Philadelphia Soft Pretzels

Philadelphia Soft pretzels have been a lifelong Favorite of Native Philadelphians Of which I am one and of Visitors from around the world. My earliest memories of them are from summer days whet Pop the Pretzel and Italian Water Ice man would announce his presence in our neighbor hood by ringing a bell. We would go running to his truck and line up for what was a summer treat

There was nothing better on a Hot Summer day in Southwest Philadelphia than a Italian Ice and a Soft Philly Pretzel. In those days they were a Nickel for the big ones , 2cents for the mini's and Water Ice was a Dime.

Having had the privileges' of having four Grand parents and three great parents within 5 Block of my childhood home. Earning some money for a summer treat was just a errand or an odd job away form a summer treat.

Having moved from Philadelphia it was always a treat to come back and visit and get a fresh soft pretzel and an Italian ice from one of the street vendors working in the shadow of City Hall.

I have tried to create as true to form a Genuine Philadelphia that you can make at home and enjoy with your Favorite Mustard

To Be a real Philadelphia soft pretzel you will have to dip them in an alkaline water bath before baking. This bath essentially gelatinizes the outside of the pretzel, preventing it from fully “springing” during baking (as bread does) and giving pretzels their signature chewy crust. It also gives them their unique and indelible “pretzel” flavor

If you skip this step you will be making rolls not pretzels. With a bit of care it perfectly safe and will give great tasting results. I have provided a Genuine NaOH 5% solution for dipping as well as a Simple Baking Soda Bath. NaOH is commonly safely used in Baking and making other products at home.

1.NaOH Powder available for Amazon

2.Stainless Steel Pot for the solution.

3..A plastic or stainless slotted spoon for dipping the pretzel.

4.A baking sheet and parchment paper.

5. Oven Mit

1 14 g of Active dry Yeast (1 Package)

2 350g Warm Water

3 Tbs. Spoon Sugar

4 15g Coarse Salt

5 425 g bread flour

6 200 g all purpose flour

7 Bowls for mixing and rising dough

8 Large Stainless steel Pot get one at a thrift store that you can use just for pretzel dipping.

9 cookie sheet

10 Parchment paper

11 Slotted spoon

12 Pretzel Salt Hoosier Hill Farm Coarse Pretzel Salt, 2 lbs Available from Amazon

13 Sodium Hydroxide - Pure - Food Grade For Dipping

14 Alternative Baking Soda

Making pretzels is quick and easy. it is a simple bread dough and one made can be frozen uncooked to be enjoyed anytime.

This is a stiff dough and your pretzels can be made in the shape of a traditional shape or in Nugget form served with Mustard or cheese or any dip or topping you like.

Directions:

1. Add 325 g (1.14 cups) warm water to mixing bowl of a stand mixer Reserve balance of water to adjust dough as you mix dough should be stiff to allow for easier shaping

2. Add 1tsp sugar to bowl

3. Add yeast stir to dissolve

4. Mix together Bread Flour, AP Flour and salt in a separate bowl once mixed add to activated yeast solution.

5 Using a mixer equated with a dough hook starting on low mix for 3-5 minutes as the dough starts to come to ether increase to medium mix for about 5 minutes.

6 Stop mixer and allow dough to rest for 10 Minutes.

7 Mix again on medium until the dough comes together and forms a firm ball and comes cleanly away from the sides of the bowl.

8. Remove dough from the bowl kneed dough by hand and fold into a loaf shape folding the seams underneath and creating a smooth top

9 Place Dough in a lightly olive oil coated bowl or plastic bin and let rise for 90 Minutes

10 Remove the dough from the Bowl Portion into 110 g balls.

11. First roll the portion into a ball keep the dough cover with a dap towel so they DonT dry out during the rolling

12. The dough should be stiff and will need to be rolled in two steps.

13 Step once roll each dough ball into a log about 8 inches long and place back under the damp cloth while you roll out the rest. This allows the dough to relax a bit before final stretch and roll.

14 Roll dough into Noodle like shape about 30" long and 1/2 inch round

15. once the dough is long and skinny form it into a U shape place the left side of the U over the right side of the U once or twice then flip the braids to the top part of the and press to to secure. Shape would be as pictured above.

16 As an alternative you can roll the dough into noodle shape then cut into nuggets

Place the shape Dough on a Cooking sheet on top of Parchment and let rise for under plastic Towel or in a proofing bag for 1 hour.

17. After the dough has risen place uncovered in Refrigerator for an Hour to form a skin.

18 After the rest in the fridge you can proceed to baking or you can place in the freezer and once frozen Bag for later use.

19 Remove from Frida and prepare for baking

Pretzels are different from rolls because of the Dip that is done before baking. Dipping the pretzels in a Caustic solution before baking cause the skin gelatinize into a thin coating that forms the glossy brown skin that make a pretzel a pretzel.

The Cold or Frozen pretzels are dipped in to hot solution for about 20 seconds just long enough to coat them before baking.

There are two solutions that can be used both are safe when done with care.

The first is a 5% solution of Caustic Sodium Hydroxide Available from Amazon

Place 200g of water in a plastic container add 10 Grams of Sodium Hydroxide stir to mix . Use gloves and wear eye protection and take care to not splash the solution on you. If you are unto comfortable with this method you can get a similar result using a strong baking soda solution. Baking soda is less caustic but it will produce a similar result

For a baking sod solution mix 8 cups of water with 12 Tsp of baking soda into a pot bring to a boil turn down the heat to simmer and dip each pretzel in the solution for about 30 seconds careful place on the Parchment lined baking sheet sprinkle with Pretzel Salt and bake at 450 for about 12 minutes until golden brown Check after 8 minutes

Remove form the over serve and enjoy.

The pretzels can be baked and enjoyed after the rest in the refrigerators or they can be frozen and stored ready to bake for game day. They freeze great and do not require defrosting. To bake from froze place the dipping solution in a pot bring the Dipping solution to temp does not need to be boiling just hot. Then dip the frozen pretzels in the solution for 20 seconds place on Parchment lined baking sheet sprinkle with pretzel sale. The Hoosier farm Salt available on Amazon is the best by far.

Bake at 450 about 12 minutes again check after 8 You want the pretzels a nice golden brown. I let them sit for a few minutes and serve warm but the are great at room temperature.

Do not store in a plastic bag as it caused the salt to melt and make the pretzels surface soggy so it best to eat fresh. As a kid growing up in Philadelphia the pretzels were baked early in the morning and delivered to pretzel vendors all over the City served from all kinds of open carts. We all survived and they tasted great. This recipe is my recreation of that Iconic soft pretzel that brings back the memory of Growing up in a simpler time Playing Ball at Finnigan's Park Stick ball in the streets and being part of a neighborhood. Enjoy