• Serves: 4

Ingredients

  • 250g strong white bread flour
  • 150ml tepid water
  • 4g dried yeast
  • 12g dark brown muscovado sugar
  • 25g unsalted butter melted
  • 5g salt
  • 60g bicarbonate of soda
  • 1 egg beaten to glaze
  • Flaked sea salt, to serve

Learn how to make you own pretzels.  These are incredibly versatile, crisp on the outside and amazingly chewy in the middle. Customise with your own toppings: salt, cheese or cinnamon and sugar.

A great secret for perfect pretzels is to add bicarbonate of soda to the water until it’s boiling.  This gives the water have a higher alkaline content and allows the pretzel to get that amazing trade mark dark brown colour.

Method

  • Firstly bake your bicarbonate of soda in the oven for 1 hour at 120c, take out and set aside for use later on.
  • Mix your dry ingredients together in mixing bowl (flour, salt, sugar)
  • Mix your wet ingredients together in a jug (melted butter, water)
  • Add your wet ingredients into the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl
  • Bring them together and form a rough dough
  • Knead the dough for 10 minutes
  • Cover the bowl and leave the dough to rest and rise until it’s doubled in size
  • Once double in size, knock the dough down and roll into 4 equal portions
  • Rest the balls of dough for 5 minutes then roll into long even strips
  • Place the dough in a U shape and twist the ends and bring back together in the shape of a pretzel
  • Leave to prove for a further 15 minutes, while this is happening bring 2 litres of water up to the boil and add your bicarbanate of soda to the water
  • Once your dough is looking puffy, cook for 15 seconds each side in the boil water, remove carefully with a spatula or spoon
  • Place on a baking tray with grease proof paper
  • Once all have been in the water, egg wash and place the topping of choice on
  • Bake in the oven at 200c for 15 – 20 minutes until dark brown. Enjoy

Watch how to make the perfect pretzel

View more recipes