Cooking the Books: Twisty Sourdough Pretzels
In my house, we love enjoying fresh-baked treats while reading our favorite books. Today, I wanted to share one of our favorite recipes – Twisty Sourdough Pretzels! They’re buttery, delicious, and melt in your mouth when they’re still warm.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, lightly oiled (use olive or vegetable oil). Makes 10 pretzels.
Ingredients:
1 cup unfed sourdough starter* at room temperature (quick recipe below)
3 cups all purpose flour
1 pkt Active Dry Yeast
2 tbsps sugar
1 tsp salt
3/4 – 1 cup lukewarm water
1/2 cup unsalted butter (melted for brushing on pretzels)
10 cups water + 2/3 cup baking soda (to use in boiling the pretzels)
Directions: Combine the first 6 ingredients by hand until dough becomes smooth and slightly tacky. If dough is dry, add a tablespoon of water.
Put ball of dough in a well-oiled bowl (olive or vegetable oil). Cover and let rise in a warm place for 45 minutes. While the dough is resting, melt the butter. In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, add 10 cups of water and 2/3 cup baking soda and bring to a boil. Cut the dough into 10 evenly sized pieces and roll each out to 18 inches. Create a pretzel shape by twisting the two ends of dough and folding it over.
Using a slotted spoon, dip pretzels, two at a time, in boiling water for 35-45 seconds. Place each on a baking sheet covered with lightly oiled parchment paper. Blot the pretzels lightly with paper towel, brush with melted butter, and sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.
Enjoy and try not to eat them all. I’ll share another recipe next Saturday. Happy eating and reading!
xo, Laura
*If you need sourdough starter, here’s a 3 ingredient, 5 minute recipe.