Upon moving to Philly, Marc and I learned that Philly is well known for pretzels. While the fame of the cheesesteak seems to overshadow the pretzel, for us, this is a great sadness. While I don’t care much for cheesesteaks at all (blasphemy, I know) I really love a great pretzel sandwich. We first had one at TenStone pub. And then we discovered that you could buy pretzel baguettes at Whole Foods and we started making our own Pretzel Sandwiches at home once and awhile. We found the perfect mustard and chose a favorite beer. And then Whole Foods stopped carrying them. It was really sad. Finally, after a weekend of cooking with my friends Susan and Katie I was exposed to homemade pretzels via smittenkitchen. I went back to the Martha Stewart source recipe and re-sized it to make big pretzel rolls and voila! Marc and I were back in business. Of course I’ll share my favorite mustard and beer with you, but you should experiment yourself too every time you have delicious Pretzel Sandwiches.
Pretzel Rolls (mini baguette)
Ingredients
- 2 cups warm water 100°F to 110°F
- 1 tablespoon + 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 packet active dry yeast
- 5 to 6 cups all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 teaspoons canola or other neutral oil
- ¼ cup baking soda
- 1 large egg
- Coarse or pretzel salt
- cornmeal
Instructions
- Pour warm water and 1 tablespoon sugar into bowl of electric mixer fitted with a dough hook* and stir to combine. Sprinkle with yeast, and let sit a few minutes; yeast should be foamy.
- Add 1 cup flour to yeast, and mix on low until combined.
- Add salt and 4 cups more flour, and mix until combined, about 30 seconds. Beat on medium-low until dough pulls away from sides of bowl, about 1 ½ minutes.
- Add another ½ cup flour, and knead on low 1 minute more. If dough is still wet and sticky, add ½ cup more flour (this will depend on weather conditions); knead until combined, about 30 seconds. Transfer to a lightly floured board, and knead about ten times, or until smooth.
- Pour oil into a large bowl; swirl to coat sides. Transfer dough to bowl, turning dough to completely cover all sides. Cover with a kitchen towel, and leave in a warm spot for 1 hour, or until dough has doubled in size.
- Preheat oven to 450° F. Punch down dough to remove bubbles. Transfer to a lightly floured board. Knead once or twice and divide into 8 pieces.
- Roll the dough into a log, trying to eliminate the seams.
- Let pretzels rest until they rise slightly, about 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, fill large, shallow pot with 2 inches of water. Bring to a boil. Add baking soda (watch the foam!) and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar.
- Reduce to a simmer; transfer three to four pretzels to water.
- Poach 1 minute on each side.
- Use slotted spoon to transfer pretzels to baking sheet that has been lightly sprinkled with cornmeal. Continue until all pretzels are poached.
- Beat egg with 1 tablespoon water. Brush pretzels with egg glaze. Sprinkle with salt.
- Bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.
- Let cool on wire rack, or eat warm.
