Not as good as Smales' on Xenia Avenue, Dayton, Ohio. But a heck of a lot better than Auntie Anne's in your local mall.

I figured that soft pretzel dough had to be pretty similar to bagel dough, right?  So I decided to try Bavarian-style soft pretzels, risen with sourdough.

Not bad!  The outside wasn't quite as glossy and chewy as I would like a soft pretzel to be, but the interior was the right texture and the flavor was lovely.  Could be the difference between a lye bath and a baking soda bath, or maybe because my starter was whole wheat instead of high-protein white flour as a pretzel ought to be.

Recipe for my bread machine:

• 1 cup fresh sourdough starter
• 2 cups bread flour
• 3 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 Tbsp water (added by the tablespoon during the knead cycle to produce a smooth, unsticky dough)

I ran this through one dough cycle, cut it into 9 pieces, and rolled the pieces into long thin ropes (1/2 to 3/4 of an inch in diameter) before twisting into the classic pretzel shape.  I put them on a sprayed baking sheet and let them rest about 10 hours at a warm room temperature -- from midmorning until bedtime snack time.

Then I boiled a solution of 2 cups baking soda in 4 quarts water, and boiled the pretzels for 20 seconds or so on each side, letting them drain on a wire rack set over a towel.  I placed them on a sprayed baking sheet well sprinkled with kosher salt, and sprinkled their tops with more salt.  Then I baked them at 475 degrees F for about 10 minutes.

They smelled like Oktoberfest when I took them out of the oven.  Seriously.  The aroma was right on.

They are slightly sweet, with a slightly crackly crust, a little softer than I wanted, but with a nicely balanced flavor.   

Comments

[Cathy_of_Alex]

Oh, my, those look really good!