Glad you liked them....I think I best make some....frankly I had forgotten about the recipe.
It came from my grandson....he saw the recipe and thought it looked good.
That 1/3 cup of brown sugar doesn't make them sweet....just yummy!

That's definitely a recipe worth saving. They turned out fantastic with just a tablespoon of sugar, I am glad I didn't mess them up by reducing the sugar so much.

Petra, I'm glad they worked out so well for you and especially that you took the chance with the less sugar and they were great! Good going.

But...you guys... ya have to post the recipe! I didn't have it on my machine but I looked it up and am copying it now.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bretzel rolls recipe

Coconut, you are right, I should have posted the recipe. Thanks for posting the link!

I finally made these rolls and wow are they good!

I had a hard time trying to find pretzel salt. Everyone kept trying to tell me to just use kosher salt but I knew it wouldn't be the same. I finally asked the guy in the bakery at my local supermarket if they baked their own pretzel rolls. He said "they are made elsewhere and baked off here, why do you want to know?" When I explained that I couldn't find pretzel salt in any store or specialty shop, he went into the back and then came out with a bag full for me. It must have been 2 huge scoops. I was so happy that I didn't have to resort to mail ordering salt. I guess I just had to ask the right person :->

I will be making these again real soon. They are so light and yummy.

I just tried to grab one off my monitor...it didn't work.

I need to make more myself, love them.

Nancy

Oh and thank you to who ever added that tip in the first thread about adding the baking soda very slowly. That could have been a big bubbly mess if I dumped the whole thing in at once.

I just ate my third one. Yikes! These may have to be a special occasion treat.

and I thought they were fine with just kosher salt....
Now I have to hunt down some pretzel salt......and get my rear in gear and make some!!
I know they are wonderful when you make 8 rolls out of one recipe....and put a grilled burger into them!!

I just use McCormick sea salt which comes in its' own grinder. The grinder has a tab with 3 settings and the third setting grinds large pieces, just right for pretzels.

These look so good. I'm thinking about giving them a shot but I would have to do it all by hand. Does anybody have any tips for me? Thanks.

Proof the yeast in 1/3 cup of warm water with about 1/2 tsp white sugar ( to boost the yeast growth.)
Mis ther est of the water with the milk and add the brown sugar and the butter...
Stir in about 1 cup of the flour, add the yeast mixture and the salt.
Add the rest of the flour until you can't stir any longer....turn out onto a board and knead in the rest of the flour....knead until smooth and elastic.
You may not add all the flour or may need a bit more.....flour amounts are variable.
Then follow the directions in the recipe.
Linda C

I have been looking for a pretzel roll recipe ever since we bought our first ones at a Whole Foods store. They were delicious! Can't wait to try this recipe. Love your photos, joan. NancyLouise

Thank you so much!

Had to make these after seeing Joanm's picture. They turned out great. I agree that the 1/3 cup sugar doesn't make them sweet at all.

One point however; the original link fails to have salt in the dough ingredients. I believe bread doesn't respond correctly without the basics of flour salt yeast and water. I added it. I assume you all did as well?

Nope, I did not add any salt, except for the coarse salt before baking.

Pretzel salt? I have 2 "Amish" markets in my area. Both have an assortment of soup/gravy powdered mixes and seasonings. I either got my pretzel salt there or at Redner's Market.

Made half a batch (6) that came out of the oven not to long ago. Three rolls... that look like clones to the ones in the pictures. Three as soft-pretzels... not exactly like Philly street pretzels... but still warm with lots of mustard... YUMMY!

I'm thinking recipe is pretty similar to bagels? Gonna brown up (almost burn) some finely chopped onions in some butter and add to recipe next time... whether rolls, bagels, or pretzels.

Love how they come out soft inside, chewy and salty outside.

Mine were not hard to make and looked just fine, but I hated the taste. My husband thought they were good, but I could taste the baking soda so strong. Maybe I didn't get them out soon enough, but I didn't leave them in long at all. If I make them again, it will not be with that amount of baking soda in the water. Since so many are happy with them, I guess I'm just odd man out.

I found this recipe several places on the web, and with varying amounts of soda added to the water. 1/4, 1/3, and 1/2 cup. What purpose does the soda serve?

Thanks for posting petra, Lindac and Coconut for the recipe and original post that I missed. I made them last weekend and they are a HUGE hit for me and my group. Love them.

I will be making these again for sure!

Sorry for the big pic, using photobucket for the second time and not sure why it is so big???

David

David, you're welcomed. Yours look reallly good. I still haven't had a chance to make them but I love pretzel rolls.

I had the same problem with giant pictures from my photobucket. Annie gave me these instructions and they're still big but not gigantic. On your photobucket page there is a drop down menu under your name. Click on that and go to account settings. There go to album settings. Click on the highlighted view upload option link. Change that picture size to 640 x 480. Done. Now all pics you load will be that size. It won't change one you already put on, but new ones will be that size. You can check it out and make it even smaller if you don't like that size. Good luck. I like pretty big pictures because I like to see the details on people pics.

Sooner - Dipping uncooked rolls in a weak lye solution will instantly gelatinize starches on the surface of the dough and break proteins down into small peptide chains that will brown rapidly in the oven, creating the characteristic nutty flavor and color we want without the hardening that so often accompanies the Maillard reactions.

No, I'm not smart. I just remembered Alton talking about it on a pretzel show.

David, those look gorgeous, like something from a bakery. I keep drooling over your and Joanm's pics. Am going to have to get off my butt and make these again. :o)
foas, thanks for the explanation. I was wondering too. Am glad baking soda can be substituted for lye, I don't think I'd be brave enough to work with that.

Thanks petra! Thanks for the photobucket tips too Coconut! I'll see if I can figure it out and do it for sure. Nephew and others want some more of these this weekend. Might try doing the pretzel thing with them this time...

David

I've joined the Bretzel Roll club! After reading this thread (well, I have to admit I didn't even finish reading it) I headed straight to the kitchen and started making these rolls. I was planning to make a recipe for dinner from a French cookbook that has a mustard cream sauce, and I thought, what better roll to have with that than a bretzel roll. I didn't have any pretzel salt, and didn't want to go to the store, so I just used regular Kosher salt. The rolls were a hit, but I think they would have been much better had I used Pretzel salt. By he way, my son commented at dinner that the rolls went great with that mustard cream sauce, so that mission was accomplished. Thanks for this thread and the recipe, cause I missed the first one.

Two questions - what exactly is pretzel salt? Is it just a coarse ground salt, or is there something else about it that makes it pretzel salt, and are they supposed to be called bretzel rolls or pretzel rolls?

Sally

Sally, Bretzel is the German name, Pretzel the American/English. However, where I grew up, they were called Laugenbretzel (lye pretzel).
Because of this recipe, I read up on Pretzel salt and apparently it does not melt/dissolve as easily as other salt, so it retains its shape/size on top of baked goods and does not absorb into them. I used very coarsely ground sea salt on my rolls and the salt stayed crunchy and nice and visible on the rolls.

I made them again this weekend for me and to share with Mom. She loved them! I used maldon sea salt both times and it worked good for me. I'll keep eye open for pretzel salt when I'm out and about.

David

Thanks for the info. I saw the terms Bretzel and Pretzel were being used interchangeably, and now I know why. Yeah, my kosher salt disappeared. It didn't help that I forgot the salt entirely on two of the rolls. Next time, and there will be a next time, I'll make sure I have coarse salt on hand.

Sally