Ingredients
-
1 kg plain white flour
-
260 ml lukewarm milk
-
260 ml lukewarm water
-
80 g unsalted butter
-
1 tbsp malt extract
-
2 tsp active dry yeast
-
2 tbsp Salt
-
1 l Water
-
3 tbsp baking sodaor lye if your using it
Directions
It is said that the art of street food began in Bavaria with the pretzel! Pretzels here are covered in large salt crystals and served with fresh cheese and chives, melted butter or with spicy mustard! If that doesn’t have your mouth watering, now remember they are always served freshly boiled and warm!
Preparation:
-
Add 100g of flour, all the yeast, and the water into a bowl. Mix, cover with cling film, and leave in a warm place for 5 hours.
-
After that, add the rest of the flour, salt, milk, malt extract, and melted butter. Mix and knead the mixture to make a firm dough (around 10 minutes) and leave for approx 1 and a half hours or until a point pushed in gentle springs back.
- When ready, knock the dough back and start forming shapes. The easiest is to make batons around 2cm thick. If feeling adventurous, try the traditional shape. Roll the dough out to be a long (40 cm) rope with the middle 5cm bulged to a diameter of around 3 cm, tapering to the ends being around 0.75 cm thick. Bring the two ends together about 5 cm in, overlap them, twist, and bring back to go over the main body. Almost like tying a knot. Leave for 30 minutes uncovered in a warm room to rise and develop.
- Bring the water to a boil in a large pot, and add the baking soda. If you can find a sodium hydroxide solution (lye), use 3-4 tbsp per liter instead of the baking soda, but be very careful, and always wear gloves and eye protection. Pour lye carefully into the water to avoid splashing. Dip each pretzel in solution, turning it over for 10 to 15 seconds, and place it back on the baking sheet.
- Sprinkle with sea salt and add the baking sheets to the 200C oven for around 16 minutes, until a nice deep bready brown is seen on the pretzels.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
