Al:
If you want try my Pizza Dough.Use 1/2 WW and 1/2 AP flour, add atablespoon of sugar.
Make a half batch to test it.
Google - Lou's Pizza Dough. It's under Garden Web.

After the dough is made, let it double.
Then roll pieces into sticks, 1/2 inch round,by 10 inches long.
Place them into boiling water for a minute. Take them out,
onto a cookie sheet with parchment paper lightly oiled.
Brush with an egg, milk mix and sprinkle with Coarse Salt.

Place in a 350 deg. preheated oven until Golden brown,about
45 minutes ?
Let them cool on a rack and place in a tight container.

I make pretzel's but more like the Philly soft Pretzel, that you eat with mustard.
I'm going to make some hard pretzels myself.
Lou

Al:
I use Active Dry Yeast
Lou

Thanks Lou! I only have rapid yeast, will it make a big difference? Also, if I roll the stick into 1/2" thick, will 45 min. be too long? Al

Al : You can use the Rapid Rise. If you roll the dough to 1/2 inch it is going to grow.
Try about 6 and see how they turn out.Refrigerate the extra dough until you try this.

I should have mixed a batch tonight. We could have baked them in Stereo.

If you don't like the results , use the extra dough for Prebaked Pizza Dough.
Keep it in the freezer for Pizza.

Just stretch it out in a lightly oiled Pizza Pan.
Dock it and bake til you see small tan spots . ( slightly firm ) Cool on a rack and freeze.
Good for a fast meal.
Lou

Thanks Lou! I will give it a try tomorrow. Al

Pretzels are a pretty straightforward yeast dough, made without any fat in the dough. But the secret is adding lye to the water in which they are boiled....does something magical to the surface of the dough...sort of partially digests the gluten and allows that shiny finish.
I have seen recipes that call for baking soda in the water instead which si likely what that ingredient means on the package.
After you boil your pretzel shapes in lye ( or baking soda) water until they float, then place on a baking sheet, brush with egg white and bake until crisp.
The secret to pretzels is no fat in the dough....and some sort of alkaline substance in the boiling water...and brush with egg white, not yolk nor cream..
Linda C

A-ha! Thanks Linda C! Yes, I have seen recipes with the baking soda water and I actually considered trying it. Now I definitely will give it a try. I am making little man's Halloween costumes today but I will try the pretzels when I want to take a break from sewing. Thanks again! Al

Al:
I was trying not to make it complicated for you.
1/4 cup of Butter can be substituted for the oil and they can be brushed with a Beaten egg mix.
Lou

Hard pretzels have no oil or butter in the dough....you put oil in and you are just making rolls in a pretzel shape.

Al: here's one I tried.
Haven't done this for awhile but I'll have to do it again and post some Photo's
Lou

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Recipe on Facebook!

5 chefs marked this as Favorite

Servings: 8 Servings
Total Time (median): tell us

Ingredients 1 pk Yeast
1 1/2 c Warm water
1 ts Salt
1 tb Sugar
4 c Flour
1 Large egg, beaten
Course salt

Preparation SOFT PRETZELS:
Dissolve yeast in water, Add salt and sugar. Blend in all the flour and knead until smooth.
When smooth, cut dough into small pieces and roll into ropes.
twist ropes into conventional pretzel shapes and place on a paper lined cookie sheet.
Brush pretzels with beaten egg, sprinkle with cource salt. Bake in a 425 degree oven for 12-15 minutes, or until brown. These do not keep long.

HARD PRETZELS:
Do everything above, but decrease water to
1-1/4 cups. and add 1/4 cup of melted butter.
Make pretzels smaller, and bake until browned.
These pretzels will stay good for months in a tight container.

Whatever recipe you use, you really need to dunk them in boiling water that has baking soda in it. That is what makes them pretzels.
I have not made hard pretzels before but I often make soft pretzels and the recipe I use does call for baking soda in the the water dip. If you are truly interested I will pull it out and type it up.

