A buttered soft-pretzel fit for a king.
This recipe is an homage to one of my favorite date night meals – the Old World Pretzel from Dexter’s Pub.
“Hand crafted old fashioned pretzels from Madison’s Batch Bakehouse… Pounder Plus at 17oz comes with three options. Dips include our House Beer Cheese Sauce and a variety of mustards – deuseldorf, habanero, stone ground, peppadew and honey mustard.”
Amazing right? They serve up a little over a pound of hot pretzel, which pairs perfectly with their amazing selection of craft beers. So I tried to replicate the recipe as best I could. I’m not sure what it weighed in at – but it hit the spot just the same. Feel free to pair with your favorite mustards or a beer cheese dipping sauce – and of course, some good beer.
Time You Need
- 30 minutes resting
- 15 minutes prep
- 15-20 minutes baking
- Yields: 1 giant pretzel
What You Need
- Dough:
- 2 teaspoons of instant yeast
- 3 cups of flour
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp brown sugar
- 3/4 cup of warm water
- For the bath:
- 3 quarts of water
- 2 ½ cups of baking soda
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp honey
- For coating:
- 2 tbsp butter
What You Do
- Start by making the dough either by hand or with a stand mixer. Place all the dough ingredients in a mixing bowl. Knead the dough by hand or machine for about 6-7 minutes until you are left with a soft and smooth ball of dough.
- Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with a lid or plastic wrap and let the dough rise for about 30 minutes.
- While waiting, preheat the oven to 450 and line a baking sheet with foil or parchment, and coat in baking spray.
- Once your dough is finished resting, roll the dough into a log/rope shape about the length of your forearm. Then form a U shape, taking each end and braiding (just crossing the ends once or twice) then bring them down to form a pretzel shape by placing each end at the bottom of the U.
- Next, prep the baking soda bath. In a large pot, add the water and bring to a low boil over medium-high heat. Once the water is at a low boil, add in baking soda, brown sugar, and honey and stir.
- Then reduce heat to maintain a low simmer.
- Then add the pretzel to the bath and let the pretzel simmer for about 1 minute, using a spoon to coat the top of the pretzel dough as well.
- Remove and place on the greased baking sheet.
- Take the giant pretzel and bake for around 15 minutes.
- Once the baking is almost over, melt the 2 tbsp of butter. Remove the pretzel and generously coat with the melted butter . Then top with coarse salt and serve warm.