A Baker's Odyssey: Schwabisch Pretzels Recipe

all-purpose flour

🥗Healthier: whole wheat flour

💰Cheaper: bread flour

Whole wheat flour adds fiber and nutrients.

butter

🥗Healthier: olive oil

💰Cheaper: margarine

Olive oil is healthier with unsaturated fats.

coarse salt

🥗Healthier: sea salt

💰Cheaper: table salt

Sea salt provides a different flavor profile.

malt syrup

🥗Healthier: honey

💰Cheaper: brown sugar

Honey adds sweetness and moisture.

Prepare the dough using either diastatic barley malt powder or barley malt syrup.

Let the dough rise until it doubles in size, indicated by pressing two fingers into it and seeing the depressions remain.

Use a dough scraper to remove the dough from the mixer bowl without greasing it.

Divide the dough into 12 pieces, each weighing about 3 ounces.

Shape each piece into a ball to develop surface tension and place them a couple of inches apart on the work surface.

Cover the balls with a kitchen towel and let them rest for about 15 minutes.

Prepare two 18 by 12 inch baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

Take one ball of dough, roll it out to about 23 inches in length with a diameter of about 1 inch in the middle, tapering the ends.

Twist the rolled dough in the air and shape it into a pretzel by bringing the ends up and attaching them to the center.

Cover the shaped pretzels with kitchen towels and let them rest at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes until slightly puffy.

Prepare a lye bath with a 1% solution of sodium hydroxide (1 ounce of lye in 1 quart of water) or use 2 tablespoons of baking soda dissolved in water as an alternative.

Wearing rubber gloves, dip each pretzel into the lye bath for about 15 seconds, ensuring they are fully submerged.

Remove the pretzels from the lye bath and place them back on the baking sheets.

Sprinkle the pretzels with coarse salt, being careful not to overdo it.

Optionally, press the pretzels into toppings like poppy seeds, brown sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, or sunflower seeds.

Let the pretzels sit at room temperature for another 15 to 20 minutes until partially thawed.

Make a slash along the back edge of each pretzel with a razor blade, about a quarter of an inch deep, to allow for expansion during baking.

Let the pretzels sit at room temperature for about an hour until completely thawed and slightly puffy again.

Bake the pretzels according to the recipe instructions.

Once baked, remove the pretzels from the parchment and place them on a cooling rack.

Cooking Techniques

Equipment Needed

Spice Level:

Dietary

Allergens