ja, ja, Brezeln für alle!

In honor of Oktoberfest, my wonderful German heritage, and the beautiful city where I currently reside, I decided this month that my baked from scratch recipe should be the glorious Pretzel. 

Pretzels are everywhere in Philly. In fact, I would venture to guess that more pretzels (by number, profit, weight, etc.) are sold and eaten each year here than cheesesteaks. Whether you prefer your pretzel on a trendy tote bag...

 

 or from a shopping cart outside the stadium...

 

or wrapped around a cheesesteak (yes, it exists, this is Philadelphia after all)...

 

...you are certain to find this Bavarian snack everywhere you turn in this town, including my kitchen.

A few years ago, I saw Alton Brown bake pretzels on his show "Good Eats." Ever since then, I've wanted to try to make them myself. It's an easy recipe to follow, though the "baking soda bath" required to get the golden brown crusty outside was definitely something I've never done before. I could have used lye for that step, but I typically don't have that, ya know, just laying around the house.

If I make pretzels again, and I'm sure I will, I might switch the fat used in this recipe (butter) for something a bit more fun (bacon fat, duck fat, good old fashioned lard). I can only imagine how great that would be.

Here's the recipe, with my minor tweaks:

 Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups warm water (as warm as you can get from the tap is fine)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt (plus more for sprinkling)
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups
• 2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
• Vegetable oil, for your dough-rising bowl
• 10 cups water
• 2/3 cup baking soda
• 1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water

Directions:

Combine water, sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to form a foamy layer on top. Add flour and butter and mix on low speed with a dough hook until well combined. Up the speed to medium and knead until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl in one big ball. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and lightly oil the side. 

Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place (such as a slightly warm oven) for just under an hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

Pre-heat the oven to 450º (remove your rising dough first). Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.

Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in a large saucepan.

While you're waiting for the water to boil, divide the dough into eight equal pieces. Roll each piece into a 2 feet rope, and swirl into the pretzel shape (you can figure that out on your own, I'm sure).

Place the pretzels into the boiling water one or two at a time, for 30 seconds. Transfer the pretzel to a lined baking sheets, brush with the beaten egg, and sprinkle with salt. Repeat for the remaining seven pretzels.

Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 13 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.