Its easy to cook: Prezel Recipe - The art of french pastry jacquy pfeiffer

Pretzel Recipe with Cinnamon and Sugar Coating

I have tried this recipe and the outcome is a rather crispy and biscuit texture pretzel. I have tried to follow the recipe as much as I could but I substitute lye water with sodium bicarbonate and flavored the pretzel with sugar and cinnamon. For the lye water substitution, I initially wanted to use Chinese Kan Sui but upon researching on other user comment, I realize that it is not an ideal substitution.

The steps and explanation from the book can be quiet lengthy. Thus I have shorten the steps to the key points.

Pretzel Recipe (10 pieces of Pretzel)

A) POOLISH

Whole milk (3.5% fat) | 90 grams |⅓ cup

Dry yeast | 10 grams | 2½ teaspoons

All-purpose flour | 165 grams | 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons

B) DOUGH

Water | 100 grams | 7 tablespoons

Bread flour | 165 grams | 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons

Butter (French style, 82% fat), softened | 35 grams | 11/5 ounces (1 tablespoon plus ¾ teaspoon)

Sea salt | 7 grams | 1 teaspoon

Butter (French style, 82% fat), softened, for the pans | As needed | As needed

C) DIPPING

Sodium Bicarbonate 1/4 cup

Boiling water 3 cup

D) COATING -

Melted butter

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

METHOD

1. Mix the milk and yeast together in the stand mixer. Sprinkle the all-purpose flour over the top. Let sit undisturbed for 10 to 15 minutes. After 15 minutes cracks should have formed on the surface of the flour; this signifies that the yeast is fermenting. The fermentation of the yeast creates a very slight acidic flavor that contributes a pleasant flavor to the dough.

2 Once the yeast has been activated it is time to mix and knead the dough. Adjust the temperature of the 100 grams of water to the same temperature as the milk. Before beginning the mixing process place an extra ¼ cup of water next to the mixer, just in case the dough is too dry. Add the bread flour, water, soft butter, and finally sea salt to the mixing bowl. Mix for 1 full minute on medium speed with the dough hook. The dough should begin to come together after 1 minute; if it does not, add a very small amount of water to it. Mix for 5 minutes on medium; stop the mixer and scrape down any dough sticking to the side or bottom of the bowl or that has risen up the hook. Mix for another 7 minutes on medium, until the dough is smooth and wraps around the hook.

3 Remove the dough from around the hook, shape it into a ball, and place it back in the bowl. Cover the bowl with a damp towel or with plastic wrap and let rest in a warm spot for 20 minutes.

4 Using a whisk, carefully mix the sodium bicarbonate with the hot water in a glass bowl or a plastic container.

5 After 20 minutes of rest, cut the dough into 58-gram pieces; the next step is to shape them. You should not use flour during the shaping process. Take a piece of dough and fold it over itself to create a ball. Cup the dough and start pressing on it while making clockwise circles. At first you need to press hard so that the dough sticks to the table a little, and then you ease the pressing while tightening the cupping. When the shaping is done you should have perfectly round spheres of dough. Shape all of the pieces of dough into spheres and place them in the order in which you shaped them on the edge of the counter, leaving a lot of space in front of you. When you shape dough into balls, the gluten develops and makes the dough tight; before you continue shaping the pretzels you will need to let the balls rest for 5 minutes, so make sure to place them in order in a row so that you remember which one was shaped first. Cover them with a towel and let them rest for 5 minutes.

6 Take the first sphere that you worked on and roll over it with the palms of your hands to shape into a 3-inch-long log. Set it aside and repeat with the other spheres. Cover with a towel and let rest for 5 minutes. With both hands, roll each pretzel until it is 6 inches long; the shaping has to be done gradually or the dough will rip or shrink back. Repeat with the other pretzel logs. Cover with a towel each time and let rest for 5 minutes. Repeat rolling each log progressively longer, with a 5-minute rest between each rolling, until the logs are 21 inches long. The middle should be slightly thicker than the ends.

7 To shape the pretzel, with the log lying on the countertop in front of you take an end in each hand, holding with your thumb and forefinger, and draw slowly toward the middle with both hands until your hands are centered in front of you; then cross the right end of the dough over the left. Let go of both dough ends, then take them up and twist the right end over the left end one more time. Fold the twist up toward the center of the circle and attach an end to each side of the round. STEP 3 Twist the right end over the left end one more time. STEP 4 Fold the twist up towards the center of the circle and attach an end to each side of the round.

8 Once all the pretzels have been shaped, dip into the solution. Set in a warm spot to rise for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the other oven to 450°F/230°C with the rack positioned in the center.

9 Bake the pretzels for 10 minutes 1 sheet pan at a time. Butter the pretzel with a brush, coat with cinnamon and sugar