Soft Baked Pretzels with Coarse Salt and Mustard
Inspired by techniques from NYT Cooking and America's Test Kitchen.
A bread-flour dough sweetened with brown sugar is rolled into ropes and twisted, dipped in a hot bicarbonate of soda bath for the classic crust, brushed with egg, salted and baked, then served warm with yellow mustard.
Always check the labels of the products you use.
Method
- 1
Dough. Mix the flour, yeast, sugar and salt, add the lukewarm water and soft butter and knead until smooth, then cover and leave to double.
- 2
Shape. Divide the dough into 8 pieces, roll each into a rope, twist into pretzels and chill to firm up.
- 3
Heat. Heat the oven to 220 °C (200 °C fan) and bring the 2 litres water and the bicarbonate of soda to the boil.
- 4
Dip. Dip each pretzel 30 seconds, flipping once.
- 5
Glaze and salt. Brush with egg and scatter with coarse salt.
- 6
Bake. Bake for 10-12 minutes until deep brown and serve warm with mustard.
Storage
Pretzels are best warm on the day. Keep leftovers loosely covered at room temperature for 1 day, or freeze unsalted for up to 1 month and reheat in a hot oven.
EU nutrition claims
- Source of protein: 3.1 g protein per 100 kcal, about 12% of energy (needs ≥ 12%)
- Low sugars: 4.5 g sugars per 100 g (limit ≤ 5 g)
Per 100 g of the finished dish, worked out from the nutrition per serving and the lowest likely cooked weight (about 73 g a serving), so the true values are, if anything, lower. Thresholds from the Annex to EU Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006. How we decide
Free sugars
3 g per serving
6 % of the 50 g daily maximum · 12 % of the ideal 25 g
Free sugars under 50 g a day, ideally about 25 g, based on WHO free-sugar guidance (not endorsed by WHO). The share shown is the share of one serving. WHO
Equipment
- stand mixer with dough hook (or large bowl)
- 2 baking trays lined with baking paper, lightly oiled
- cling film
- large wide pan
- slotted spoon
- pastry brush
- wire rack
Nutrition per serving (estimated values)
| Per serving | Amount |
|---|---|
| Energy | 278 kcal |
| Protein | 8.6 g |
| Carbohydrate | 49.4 g |
| of which sugars | 3.3 g |
| of which free sugars | 3 g |
| Fat | 4.8 g |
| of which saturates | 2.2 g |
| Fibre | 2.1 g |
| Salt | 2.13 g |
Protein per 100 kcal
3.1 g High Protein needs ≥ 5 g (20% of energy)
Calculated from USDA FoodData Central ingredient values
