Everything Bagel Soft Pretzels (2 Ways!)
There was a brief moment in time when I cared very deeply about football. It was my sophomore year of college, and I was thousands of miles away from Wisconsin and anyone who would even remotely care about the Dairy State. Feeling homesick and finding it hard to relate to people whose hometowns never saw temperatures dip below 60 degrees Fahrenheit, I turned to football. I longed to catch a glimpse of people in the stands wearing foam rectangular hats shaped like cheese, and shirtless men whose naked chests were yellow and green from body paint, and bright red from the negative wind chill. There/s just no place like home.
And so, right at the start of the 2010s, I sat alone in my shared dorm room every Sunday to watch a Green Bay Packers game, regardless of the fact that I didn’t yet know all the rules. When Packer fans cheered, I cheered. When booing started, I’d find myself quietly chiming in. As the season progressed and hopes of making it to the playoffs rose, I managed to pick up a few friends along the way who would fill me in on what I still didn’t understand and celebrate wins with me, especially as their favorite teams failed to deliver. At the end of 2010 I considered myself a full-on football fan, even going so far as to order gear for when the Packers, in a game that was quite unforgettable, clinched the NFC title and became eligible for the Super Bowl for the first time in 14 years. It certainly felt incredible to be backing a winning team, and I finally understood why people were so fervent about sports. When you win, directly or indirectly, you feel like you’re part of something bigger than yourself. And when you lose, you have a million shoulders to cry on. Plus, trash-talking can be kind of fun (and useful if you’re trying to flirt with a guy in your media class who’s cheering for the other team…but that’s a story for another day). Long story short, the Packers won the Super Bowl that year, and with every celebratory status update I saw on Facebook, I felt closer to home.
Though my interest in football lasted only a few years after that, switching from professional to collegiate along the way, it didn’t hold the same power for me when I moved back home. Football and following the Packers had been my way of staying connected, but once my feet hit frozen soil again, I no longer needed it. And I still don’t to this day, despite the fact that I find myself away from home anew. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t occasionally tune in to a game now and then when I’m channel surfing. And I always, ALWAYS, watch the Super Bowl. Sure, I could say that I actively participate in Super Bowl Sunday because I love the game, but that just wouldn’t be telling the truth. I love watching the Super Bowl for one reason and one reason only: the SNACKS!
I won’t lie, I kind of miss going to live sporting events because the snacks are always on point: nachos covered in creamy, melted cheese, hot dogs/bratwurst with all the fixings, cotton candy the size of a human head, and, of course, soft pretzels, a personal favorite of mine. A few years ago, around this time, I tried my hand at making mini soft pretzels. They were pretty good for a first attempt, and would definitely fit in on any party table, but this year, I wanted to up the ante a little bit. The only thing better than a perfectly-salted soft pretzel? One with everything on it. Or, well, Everything Bagel Seasoning, anyway.
I’m going to level with you for a second: shaping baked goods is not yet my forte. Give me a mold and I’m golden, but if I have to do it freehand? Well, let’s just say some of the first pretzels I attempted to roll and twist and fold into their classic shape came out looking a little…off. That’s why I’m offering you not one, but TWO ways to make these pretzels. If you, like me, struggle with the decoration aspect of baking, consider abandoning the pretzel shape altogether and instead, make pretzel bites! It’s much easier, requires less shaping, and if you’ve got a larger immediate family, there’s plenty more to go around! You just can’t go wrong either way.
Here’s what I love about these Everything Bagel Soft Pretzels: they’re delightfully yeasty and chewy, and with every bite, you get the perfect hits of salt, garlic, onion, and sesame, with the extra crunch of poppy seeds. Best served warm, these pretzels will be gobbled up by halftime!
Everything Bagel Soft Pretzels
What You’ll Need:
1 and 1/2 cups lukewarm water
1 package active dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
3 cups flour, plus 3/4 cups more, and more for dusting the work surface
1/2 cup baking soda
9 cups water
Everything Bagel Seasoning (store-bought, or you can make your own!)
Directions:
Place oven racks in the middle and lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk the yeast and lukewarm water. Let sit for five minutes until foamy and bubbles are on the surface. Whisk in the salt, dark brown sugar, and melted butter.
Working with one cup at a time, add 3 cups of flour to the bowl, mixing thoroughly after each addition with a wooden spoon (the best way to measure flour is by carefully spooning flour into a measuring cup and leveling off the excess with a knife). At this point, the dough will be very sticky. Add more flour to the dough one tablespoon at a time (up to 3/4 cups) and mix well until the dough is no longer sticky to the touch). The dough is ready to be kneaded when it becomes bouncy to the touch.
Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface that has been floured. Using lightly floured fingers, knead the dough for 5 minutes, then shape it into a ball. Let the dough rest, covered with a clean cloth or paper towel, for 10 minutes.
While the dough is resting, fill a heavy-bottomed pot with nine cups of water and add the baking soda. Stir well, then bring the mixture to a boil.
After 10 minutes, uncover the dough and carefully shape it into a 12-inch log with your hands. Using a sharp knife or bench scraper, cut the log into 12 equal pieces.
For Traditional Pretzels:
Roll out a piece of dough into a long rope (about 20 inches long). Take each end of the rope and bring them together so they form a ring, then twist the ends together. Next, bring the ends down so they are touching the inner center of the bottom of the circle, ensuring that everything is attached securely. (Depending on how it goes, you may have to use your fingers to more clearly define the pretzel shape. There’s no shame in it!) Repeat the steps until you have twelve pretzels of equal-ish size.
For Pretzel Bites:
Roll out a piece of dough into a long rope (about 20 inches long). Using a sharp knife or bench scraper, cut the rope into small, bite-sized pieces. Roll each cut piece into a ball. Repeat until all the pieces have been rolled into balls.
When You’re Ready
Once your pretzels or pretzel bites are shaped and ready, drop 1-2 pretzels, or 2-4 pretzel bites, into the pot of boiling baking soda water for 20 seconds. Remove immediately using a slotted spoon or spatula and let excess water drip back into the pot. Gently set the pretzels on one of the prepared baking sheets with parchment paper, spacing them a half-inch apart. Once all pretzels or pretzel bites have been taken out of the water and placed onto the baking sheets, generously sprinkle each with the Everything Bagel Seasoning.
Bake the pretzels in the oven for 12-15 minutes, switching the baking sheets from top to bottom halfway through, until the pretzels are golden brown.
Serve pretzels warm with your preferred dipping sauce (though I eat mine as-is!)
TO STORE: Allows pretzels to cool, then place them in an airtight storage container for up to 3 days. When ready to serve, warm the pretzels in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 5-10 minutes.
SOURCE: Adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction
