Brezen - German Pretzels

Add 500 g plain flour, 2 tbsp brown sugar, 2 tbsp butter, 1 tsp kosher salt, 1 tsp instant dried yeast and 300 ml water to a mixing bowl. Mix with a dough hook on the low setting for 10 minutes.

Separate the dough into roughly 100g balls, a little over or under is fine. Cover them all with a damp cloth or plastic wrap on a lined sheet tray, to keep them from drying out.

One by one, roll each dough ball by hand into a long cyclinder about 50cm wide, keeping the centre fatter than the ends. Cross over the ends and pinch them to form the twist, then press the ends into the fatter dough centre to form the pretzel shape. Transfer each shaped pretzel to a lined sheet tray.

Once all the pretzels have been shaped, cover them and let them rest for 30 minutes.

Now the pretzels have rested and the dough has relaxed, stretch each one out slightly as they tend to shrink a little when the dough is tight.

Put the sheet tray of pretzels uncovered in the freezer for 40 minutes. This hardens them up somewhat so they are easier to handle when dipped in the lye.

Prepare the solution in a well ventilated area or outside, as the solution will release fumes when it is first mixed. It's also best to wear gloves and eye protection to avoid any potential contact with the lye. Preferably only use stainless steel or other lye safe materials for anything touching the lye solution, including the bowl and skimmer.

Add the 500 ml cold water into a lye safe bowl, then pour the 20 g food grade lye granules into it. It's critical that it's done in this order, otherwise the small amount of water initially coming into contact with all the lye granules could react violently. Mix the solution carefully using a lye safe utensil until the granules are fully disolved and the solution is no longer cloudy. The reaction will generate a fair bit of heat in the water, hence why it should be cold initially.

Prepare a large baking sheet to hold the pretzels after they have been dipped. Line it preferably with a silicone baking mat, as the pretzels stick less to it, otherwise baking paper is still fine.

Once the lye solution is ready, place one of the now slightly frozen pretzels carefully into the solution. Keep it submerged for 10 to 15 seconds, then remove it using a lye safe utensil and place it onto the lined baking sheet. Repeat until all of the pretzels have been dipped in the lye bath.

Cut the fat middle section of each pretzel with a lame or knife to let them expand there when baking.

At this stage if they are being frozen for later, place the pretzel tray uncovered in the freezer for two hours until they are mostly hard, then transfer them to an airtight container and keep in the freezer until needed. See the next section for baking from frozen.

If baking from frozen, sprinkle a little water onto each pretzel so the pretzel salt will stick. For fresh pretzels this isn't a problem.

Sprinkle a little pretzel salt onto each pretzel. Bake at 180°C fan forced for 12 minutes if fresh, or 15 minutes if frozen. Cook until they are coloured deeply brown, rotating if needed to brown them evenly. Let them cool down for a few minutes then serve.