These pretzels can be made into bite size pieces or rolled out and twisted up into the typical pretzel shape. But be forewarned, they won’t stick around long!
Ingredients for pretzels:
750 grams sifted hard red spring flour plus up to 80 grams more
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
2 1/4 tsp instant rise yeast
2 TBS melted butter
1 TBS honey
2 tsp salt
1 egg beaten
1/2 TBS water
course salt for sprinkling on top
1/2 cup baking soda
Ingredients for grainy honey mustard dip:
1/4 cup grainy mustard
1/4 cup mayo
1 TBS honey
Directions for pretzels:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
1) In a large bowl, combine warm water and yeast. Mix together and let sit for 5 minutes.
2) Add the butter, honey, and salt to this mixture and mix together until combined.
3) Using the dough hook on a stand mixer, slowly add in the 750 grams of flour. Mix together well until the dough pulls away from the sides. If the dough is too sticky add in up to 80 grams more. This is approximately 3 1/2 cups of flour but add slowly so that you do not end up with a dry dough.
4) Knead the dough in your kitchenmaid or by hand for about 5 minutes.
5) Coat a medium sized mixing bowl with oil and place the dough in it to rest for approximately 10 minutes. Cover with a clean kitchen towel.
6) Cut your in half, then cut each piece in half again, and then again. You should have 8 pieces of dough. Each large piece can be cut into 3 smaller pieces which will be used to form your “ropes” to make the pretzels. Grab a sectioned piece of dough and roll it thin. Then loop into a pretzel shape (I watched a you tube video my first time to figure out how to get the shape right). If making pretzel bites you can chop into bite sized pieces from here. Keep in mind that once you boil the pretzels the dough does fluff up and get a bit thicker, so the thinner the better in order to keep the pretzel shape.
7) Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
8) Bring a large pot of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil. Carefully drop the pretzels into the boiling water using a slotted spoon. You will have to work in batches as you need to move quickly. The pretzels only need to be in the boiling water for 30 seconds, flipping them over at the halfway mark. Once that is complete you can remove them using the slotted spoon and place them onto the parchment paper lined baking trays.
9) Mix together the egg and water in a small bowl. Brush the egg wash onto the top of each pretzel. Sprinkle each with course sea salt.
10) Bake in the oven for 15-18 minutes.
11) For the sauce: mix together all ingredients and serve with warm pretzels!
