Pretzel Rolls

I've been on a bit of a pretzel kick over the last, I don't know, 8 years maybe. I think it all started when I was working the 2nd of my two food service jobs (the concessions stand at a water park in Renton): one of many snacks served was soft pretzels so I would occasionally get one for a snack (or lunch). Been hooked ever since. Every time I'm at the mall or a baseball game, I often have to pull myself away from the stands that sell soft pretzels. Not sure what it is - a different taste maybe? Currently one of my snacks is a serving of SnackFactory's Pretzel Crisps. And back when I lived with my parents and joined my mom on her Costco runs, I would occasionally grab a bag of pretzel rolls instead of regular rolls to go with my Easy Mac. I have yet to find them at the regular grocery store.

Which brings me to these (somewhat flat) lovelies. When I ran out of the King's Hawaiian Rolls, I decided to try and make my own pretzel rolls. So I scoured my Pretzels board on Pinterest (yup, the love is that major) and finally decided on Pretzel Rolls from Tasty Kitchen.

Pretzel Rolls (source)

Ingredients

• 1-½ cup Warm Water (110°F) (don't have a kitchen thermometer yet so I just guesstimated)
  
• 1 package (1/4 Oz. Packet) Active Dry Yeast (not Quick Rise Yeast)
• 2 teaspoons Sugar
• 4-½ cups Unbleached All-purpose Flour
• 2 teaspoons Kosher Salt (I have Fine Sea Salt, which apparently is similar, but I did decrease the amount by 1/4 teaspoon. The raw dough tasted a little salty so maybe I should've used 1 1/2 teaspoons instead.)
• 4 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, melted
• ¼ cups Baking Soda
• 1 whole Egg, Lightly Beaten
• Pretzel Salt, To Sprinkle On Top (did not use - never been a fan of salt on top of my pretzel)

Directions

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the water and the yeast and let rest 5 minutes until foamy. (I think I might've screwed this up by emptying the yeast packet first before adding the water.)
2. Add the sugar, flour, salt, and butter; mix with the dough hook until thoroughly combined. Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in bulk. Punch down and turn out onto a lightly floured surface.
3. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper.
4. Cut the dough into 18 pieces (2 ounces each). (I somehow got more than that.) To shape, take a piece of dough and start forming a round, smooth ball by pulling the sides to the center and pinching to seal. Place, pinched side down, on a counter and lightly cupping your hand around the dough ball, rotate your hand in small circles lightly rolling the ball around the palm of your hand.
5. Place the ball on the baking sheet pinched seam side down, with at least 1” between each roll. Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes until doubled.
6. Preheat oven to 425°F and place oven racks on the lowest and middle positions.
7. In a large saucepan, bring 2 quarts of water to a low boil. Add the baking soda and lower heat to a simmer. Put the rolls into the poaching liquid, seam side down. Poach for 30 seconds then carefully turn the roll over in the liquid. Poach other side for 30 seconds then remove with a slotted spoon to the same prepared sheet pans, seam side down. (I started with my kitchen tongs but because the rolls were soft and wet, I couldn't get a good grip on them. So I pulled out my only slotted spoon. I really need one of those spider strainers that people use when frying.) Repeat with the remaining rolls.
8. With a pastry brush, glaze each roll with the lightly beaten egg, making sure to coat all sides completely. Top each roll with a sprinkle of pretzel salt. With a sharp straight edged knife, cut a slash or “X” in the top of each roll. (reversed this on the first pan but it seemed to work out. Not sure I cut the dough that well though.)
9. Bake the rolls in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes.

Even though they don't look like pretzel rolls that you can buy at the store (or the ones in the pics from the source), they still smelled and tasted like a pretzel. My perfectionist brain is trying to be OK with that.