Pretzel for a Crowd Recipe on Food52 (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret ingredient which makes a pretzel taste like a pretzel? ›

On the one hand, lye gives pretzels their distinctive flavor, kind of a sharp flatness, if that makes sense. It's what keeps a pretzel from tasting like pretzel-shaped bread. On the other hand, lye is ridiculously dangerous. It will burn you if it gets on your skin and blind you if it gets in your eyes.

Purchase a ceramic bread warmer at a kitchen supply store or online. Heat the warmer in the microwave for about a minute and place it in a basket using an oven mitt. Cover the bread warmer with a clean dish cloth and place your warm pretzels on top of it to serve.

Toppings: Set out bowls of toppings for guests to customize their pretzels. Options might include grated cheese, diced onions, jalapeños, crumbled bacon, mini chocolate chips, and crushed candy bars.

Traditional Bavarian pretzels are dipped in a lye solution before they are baked. Lye, also known as sodium hydroxide, is essentially the same stuff that's used to make soap and clean drains. It can even dissolve glass.

Soft pretzels can usually be baked in 15 minutes; hard pretzels, meanwhile, must be baked for up to an hour. The longer baking time further dries out the pretzel. And, as we have discussed, the lack of moisture is what gives the hard pretzel its brittle texture.

Simply wrap all the pretzel bites tightly in foil, sealing the edges together, then place in your oven on “keep warm,” or 170F.

Storing Freshly Baked Soft Pretzels

Individually Wrapped: Wrap each pretzel in plastic wrap to protect against dry air. Room Temperature for Short-Term: Store them in an airtight container at room temperature if enjoying within a couple of days.

Wrap the Pretzels in a dish cloth and put them in a plastic container or put them directly in a paper bag - in both cases store the Pretzels a cool place. There is no way to have "fresh" Pretzels the next day without baking them again for a short time (after wetting the Pretzel a bit).

Pretzel in our mall now and it's the best! To keep them warm while you're waiting without them getting dried out I placed them stacked loosely on baking sheets with cooling racks (so they weren't directly on the baking sheets) and rotated them in and out of an oven on the lowest setting.

How many pretzels are in a crowd pleaser? ›

The Crowd Pleaser. 25 soft pretzels and a bottle of mustard.

Get Cheesy

A classic pick is a beer cheese dip. Combine cheddar cheese, cream cheese for creaminess, and 1/2 to 3/4 cups of beer depending on if you're looking for a thinner or thicker dip. Or try this Gouda-infused version.

Often, they are sliced horizontally, buttered, and sold as Butterbrezel, or come with slices of cold meats or cheese. Butter-filled pretzels are also commonly sold under this name. Sesame, poppy, sunflower, pumpkin, or caraway seeds, melted cheese, and bacon bits are other popular toppings.

Yeast – Use instant yeast (or rapid rise yeast), not active dry yeast. Brown Sugar – Brown sugar helps give the classic flavor to our pretzel dough, and provides sugar for the yeast to feed on. Do not omit this! Salt – Salt provides flavor!

Salt is the most common seasoning, or topping, for pretzels, complementing the washing soda or lye treatment that gives pretzels their traditional skin and flavor acquired through the Maillard reaction. Other toppings are mustard, cheeses, sugar, chocolate, cinnamon, sweet glazing, seeds, and nuts.

While dough is rising, prepare a baking soda water bath with 2 cups warm water and 2 tbsp baking soda. Be certain to stir often. After dough has risen, pinch off bits of dough and roll into a long rope (about 1/2 inch or less thick) and shape. Dip pretzel in soda solution and place on greased baking sheet.

The dipping stage normally takes just 10-15 seconds of exposure to the hot alkaline solution which is about 200°F. Traditionally the solution was a mixture of sodium hydroxide and water. Today, most production involves the use of sodium carbonate and bicarbonate solutions which are not as caustic as NaOH.