Soft Rye Pretzels
Servings 12 pretzels
Equipment
- Parchment paper
- 2 baking sheets
Ingredients
- 1½ cups water, 100-115° F
- 2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 cup rye flour
- 2¾ cups all purpose flour, plus more if needed
- 1 tablespoon coarse kosher salt, plus salt for sprinkling on pretzels
- olive oil, melted butter, or other oil
- ½ cup baking soda
Instructions
- In a large bowl, stir together water, yeast, and honey.
- Add rye flour, all purpose flour, and salt. Stir together until a shaggy mass forms.
- Dump dough on lightly floured surface. Knead until dough is soft and smooth but not stickly, about 12-15 minutes. Add up to ¼ cup more flour if needed. Shape dought into a ball.
- Grease bowl lightly with oil. Put dough in bowl, turning to coat with oil, and place seam side down. Cover with plastic and let rise in warm space until doubled in size, up to 90 minutes.
- Line baking sheets with parchment paper and brush paper with oil.
- Punch down dough. Turn out on smooth surface. The oil from the dough should oil surface slightly. Cut dough into 12 pieces. Cover pieces with plastic.
- Roll one piece into a 16-inch-long snake with thinly tapered ends. Loops ends over the midpoint of the snake to form a pretzel shape. Place on parchment. Repeat with remaining pieces. Let pretzels rest 15 minutes. Each baking sheet will hold 6 pretzels.
- Preheat over to 450° F. In large pot, bring 10+ cups of water to a boil.
- When pretzels are ready, gradually add baking soda to the boiling water. (If you add the bake soda all at once, the water will boil over almost instantly.)
- Gently place two pretzels in boiling water. Poach 30 seconds, turn, and poach 30 seconds more. Gently remove pretzels from boiling water, place them on a kitchen-towel-lined baking sheet to drain briefly, then return them to the parchment-lined baking sheets. Sprinkle generously with coarse salt. Repeat with remaining pretzels.
- Place pretzels in oven and bake until dark brown, about 15 minutes. Turn baking sheets halfway through.
- Cool on cookie rack.
Notes
Adapted from Pete Wells’ Rye Pretzels, New York Times.