Benny's Pretzel bread

Updated at: Wed, 16 Aug 2023 21:11:10 GMT

Step 1

Knead it all together for a bit until it’s getting more stuck to itself than to your hands. It should still be kinda sticky, but it’s already a pretty dense bread so you don’t want to add too much flour or it’ll be even more dense. My usual metric is if it feels kinda pillowy when I add flour and can knead it well, but then gets sticky again once the flour is absorbed, it’s probably good. If you use a stand mixer, I have no idea what to do :)

Step 2

Let it rise for an hour or so.

Step 3

Preheat oven to 400. Put water to boil. You want it to be enough so that the rolls you make float without touching the bottom of the pot.

Step 4

Take it out, punch out the air from the dough, form into a log. Let sit for 3 minutes or so.

Step 5

Separate into 4 loaves. Shape as you want them. DON’T try to braid them, circles or ovals are ideal. The reason you don’t want to braid it is that water can get stuck in the crevices during the boil and it can lead to a funky texture. So the less seams, the better

Step 6

Let them rest for 15 minutes or so (I find that this leads to a better rise? But I haven’t been too scientific about it to confirm)

Step 7

Put baking soda in the water. The exact amount is unclear, I usually do somewhere between 0.5-1 cup depending on how much water I’m using. My visual metric is “until the bubbles form and take a while to pop”

Step 8

Drop the bread in and boil for 60-90 seconds on each side.

Step 9

Take them out, (I use two flat slotted spatulas, which helps it drain) pat dry any water on top, score it, and top with seasoning (eg everything but the bagel or minced garlic)

Step 10

Bake for around 25 minutes or so, until inner temp is 200. If making into buns, reduce time (probably more like 17-18 minutes.)

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