Combine the warm water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand
mixer and sprinkle the dry yeast on top. Let sit until the mixture begins to
foam, about 5 minutes. Add the flour and butter. Next, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until it's well combined. Change to medium speed and
knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, 4 to 5 minutes. (Kneading the
dough can also be done by hand.)
Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil with
vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with
plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Line a baking tray with parchment paper and lightly brush with vegetable oil. Set aside.
When the dough is ready, lightly flour your working surface and divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope and, holding the ends, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place the pretzels on the baking tray and leave it at room temperature for 1 hour. This dries out the surface and makes them easier to handle.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
In an 8-quart
saucepan or roasting pan, bring 10 cups water to a boil. Cut the heat and slowly add the baking soda to prevent from overflowing. Bring it back to a boil and add the
pretzels to the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat
spatula and put it back on the baking tray. This step will create a shiny, brown crunchy pretzel shell.
Beat the
egg yolk s with 1 tablespoons water and brush the top of each pretzel. Sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake until dark golden brown, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a
cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving with the Super Cheesy Sauce.
Cook's Notes:
For a different taste, instead of coarse salt, use sesame seeds,
poppy seeds,
Parmesan or
cinnamon sugar.
To get the shiny brown crunchy shell, it's important to cook in boiling
soda water for 30 seconds. Cook
Buddy's Cheese Pizza
