Thread: Colleen, I'm Making Pretzels Today!!!

I remember a while ago, in that massive thread of yours, mentioning my grandmas soft pretzel recipe. You said you wanted it. I finally found it and am making some today!! These are the best pretzels in the world

This recipe has been used by my family to make pretzels for over a hundred years. You won't find better. I'll let you know how mine turn out.

The Recipe:


Grandma Wild's Pretzels

Pre-heat oven 375 degrees

Dissolve 1 envelope dry yeast in 2 Tablespoons lukewarm (NOT HOT) water and 1 heaping teaspoon
sugar.

When fluffy add:
1 cup scalded milk
1 egg beaten with 2 Tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup melted shortening, Plain Solid Crisco (Grandma used Lard)
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups all purpose flour (measure first then sift)

Turn out on floured board and knead until smooth.

To prevent drying you might want to cover loosely with a towel.

Let rise 1/2 hour.

Cut off small portions.

Roll in rope-like fashion with hands on lightly floured board to
1/2 inch thickness and about 15 inches long.

Form into pretzel shape.

Place right side down on cloth and let rise about 20 minutes.

Have ready lye water by adding 2 Tablespoons granulated lye to
2 quarts water in a granite or iron vessel.

Heat to simmering point.

Drop in pretzels 1 or 2 at a time, let remain 2 to 3 seconds only.

Skim out and turn over onto a baking sheet bringing right side up again.
( There is a large round spatula with holes called a skimmer. Whatever
you skim with must have holes so lye water can drain out.)

Sprinkle with coarse salt. (Not sea salt. Can be if not with regular salt
look in Kosher food section.)

Bake at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes.
Some people bake at 475 degrees for 7-8 minutes.

Use old baking sheets. Lye will stain aluminum cookie sheets and anything else.
To prevent pretzels from sticking use bees-wax or parafin for coating sheets.
Yields about 20 pretzels. May make multiple recipes at same time but work quickly and
keep dough covered or it drys out.

Originally Posted by Wildtim

I remember a while ago, in that massive thread of yours, mentioning my grandmas soft pretzel recipe. You said you wanted it. I finally found it and am making some today!! These are the best pretzels in the world

This recipe has been used by my family to make pretzels for over a hundred years. You won't find better. I'll let you know how mine turn out.

The Recipe:


Grandma Wild's Pretzels

Pre-heat oven 375 degrees

Dissolve 1 envelope dry yeast in 2 Tablespoons lukewarm (NOT HOT) water and 1 heaping teaspoon
sugar.

When fluffy add:
1 cup scalded milk
1 egg beaten with 2 Tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup melted shortening, Plain Solid Crisco (Grandma used Lard)
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups all purpose flour (measure first then sift)

Turn out on floured board and knead until smooth.

To prevent drying you might want to cover loosely with a towel.

Let rise 1/2 hour.

Cut off small portions.

Roll in rope-like fashion with hands on lightly floured board to
1/2 inch thickness and about 15 inches long.

Form into pretzel shape.

Place right side down on cloth and let rise about 20 minutes.

Have ready lye water by adding 2 Tablespoons granulated lye to
2 quarts water in a granite or iron vessel.

Heat to simmering point.

Drop in pretzels 1 or 2 at a time, let remain 2 to 3 seconds only.

Skim out and turn over onto a baking sheet bringing right side up again.
( There is a large round spatula with holes called a skimmer. Whatever
you skim with must have holes so lye water can drain out.)

Sprinkle with coarse salt. (Not sea salt. Can be if not with regular salt
look in Kosher food section.)

Bake at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes.
Some people bake at 475 degrees for 7-8 minutes.

Use old baking sheets. Lye will stain aluminum cookie sheets and anything else.
To prevent pretzels from sticking use bees-wax or parafin for coating sheets.
Yields about 20 pretzels. May make multiple recipes at same time but work quickly and
keep dough covered or it drys out.

OMG I am on it! LOL you just have no idea ( I'll have to tell you about the movie theater ) Thank you so much for sharing this recipe

XXWarm Regards, Colleen

Lye water???

That sounds really involved. I can just stop on my way to work at the Philly Soft Pretzel Factory and pick up a dozen for $3. :-D

Originally Posted by cabo_sailor

Lye water???

Thats right! Same as is in your shaving soap.

It's what makes the outside chewy while the inside stays soft. Otherwise the outside would get to crispy before the inside was baked.

Just think Colleen... after you cook the pretzels you can reuse the lye water to make soap... hmmmm pretzel scented soap... put a little german mustard in mine, please.


[sorry.. couldn't resist]

They came out really well. That is they taste great. It'll take a lot more practice before I can whip out the perfect shaped pretzel as fast as you want to keep moving when you make these. I only made two dozen plus a couple. I can't imagine what my aunts kitchen looks like when she makes the for all the family functions. She does them in batches of at least a gross.

Originally Posted by azjoe

Just think Colleen... after you cook the pretzels you can reuse the lye water to make soap... hmmmm pretzel scented soap... put a little german mustard in mine, please.


[sorry.. couldn't resist]

Isn't mustard seed a good exfolient

Originally Posted by azjoe

Just think Colleen... after you cook the pretzels you can reuse the lye water to make soap... hmmmm pretzel scented soap... put a little german mustard in mine, please.


[sorry.. couldn't resist]

oh yes....that's all part of business isn't it, "learning to be more efficient" that's a great idea Joe ALTHOUGH... I must confess that I sorda missed the lye water part...lol, and I'm not sure I'm brave enough.

Tim, you've obviously eaten hundreds of these in your lifetime, so the lye water must not be toooo bad..... Lettttts seeeee.....NaOH is a salt... .

Soapmistress

Oh Colleen! you know how it works chemically. probably better than I do.

The lye (2 second dip) reacts with the shortening in the dough soaponifying it but only at the surface due to the short dip. This is why good pretzels are soft even on the brown top part and remain that way without getting stale like other bread products.

As a side note be careful when you flip them onto the cookie sheet, at this point they are very slippery (that soaponification again) and want to slide around for a second then they stick.

I think it's fascinating that someone actually thought to do this in the first place. And that it actually works in the second. Also you get a really yummy treat that is chewy on top and soft inside without frying anything

until I learned that pretzel stands couldn't make them this way I'd always wondered why they didn't taste as good as the ones I had at home.

I helped mom make these when I was little, she wouldn't let me dip them just roll out the dough, but what a different world it was then.

There is one big danger though. Use old cookie sheets, if you don't get the beeswax on really well they WILL be ruined (I might try wax paper next time and see if that works as well. Your cast iron vessel (or the granite one but I have iron) should be dedicated to pretzel making as well, the lye takes off all seasoning where it sits in the pan and indeed everything down to bare iron. I have a hot plate and make my pretzels on a disposable surface. Wax paper over newspapers with a board on top. Not on the counter in case of a spill. the hot plate has had Lye water spilled on it so I know it will ruin a chrome or painted finish. I don't know it it will pit stainless but I suspect so.

That said It wasn't nearly as difficult as I feared overall. Like I said above my artistry needs work but the technical aspects of the preparation were easier than making a loaf of bread by hand. And the results yum!