Anyone have a good soft pretzel dough recipe they can share? We have a awesome micro brewery next door (it’s their anniversary) and I would like to whip up some soft pretzels and incorporate some of their finest beer in the recipe.
Thanks 
I think the key to great soft pretzels is dipping them in a lye wash.
Yes, I have read some about that. Being a primarily pizza place, I really hesitate to set up a station specifically for dipping in lye wash and having people use gloves and eye protection… it’s just that little bit too far to go for pretzels for us. Thanks for your input though, we’ll probably stick with the water and baking soda method.
I did find this recipe that looks pretty good…
Most everyone says to use your regular pizza dough recipe. I’ve not tried it, but it’s got to be the way most people do it. Maybe a little lower hydration? Then the soda/water dip then bake. (lye and soda both increase the pH, which is the key to that whole thing)
I got this one from this forum, and I like it a lot. I use it for pretzel rolls with higher hydration, but should be good for twisted pretzel shapes.
Flour 100%
Warm Water 40.5%
Warm Milk 5%
ADY 1.25%
Brown Sugar 12.5%
Melted Butter 5%
30 minute rest out of mixer; shape; water dip; place on tray
bake 400F for about 12-15 minutes
Parboiling liquid (about 30 to 45 seconds)
2 qts water
1/2 cup baking soda
nice finish to add a little kosher salt to the top prior to baking
Thanks Nick.
I did try the first method, I found in the link above, and it really came out good. The key is that this recipe incorporated the Beer, which is important as these are primarily for customers of the brewery next door.
If I was to adapt your recipe, would I just substitute a portion of the water percentage with beer? If so, how much would you think would be good?
Thanks
I don’t have direct evidence/experience with beer in bread to offer; I’m sorry. Tom Lehmann will see this eventually and drop some knowledge on us
What little experience I have with breads so far, I would say that you can substitute flat beer for equal part water - to a point. Example, take out 500 g water for 500g beer. The alcohol could definitely impact the yeast and kill/deactivate it if too high a ratio. I would say give it a shot at 50/50 with water and see what it tastes like. Might be able to get up to 75/25 beer to water? Do 500g flour batches to test; maybe 300 g (much lower and measuring gets tough) Also, not sure what the effervescence would do to your dough and yeast pitch rate. The fizz definitely lightens batters, but the dough is pretty heavy compared to tempura Let it sit out for a bit, or add your salt to the beer . . . it’ll kill the carbonation much quicker that way. See how much beer tastes good in the pretzel.
The other idea I had was using beer for the dip step. Not sure how that will work with the pH of beer being somewhat acidic already, and then adding a base . . . huge foam event possible.
Different types of beer will provide a different flavor impact. I would suggest starting by using beer to replace 25% (1/4) of the total water in the dough formula and work up from there. When we use beer in a dough formula we just add it as is, and we don’t worry about the carbonation. The difference between a pretzel and a bagel is in the alkali in the kettling/boiling stage. Soda can be used and it works very well, but it does provide for a different flavor than a 2% lye solution. In any event, you will want to keep the alkali solution at a temperature of about 200 to 205F, just below the boiling point.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor