Hot Buttered Pretzels 4 Ways

Servings 6

Prep Time 7

Cook Time 10

Ingredients

Pretzel Dough

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast 1 standard packet
1 cup warm water

Baking Soda Bath

1 cup very hot water
2 tablespoons baking soda

For Finishing

Kosher salt for sprinkling
6 tablespoons butter melted

Instructions

Instructions
Make the dough. Add the flour, salt, sugar, yeast, and warm water to the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix until the dough comes together, then knead with the dough hook for about 5–8 minutes, until the dough is smooth, soft, and elastic. You can also mix and knead the dough by hand.
Let it rise. Lightly oil a bowl, add the dough, cover, and let rise for 30 minutes.
Make the baking soda bath. While the dough rises, combine 1 cup very hot water with 2 tablespoons baking soda in a shallow pan or dish. Stir well and set aside. It does not need to stay boiling or even especially hot. By the time we're shaping pretzels, I want it comfortable to work around with kids.
Heat the oven. Preheat the oven to 475°F. Lightly grease a sheet pan or prepare it with your preferred nonstick liner.
Portion the dough. Divide the dough into 8 pieces for large pretzels or 16 for smaller ones. Let the pieces rest for about 5 minutes.
Make whatever you want. Roll the dough into ropes and twist into traditional pretzels—or don't! Make braids, balls, twists, letters, roses, or whatever your kids come up with. You can handle this dough quite a bit. If you don't like your shape, squish it together and try again.
Give them a baking soda bath. Place the shaped dough into the baking soda mixture and let it soak for about 2 minutes, spooning some of the water over the top if necessary.
Salt and rest. Transfer the pretzels to the prepared baking sheet and sprinkle with kosher salt. Let them rest, uncovered, for about 10 minutes.
Bake. Bake at 475°F for 8–9 minutes, or until beautifully golden brown. Stuffed or especially thick shapes may need a little additional time; watch the color rather than relying only on the clock.
Bring on the butter. As soon as the pretzels come out of the oven, brush them generously with all 6 tablespoons of melted butter. Yes, all of it. Keep brushing.
Serve warm.

Notes

Four Ways We Make Them

Classic Hot Buttered Pretzel

Roll the dough into a long rope and shape it into a pretzel. Give it the baking soda bath, sprinkle with kosher salt, bake, and brush generously with melted butter.

Pretzel Dogs

Roll a portion of dough into a long rope, then flatten it into a thin ribbon. Wrap the dough around a hot dog, slightly overlapping as you go so the hot dog is enclosed in a spiral of pretzel dough.

Continue with the baking soda bath, kosher salt, resting and baking instructions above. Serve warm with ketchup or your favorite mustard.

Pizza Pretzels

Take a mozzarella string cheese and wrap it with thin slices of pepperoni. Roll and flatten a portion of pretzel dough into a long, thin ribbon, then wrap the dough around the pepperoni-covered cheese stick, overlapping it as you go so the filling is enclosed.

Continue with the baking soda bath, salt, rest and bake. Serve warm with marinara sauce for dipping.

Cinnamon-Sugar Pretzels

Shape and bake the pretzels as directed. Brush the hot pretzels generously with melted butter, then immediately sprinkle with cinnamon sugar so it sticks to all that butter.

They're delicious just like that, but if you really want to go for it, make the frosting.

Quick Vanilla Frosting for Cinnamon Pretzels

Ingredients

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Splash of vanilla extract

Heavy cream, as needed

Instructions

Whisk the melted butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla together. Add heavy cream a little at a time until you have a thick, decadent frosting that's soft enough for dipping but not runny.

Serve alongside warm cinnamon-sugar pretzels.

A Few Things I've Learned After Making These 100+ Times

All-purpose flour is fine. The original King Arthur recipe calls for bread flour, and I've made them that way plenty of times. I've also made them over and over with regular all-purpose flour. For something we're making with kids on a random Monday, I don't think you need to buy special flour.

Don't worry about perfect pretzel shapes. Seriously. This is part lunch, part activity. Give the kids some dough and let them play.

You can start over. Pretzel doesn't look right? Ball it up and reshape it. This dough is incredibly forgiving.

Make them smaller if you want. Eight makes big pretzels. Sixteen makes a size I often prefer, especially for kids or if you're making several different variations.

Use the butter. I use about twice what the original recipe calls for, and I have no regrets.

Eat them warm. That's when these are at their absolute best: still soft, covered in melted butter, and preferably being torn apart over the kitchen counter before you've even finished cleaning up.

Course: Appetizer, Main Course, Snack

Cuisine: American