brush the pretzels with the melted butter while they are hot out of the oven.

Enjoy while they are hot, and keep in mind these don’t taste as amazing the next day.  Eat up!

Click here for the printable recipe.

Recipe adapted from Glenda’s Hot Buttered Pretzels.