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Soft Pretzels with Grainy Mustard

Source of Recipe

From "Fan Fare" by Debbie Moose


Recipe Introduction

"If you really want to impress your friends at your next sports-inspired get-together, bake a batch of these guys. They are best enjoyed on the day you make them, ideally while they are still warm, as they don't keep well."

List of Ingredients

For the Soft Pretzel Dough:
◦  1 cup warm water (110° F)
◦  1 package (2¼ tsp) active dry yeast
◦  1 Tbsp sugar
◦  3 Tbsp olive oil
◦  3¼ cups all-purpose flour (13 ounces), plus more for dusting
◦  1 tsp kosher salt

Vegetable oil for brushing
â—¦ â…“ cup (2½ ounces) baking soda
â—¦ Coarse salt for sprinkling
â—¦ Grainy mustard for serving


Recipe

To make the dough, in the bowl of a stand mixer, stir together the warm water, yeast, and sugar. Let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. Add the olive oil, flour, and kosher salt. Attach the dough hook and knead the dough on medium-low speed until smooth, about 10 minutes. Form the dough into a ball, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm spot until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and brush the parchment with vegetable oil. Dump the dough onto a lightly floured work surface, then cut it into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope about 18 inches long. With each rope positioned horizontally, bring the 2 ends up and toward the center as if forming an oval, cross one end over the other, and press each end into the bottom of the oval to create a pretzel shape. Place the pretzels on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them evenly.

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 450° F.

Fill a large, wide saucepan with 7 cups water, stir in the baking soda, and bring to a boil over high heat. Gently drop 2 or 3 pretzels at a time into the boiling water (be careful not to overcrowd them). Boil for just under 1 minute, turning once with a large slotted spoon or spatula. Return the boiled pretzels to the baking sheets, top side up. Sprinkle with coarse salt and bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes, rotating the baking sheets about halfway through baking time.

Serve warm with big spoonfuls of grainy mustard.


Makes 12 pretzels