You can learn more about pretzels in Portland in a feature in our Winter 2011 issue here.

Baker Jen Rybarczyk also demonstrates the steps to make these pretzels including how to shape and twist the dough in a video here.

We strongly recommend that you use a scale to measure out ingredients, as it will give you much more reliable results. However, if you don’t own one, or can’t find one to borrow, we’ve included approximate measurements in cups.

STARTER:
2 1/2 ounces (1/3 cup) water at 105 degrees
Small pinch active dry yeast
4 ounces (1 cup) bread flour

Heat water to 105 degrees and place in a plastic or nonreactive metal container. Sprinkle yeast on top of water and let dissolve. Add flour. Mix thoroughly by hand or with a spatula. Mixture will be slightly dry but should have no clumps of flour. Cover for 12 to 16 hours. Mixture will double.

FINAL MIX and TOPPINGS:
6 ounces (3/4 cup) water at 105 degrees
1/2 tsp active dry yeast
17 ounces (4 1/4 cups) bread flour
5 ounces (2/3 cup) cold beer (preferably Pilsner)
Starter (all of the above)
1 Tbsp kosher salt
3 Tbsp butter, cubed and softened
1/2 cup baking soda
1 egg, beaten
Coarse fleur de sel

1. Place warm water in a small bowl and sprinkle yeast on top. Let bloom 5 minutes.

2. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a dough hook (or in a food processor), add flour, beer and starter (above). After 1 minute on low, add yeast-water mixture. Once incorporated, slowly add salt. After another minute, add butter. Once ingredients are incorporated, continue mixing on low for about 3 minutes. Increase speed to next level and mix until dough is smooth and slightly elastic, not tacky or clumpy, approximately 3 minutes.

3. Place dough in a lightly greased nonreactive container, cover, and set aside in a warm place for 2 hours. After 1 hour, fold dough from top to bottom and side to side to release gases and redistribute yeast, being careful not to tear the dough. It helps to wet your hands first. Cover and let rise for another hour.

4. Flip dough onto a lightly floured surface. Cut 4-ounce pieces and fold them into ovals with one seam on bottom. Cover with a damp cloth and let rest for 20 minutes. Begin final shaping by rolling your hands back and forth across the ovals while moving them outward. Dough may only roll 12 to 16 inches at first. When you can feel that it doesn’t want to stretch farther, let dough rest 2 to 3 minutes and then return. If you desire a certain shape such as a braid or twist, roll each rope to about 36 to 40 inches, or the length of your arms’ wingspan. Once rolled, shape into desired pretzel shape.

5. Place pretzels on parchment-lined sheet pan, cover, and let rest for 15 minutes. (Pretzels can also be refrigerated for up to 4 hours at this point.) Boil 1 gallon water in a large pot and add baking soda. The water should fizz, almost boiling over the sides. Once the baking soda dissolves, boil pretzels top side down until they float, about 1 minute, then flip over and boil 30 seconds longer. Return to sheet pan.

6. Once all pretzels have been boiled, brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with salt. Bake in a hot oven—500 degrees if your oven can get that hot; 450 if it can’t—preferably on a pizza stone. At 500 degrees, bake for 8 minutes, rotate pans, and bake 8 minutes more. In a 450-degree oven, cook for 12-minute intervals. Check the pretzels just before the time ends and remove if they’re deeply golden.

7. Pretzels will keep for up to 12 hours at room temperature, uncovered. After 12 hours, they should be wrapped.

Makes approximately 9 4-ounce pretzels

Recipe by Jen Rybarczyk

Photo by Leah Harb

1. Edible Portland» Video! DIY Pretzels
   December 2nd, 2010 at 1:07 pm

   [...] Find a recipe for soft pretzels here. [...]

2. 
   monica
   December 4th, 2010 at 9:06 pm

   Is it possible to have the weights of the ingredients converted into measurements of volume for the home cook?

3. 
   Edible Portland
   December 8th, 2010 at 3:27 pm

   Hi Monica! Thank you for your question. We’ve added approximate cup measurements to the recipe. If you can hunt down a scale, do! It will be more trustworthy. But no matter how you go about it, have fun making pretzels. We bet they’ll be delicious no matter!

4. Bavarian Pretzels | Portland Style Pizza
   December 28th, 2010 at 1:18 pm

   [...] This is not a recipe for pizza, nor is it a recipe for pizza-flavored pretzels. Pretzels are delicious enough as it is. I tried it and it worked as advertised. Watch the video and then give it a try! (recipe here) [...]

5. Edible Portland» Obatzda (Bavarian Cheese Spread)
   August 5th, 2011 at 1:38 pm

   [...] for the faint of heart, this rich spread is sublime with pretzels (find a recipe for soft pretzels here), as well as most any dark bread or sliced raw vegetables. You can make as much or as little as you [...]

6. Edible Portland» Spotlight: A White Lie or Lye – Making Pretzels with Baked Baking Soda
   September 16th, 2011 at 1:54 pm

   [...] recipe for soft pretzels here, [...]

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