Monday, February 28, 2011

Rosemary and Sea Salt Soft Pretzels

Rosemary and Sea Salt Soft Pretzels

With the cold and wet weather this past weekend (as well as street closures due to the Oscars which created a traffic nightmare), I knew it would be a great time to stay in and get some cooking done. I wanted a fun project and since I haven't unpacked my books in my move, I turned to a book that was just sent to me a few days ago, courtesy of Amazon. I've long been obsessed with the Food Porn Daily site and drool over their luscious pictures and delicious sounding recipes, well, daily. I was so excited to learn the people behind it created a book that's just as beautiful as the website and with recipes! This was my first time making pretzels and while plain salted pretzels are fine, I loved the idea of kicking them up with rosemary and mustard seeds. I had a bit of difficulty transferring the pretzels from the pan to the boiling dish and back to the pan, but eventually I figured out a system. I loved the herbacious flavor of these, but at the same time, it's not overwhelming. In my opinion the best mustard to serve these with is spicy sweet, but by all means, figure out what works best for you. 

Rosemary and Sea Salt Soft Pretzels
(Adapted from Martha Stewart and Food Porn Daily)

Makes 12 pretzels

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1 cup warm water
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus 2 tablespoons butter melted for brushing
Vegetable oil for baking sheets
3 tablespoons baking soda
1 tablespoon coarse sea salt
1 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon mustard seeds

Assorted mustards, for serving

Mix yeast, kosher salt, sugar and warm water in a small bowl, whisking until sugar dissolves. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.

Mix flour and cayenne in a large bowl. Use a pastry blender or your fingers to cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.

Slowly pour the yeast mixture over the flour, stirring to combine. Use your hands to gather the dough together. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until the dough is no longer sticky, about 5 minutes. Cover with plastic, and let rise for 30 minutes.

Cut the dough into 12 pieces. Roll each piece into an 18-inch rope. Form a U-shape with one rope and twist the ends together twice. Fold the twisted portion backward along the center of the U-shape to form a circle, then gently press the ends of the rope on to the dough to seal. Transfer to an oiled baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining pieces. Let rise for 20 minutes.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the baking soda. Boil pretzels in batches until puffed and slightly shiny, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a wire rack to drain.

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Return the pretzels to the baking sheet. Sprinkle each with some of the salt, then rosemary, and then mustard seeds. Bake 10-15 minutes until the pretzels are golden brown and cooked through. Brush each pretzel with melted butter and let sit for 10 minutes before serving. Serve with assorted mustards.

Printable Recipe

Stumble Upon Toolbar

24 comments:

Erica said...

Mandi & I made homemade pretzels for Oktoberfest and had SO much fun doing so! The transfer from boil to bake is interesting- definitely need to get the technique down! Yours look fantastic and the toppings sound wonderful. Soft pretzels are amazing

notyet100 said...

feel like picking one

Maria said...

I love soft pretzels! Nice touch with the rosemary and sea salt.

Eliana said...

Love the rustic appeal of these pretzels. They look incredibly delicious.

Gaby said...

WHAT?!? These look so freaking good. omg. drooling :)

Rachel said...

These look so good! I've been craving soft pretzels for weeks, just waiting for the right recipe - I think this looks like a winner :)

Mark said...

Those look and sound awesome!

Joanne said...

I have a serious love of soft pretzels to begin with...but add some rosemary and they are some serious kind of amazing!

Amanda said...

These look absolutely divine... I would LOVE to make them!

Kristen said...

These look absolutely mouth watering. I love the blend of flavors here!

Kelly said...

I made soft pretzels, once. I was having a presidential debate party and the theme for the food was different state-specific specialities. Knowing that Philly is known for its pretzels that is what I picked. Mine were your basic, all-American variety but rosemary & sea salt, those sound fantastic! I bet you could even do an Italian cheese fondue of sorts to pair.

LetMeEatCake Eat With Me! said...

omg these look incredible! love soft pretzles!

vanillasugarblog said...

esi these came out perfectly!
i love them soft and with stuff on them.
the photo is really good too.
nicely done girl

susan said...

Can these soft pretzels be considered one of the four food groups? Can we make these when we cook together? I have always wanted to make pretzels and now I am even more motivated! yum!

Unknown said...

I'm totally craving pretzels now.

angela@spinachtiger said...

Not eating carbs right now, BUT, if I were, these would be the first thing I would grab. Everything doughy is better with rosemary and sea salt.

The Duo Dishes said...

They're a bread lover's dream. Next up...make your own mustard!

Diana said...

A little known fact about me, I got an A+ on the soft pretzels I made in cooking class in the 7th grade. I was an expert at twirling the dough into a pretzel shape. I have a feeling these kick the snot out of the ones I made back then. I love the idea of adding rosemary! May need to go foraging in the neighborhood soon...

Banana Wonder said...

Yum Esi! I love anything with rosemary and I have always wondered about making pretzels. Yours look fantastic. Next time, how about a pretzel grilled cheese??

Cool Chic Style Fashion said...

Molto belli ♥ ciao

marla said...

Love Food Porn Daily & Amanda (the author) is a doll! These pretzels look heavenly. Love the rosemary :)

a frog in the cottage said...

if I could I'd ate one right away !! they are goriuous

Vegolicious said...

Wow, these look amazing. I love soft pretzels.

I’d love for your to submit them to Vegolicious, a vegetarian food photo gallery where readers can browse beautiful photos to discover new recipes and wonderful blogs. If you would like to share this recipe with our readers please submit a photo along with a link to this post.

Unknown said...

rosemary and mustard, oh my! delicious :)