It Beez like that.
I think I told him to put the dough in boiling water.

It is good to use a baking soda or lye bath but is not neccessary .
There are a lot of recipes on the Internet, many use just
a plain boiling water.
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This is not about you.

I was critized on my very first Post on the CF.
It was how to shape Bagles. Unlike many others on the CF.

I roll them 3/4 by 10 inches long, wrap them around the back of my hand and
put the ends together, then roll it on the work top.

It was said that is like putting a rope together and gluing it.
and made to sound like I didn't know what I was talking about.

Nice Welcome !!! to the CF.
Someone else sort of agreed with her.

When it I showed proof that, one of the largest Bagle makers in NYC, did it this way,

IT WAS NEVER ACKNOWLEDGED ON THE CF.

So the comment is remembered, because I let it drop.

Many wonder why I get upset about comments .
It is not like making rolls in the shape of a Pretzel.
My way, may not be the best ?

But it is worth a try. I wouldn't put in Recipes,
that don't work.
Hey ! Have a nice night.
LOU

Hey Lou, I saw the very same recipe when I did my search online. Glad you had tried it so now I know this one will work. Thanks! I was going to make the pretzels today but hubby decided to make a roasted chicken in the oven, for dinner. UGH! Have to wait until he goes back to work. Thanks again. Al

Al , Hi again :
Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. ( Doctor's )

I made some pretzels, using my Recipe for Pizza Dough but let it Double twice, then Shape or roll.

Then I basted them with a beaten egg, mixed with a little milk.
Sprinkled on a little Kosher Salt and Baked them without boiling.

They were good !!!
I broke a piece off the end and squeezed it in my fingers. It crumbled perfect.

No evidence left !!!
Lou

{{!gwi}}

Wow Lou, that looks great! I did try but I got distracted and the pretzel sticks sat out for too long and they ended up turning into bread sticks instead! LOL

I definitely will try again next time and make sure I can focus 100% without delay.

I am looking forward to a good success in my next attempt. Thanks again!

Oh one more thing... how long did you let the dough rise before shaping it into sticks? Al

Al :
Had a hard time getting this Thread posted.
Power keeps going out and I lose everything.
So I used the Word Processor and saved every couple of lines
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You canÂt set a time for rising. But IÂll tell you what I did.

After the dough is made, I put some oil on it , in a SS deep bowl ,
Covered with a damp towel.Place it in a warm oven.

Put a pan of hot water on the bottom shelf. and let it rise until ,
a little more than double. About 40 minutes.

Put it out on a lightly floured worktop and beat the hell out of it.
Knead it into a ball and back in the SS bowl.

Put it back in the oven and replace the water for hot.
Take it out after 15 minutes and turn the oven on to 375 Deg.

Wait til the dough doubles again, Knead it and cut off a piece of dough,
roll out as many Dough sticks, that you want to Bake .

Put the rest of the dough in the frige.

Baste the sticks with egg and sprinkle on some salt, place in the oiled cookie tin.
Bake at 375 Deg. about ½ hour, until tan.

After you put that tray in , start on another. If the dough raised , Knead it again.
Etc. Etc. Etc.
Lou

Pretzel Update:
Used the dough from the frige and made 6 more.

Rolled the dough into an 1 1/4 inch Log, cut 1 1/2" pieces
and rolled them into sticks 3/8 in. round.

Basted w. egg and salted them , put them in the 400 Deg. Oven, for about 30 minutes.
They turned out the same as the first batch, maybe a little better. Crispy but it crumbled easily.

{{!gwi}}

With the soft pretzel, I didn't spread it far enough and it closed up, no air spaces.
Plus the Dough grew too much.
Put it into a plastic bag while warm, so it wouldn't get too hard.

It was good with mustard.
Next batch ,I'll mix some Parmesan Cheese in the flour.
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Does anyone have any tricks for shaping the sticks, for the straight hard Pretzels and
For Basting with egg and getting the salt on even.
LOU