Sourdough Smooth Pretzels – Sugar Spun Run

My sourdough delicate pretzels are made with energetic, bubbly sourdough starter and dunked in a lye tub for a traditional, old school taste (with notes on the way to use baking soda as an alternative in the event you’re not comfy with lye!). They’re delicate, chewy, and surprisingly easy to make! Recipe features a how-to video tutorial!

Completely Unimaginable Sourdough Pretzels

At first look, these sourdough delicate pretzels might look like an intimidating endeavor, however can I take a second to guarantee you that they’re really fairly easy and hands-off?

As is the case with most sourdough recipes, the dough does take its candy time rising and fermenting. Be ready to make the dough sooner or later, after which roll, dip, and bake the subsequent. You undoubtedly want persistence, however the precise effort required is comparatively low and the wait is price it.

Sourdough delicate pretzels style miles higher than something you’ll discover on the mall. They’ve a beautiful golden brown coloring and delicate, sourdough-y depth of taste. This recipe and my sourdough pizza crust are two of my all-time favourite methods to make use of my sourdough starter, in case you have a jar sitting round all energetic and bubbly, this can be a nice method to put it to work!

Issues to find out about this recipe

• Genuine, conventional pretzel taste and look, because of old school approach and a lye tub. Be aware that lye should be dealt with correctly. It’s protected in the event you take the correct precautions, but it surely’s not one thing to let the youngsters deal with. In case you’re not comfy with it, I do supply another within the recipe card.
• These are true sourdough pretzels, not sourdough discard pretzels. I want utilizing the pure yeast from sourdough (similar to when making sourdough bread or my sourdough dinner rolls) quite than utilizing discard and supplementing with yeast.
• It takes a little bit of advance planning. The dough will rise at room temperature for no less than 5 hours, after which might want to ferment within the fridge in a single day. I like to recommend beginning the dough within the morning or early afternoon.
• It’s versatile. Make delicate pretzel bites as an alternative by slicing the dough ropes into bite-sized items as an alternative of twisting. Season them classically with pretzel salt, or make a candy cinnamon sugar model by brushing the baked pretzels with melted butter and sprinkling with cinnamon sugar.

What You Want

• Bread flour. Utilizing bread flour offers our sourdough delicate pretzels a softer, chewier texture than all-purpose flour would yield. It’s a key ingredient right here and in my artisan bread recipe. You can substitute all-purpose flour if it’s all you will have, the pretzels simply received’t be as chewy.
• Sourdough starter. You need to use energetic sourdough starter for this recipe–don’t use sourdough discard. When you’ve got sourdough discard you need to use, strive my sourdough chocolate chip cookies or sourdough crackers.
• Honey. A contact of honey feeds the yeast within the sourdough starter and provides taste with out making the pretzels too candy. Alternatively use mild brown sugar.
• Butter. This helps to counterpoint the dough and provides the pretzels the correct taste.
• Lye. Whereas typically used to make soaps and when cleansing, lye additionally has a standard place in pretzel-making; it gives that golden brown colour and traditional pretzel style. We’ll fastidiously dunk our sourdough delicate pretzels in a lye tub earlier than baking them to golden perfection. A word of warning: you should be VERY cautious when working with lye. Please learn this submit and the recipe totally earlier than starting! In case you’re not comfy utilizing lye, I additionally embrace directions to dip the pretzels in a baking soda tub as an alternative.
• Pretzel salt. This can be a coarse salt that may be a traditional delicate pretzel topping. I hyperlink to the one I exploit under, however you can additionally use a rough kosher and even sea salt. Or, change issues up and use all the pieces bagel seasoning!

SAM’S TIP: If consuming lye-coated pretzels scares you, don’t fear; baking the lye neutralizes it and makes it protected to eat. Or you may all the time use baking soda as an alternative–preserve studying for directions on this.

Keep in mind, that is simply an summary of the substances I used and why. For the total recipe please scroll right down to the underside of the submit!

Find out how to Make Sourdough Smooth Pretzels

Make the pretzel dough

1. Combine collectively the moist substances, salt, and half of the flour till mixed.
2. Add extra flour as wanted: use dough hook and blend on low pace whereas step by step including extra flour. It’s possible you’ll not want all the flour, or it’s possible you’ll want extra. Search for visible/tactile cues to know that your dough is prepared; it can start to stay to itself and draw back from the bowl, and in the event you poke it with the pad of your finger it mustn’t persist with your finger.
3. Knead the dough with the dough hook till it’s easy and elastic. This normally takes about 5-10 minutes for me. I don’t actually advocate kneading this dough by hand; it’s simply approach too delicate by design and you would need to add an excessive amount of flour to virtually be capable to deal with it.
4. Place in a calmly oiled bowl, cowl and let rise in a heat spot till nearly doubled in measurement. How lengthy this takes will fluctuate, however for me it’s normally between 5 and seven hours.

Form the pretzels

5. As soon as the dough has risen, place it within the fridge and let sit in a single day.
6. Divide the chilled dough into 10 equal items.

7. Roll each bit into an extended rope.
8. Kind right into a “U” form and cross the ends over one another as soon as.
9. Twist the ends over one another once more.
10. Flip the ends down and press into the underside of the “U”.

Don’t really feel unhealthy in case your pretzels aren’t the prettiest form, it took me a very long time to even get this far with mine and regardless of how they appear, they’ll style superb!

SAM’S TIP: This dough is delicate and it should be chilly to be manageable, so that you’ll use it proper out of the fridge. If it will get too heat, merely pop it again within the fridge till you may deal with it once more.

Lye Bathtub & Bake

11. Fastidiously put together the lye tub and line your baking sheets with parchment. I discuss the way to safely do that within the part under, please learn by way of that earlier than starting.
12. Dip the pretzels within the lye tub for 30 seconds.
13. Drain off any extra lye/water and place in your ready baking sheets.
14. Sprinkle with salt and bake till deep golden brown, turning midway by way of. The warmth of the oven will neutralize the water from the lye tub, making the pretzels protected to eat.

Find out how to Safely Use Lye

Whereas lye is protected to make use of as directed on this recipe, it’s nonetheless a chemical that must be dealt with correctly. Lye could be dangerous if it touches your pores and skin, in the event you eat it straight from the bottle, or in the event you breathe it in. Consequently, when working with lye, you have to do the next:

• Put on security gear. This contains gloves and eye goggles, and lengthy sleeves aren’t a foul thought both. You don’t need the lye to the touch your pores and skin or actually something besides your pretzels!
• Use ample air flow. I wish to preserve my kitchen vent fan on and open my home windows if I can.
• All the time add the lye to your water, and never the water to the lye. This could trigger splashes, which we need to keep away from since lye can break surfaces in your kitchen (wooden, metallic, granite, and so forth.).
• Get rid of the lye correctly. You’ll want to neutralize the lye water with some vinegar first, then fastidiously and slowly pour it down your sink drain with some chilly water. I describe this intimately within the recipe notes under.

For extra detailed security data, King Arthur flour has an in depth information on working with lye safely.

If working with lye looks like an excessive amount of of a trouble to you otherwise you’re merely not comfy with it, you may all the time use a baking soda tub as an alternative. The pretzels received’t be fairly as fairly (see under), however I do that with my do-it-yourself delicate pretzels and delicate pretzel bites, and so they nonetheless style superb! I present directions on how to do that within the recipe card.

Continuously Requested Questions

You too can make these into any form you’d like: simply lower them into small items to make sourdough delicate pretzel bites as an alternative (see above!).

Get pleasure from!

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