Pretzel Rolls!

I am such a HUGE soft pretzel fan! I just love the thin, crunchy, outer layer with the very soft and fluffy center!

These pretzel rolls taste exactly like my favorite soft pretzels that I always buy from pushcart food vendors! I was so tempted to tweak this recipe because it seemed too simple! By looking at the ingredients I thought there was no way these could taste like pretzels! I'm so glad I made them as written because they were perfect! I did make a mistake and forgot to add the warm water to the warm milk mixture, but it still worked out great! I'm posting this recipe the way I made it!

The original recipe is from this food blog une bonne vie. Go check it out and read all the great reviews of this recipe!

INGREDIENTS:

6 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1 tsp. kosher salt

3 Tbls. corn oil

1 package active dry yeast

2 1/2 cups warmed milk

coarse salt for sprinkling on top - I used kosher salt

 

THE BATH:

7 cups water

1 Tbls. kosher salt

4 Tbls. baking soda

 

DIRECTIONS:

In a small bowl mix together the yeast and warmed milk. Let rest for 10 minutes.

In a large bowl whisk together flour and kosher salt.

Add corn oil to the yeast mixture.

Pour the yeast mixture into the large bowl of flour and kosher salt.

Mix the dough until it forms a firm ball. If the dough is too sticky, add more flour until it's workable.

The dough should be somewhat stiff.

Cover the bowl of dough with oiled plastic wrap and place in a warm draft free place for one hour until dough doubles in size.

When dough has doubled, punch down and knead in the bowl for 1 minute.

Cut dough in half and keep cutting in half until you have 16 equal pieces.

Roll each piece into a ball and place on parchment line cookie sheet.

Let rise for 15 more minutes.

 

While the dough balls are rising make 'The Bath' by mixing the bath ingredients into a 3 quart saucepan on high heat to bring to a boil. Then lower to med/high to simmer.

Drop 3 balls at a time into the simmering bath and let poach for 1 minute. Remove with a slotted spoon to a parchment lined cookie sheet. Make 2-3 slits in the tops of each poached dough ball and sprinkle with coarse salt.

Continue doing this with all the dough balls.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Bake the dough balls for 20 minutes or until they are very dark brown.

I think these taste best served warm and should be eaten the same day they are made.

UPDATE  Mar. 6, 2013
These pretzels rolls can be frozen and then reheated in the microwave. One roll on high for 30 seconds.
Tastes just like it was fresh baked!