These particular pretzels are especially simple to make and they are made with my no fail bread dough, and then dipped in a lye solution to create that perfectly authentic Bavarian crust that we crave in a Pretzel. Sprinkle in a little sea salt or bonafide pretzel salt and you have yourself the real deal with no sweat.
A word about pretzel crust
As with anything in life, there are a couple of different ways to go about doing something. In pretzels, it’s all about the crust. The traditional soft pretzels we all know and love get their crust from a dip in an alkaline solution. In terms of chemistry, an alkaline solution has a higher pH than that of regular water. The pH of neutral water is around 7. Most home bakers use baking soda in their homemade pretzel recipes which does increase the pH of the water up to 9, but using lye can take the pH all the way up to 14. The higher the pH, the better your crust will be for homemade pretzels.
So why dip in the first place? Well, it’s all about the browning. If you’re OK with a non-brown, non-shiny, bread like product then there’s no need to dip. You’ll basically have a breadstick with salt on it. Not a bad thing! However, if you want the brown sheen and a nice crust on your homemade pretzel then you need to dip it in a solution that is more basic than your tap water.
If you’re a little skiddish about using lye, there are options but I would encourage you to try the lye. There are many articles online that talk about the benefits of lye, but if you don’t want to use lye you’ll still get good results with baking soda/egg wash. Just keep in mind that using lye in your pretzel is really not dangerous if you pay attention. You can burn yourself with boiling water just as much as you can burn yourself with a lye bath, plus the lye solution is easier because it’s a simple dip and bake deal instead of boil, dry, egg wash, salt, then bake procedure.
Do the Prezel!
- Preheat your oven to 450˚F.
- Now that your dough is ready to go, lay it out on a floured surface and shape it like a disc, and cut in to 8 equal pieces (kind of like you would cut a pizza). Shape each piece like a ball and let it rest for about 15 minutes.
- While the dough is relaxing, get a glass baking dish or plastic receptacle and add 1 liter of water, then carefully add 3 Tablespoons of lye. I use this ‘Red Devil’ food grade lye I got on Amazon. When I first started making lye dipped pretzels I used rubber gloves like these while working with the lye, and I encourage you to do the same.
- Use your spoon and gently mix the lye in to the water until it’s completely dissolved.
- After the dough balls have relaxed, roll them out like you’re shaping a Play-Doh snake about 14-18 inches long. If they spring back and shrink too much, let them relax for another 5 minutes and resume the snaking process.
- Shape in to a pretzel! This is the fun part and there are a few ways to do it but the easiest is to make a fish and fold the head over the tail. I know, it sounds complicated but it’s really an easy two part motion. If you are new to pretzel shaping, see my “how to shape a pretzel” video on YouTube or below.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- With your gloves on, dip the pretzels in your lye solution for about a minute. Remove from the lye and place on your baking sheet and sprinkle sea salt or pretzel salt on your pretzels.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and deliciously done.
Get Creative
I decided to try something new when making this batch so I made some peanut butter pretzel bites! Just flatten out a couple of the long ropes, smear peanut butter on one side of each, seal them up and cut. Dip, salt, bake and enjoy!
The baking soda and egg wash alternative
If you’re not up for using lye on your pretzels just yet, don’t fret! You’ll get amazing results by following this process too!
- Preheat your oven to 450˚F.
- Now that your dough is ready to go, lay it out on a floured surface and shape it like a disc, and cut in to 8 equal pieces (kind of like you would cut a pizza). Shape each piece like a ball and let it rest for about 15 minutes.
- While the dough is relaxing, bring a big pot of water with about 2 liters of water to a boil.
- Add 1/4 cup of baking soda to the boiling water.
- After the dough balls have relaxed, roll them out like you’re shaping a Play-Doh snake about 14-18 inches long. If they spring back and shrink too much, let them relax for another 5 minutes and resume the snaking process.
- Shape in to a pretzel! This is the fun part and there are a few ways to do it but the easiest is to make a fish and fold the head over the tail. I know, it sounds complicated but it’s really an easy two part motion. If you are new to pretzel shaping, see my “how to shape a pretzel” video on YouTube or below.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Beat 1 large egg yolk and 1 teaspoon of water in a small bowl to make your egg wash.
- Gently lower the pretzels in to the boiling water and let boil for 30 seconds per side.
- Place pretzels on the parchment paper.
- With a pastry brush, brush pretzels with egg wash.
- Sprinkle salt on to the pretzels and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.