Name: Homemade Soft Pretzels: 4-Ways
Ingredients: 2 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour (more if needed. I used about 1/4 cup more than this to make it not sticky); ½ teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon sugar; 2 ¼ teaspoons regular instant yeast; 7/8 to 1 cup warm water (Use the greater amount if your dough gets too dry); ½ cup warm water; 2 tablespoons baking soda; coarse kosher salt (or pretzel salt); ¼ cup mixed cheeses; ½ cup sugar; 1 teaspoon cinnamon; 1 teaspoon each poppy seeds (caraway seeds, minced dried onion, sesame seeds, and coarse salt); 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Ingredients

Scale

For the dough

2 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour (more if needed. I used about 1/4 cup more than this to make it not sticky)
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 ¼ teaspoons regular instant yeast
7/8 to 1 cup warm water (Use the greater amount if your dough gets too dry)

For the topping

½ cup warm water
2 tablespoons baking soda
coarse kosher salt (or pretzel salt)
¼ cup mixed cheeses
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon each poppy seeds (caraway seeds, minced dried onion, sesame seeds, and coarse salt)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Place all of the dough ingredients into your stand mixer bowl, and beat till well-combined. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes either in the mixer or by hand, till it’s soft, smooth, and quite slack. More flour may be needed to make sure the dough isn’t sticky.
Place the dough in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow it to rest for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 500°F.
Prepare two baking sheets by spraying them with vegetable oil spray, or lining them with parchment paper.
After a half-hour has elapsed, transfer the dough to a lightly greased or floured work surface, and divide the dough into eight equal pieces (about 70g, or 2 1/2 ounces, each). Allow the pieces to rest, uncovered, for 5 minutes.
While the dough is resting, combine the 1/2 cup warm water and the baking soda, and place it in a shallow bowl. Also, if using, combine the seeds in one bowl and the cinnamon and sugar in another bowl. Mix to combine.
Roll each piece of dough into a long, thin rope (about 28 to 30 inches long), and twist each rope into a pretzel. Dip each pretzel in the baking soda wash and place them on the baking sheets.
Sprinkle as many as desired lightly with coarse, kosher, or pretzel salt. If desired, dip some into the cinnamon sugar (the top only should be dipped), sprinkle some with cheese, and sprinkle some with seed mixture.
Allow them to rest, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Bake the pretzels for 10 minutes, or until they’re golden brown, reversing the baking sheets halfway through.
Remove the pretzels from the oven, and brush them thoroughly with the melted butter. Use it all!!! Do not brush cheese pretzels if you made any. After brushing the cinnamon sugar pretzel if you made any, recoat them into the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Enjoy!