Everything Bagel Soft Pretzel Knots

Made from scratch Everything Bagel Soft Pretzel Knots! The dough is really easy to make, and produces a soft and slightly chewy pretzel.

What gives homemade soft pretzels their amazing dark color and distinctive flavor is dipping them in a bath of water and baking soda before baking. It's not as scary as it sounds.

Instead of pretzel salt, I topped these soft pretzel knots with Everything Bagel topping. Everything Bagels got their name from bakers taking all of the leftover bagel toppings, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, onion flakes, dried garlic, and salt, and combining them together and sprinkling the mixture over bagels.

These soft pretzel knots with everything bagel topping are so delicious fresh and warm from the oven. It was really hard not to polish off three of these in one sitting.

Don't be intimidated! These soft pretzel knots aren't that difficult to make. Yes, there's that boiling the dough thing, but if you have a good slotted spoon or mesh skimmer (I use this one), boiling the pretzel knots is easy.

Note: The dough for these soft pretzels rises quickly. It is also very easy to shape because you don't have to be super precise. You just roll the dough out into a long rope, form a loose knot, and then twist the ends around the middle, like in this post for garlic knots. If the ends unravel a bit during the boiling, you can just tuck then back into where they belong.

These rolls are delicious spread with butter or dipped in mustard, and also make amazing sandwich buns. One of my favorite obsessions has been slicing one of these knots in half across the middle, and stacking it with salami, mustard, and spinach to make a sandwich for lunch. So good.

Did you know that April 26 is National Pretzel Day? I'm a big fan of homemade pretzels. Check out my recipes for:

• Ballpark Pretzels
• Hot Buttered Soft Pretzels
• Pretzel Buns (where I actually used lye in the water bath and lived to tell about it)
• Pretzel Croissants
• Stuffed Pretzel Bites

I also have a wonderful recipe for Everything Bagels! 

After the recipe, be sure to check out more pretzel recipes (or recipes using pretzels), hosted by Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla.

Yield: 8 Pretzel Knots

Everything Bagel Soft Pretzel Knots

ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 1/4 teaspoons (1 envelope) instant or active dry yeast
• 21 1/4 ounces (604 grams) (5 cups) unbleached all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 10 cups boiling water
• 2/3 cup baking soda
• Egg wash: one egg, plus one tablespoon water and a pinch of salt, whisked together

Everything Bagel Topping: Mix the following ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons poppy seeds
• 2 teaspoons sesame seeds
• 2 teaspoons dried minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons dried onion flakes
• 1 teaspoon kosher or pretzel salt

instructions:

1. Combine the water, sugar, salt, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the flour and olive oil, and mix on low until combined. Switch the speed to medium low, and mix with the dough hook for about 5 minutes, until the dough is smooth. 
2. Lightly coat a bowl or a dough rising bucket with olive oil, and place the dough into the container, turning it to coat. Cover with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled, about an hour. 
3. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet (half sheet pan) with parchment paper, and spray with spray oil. Cover with oiled plastic wrap for protecting the shaped pretzels from drying out. 
4. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces, and cover with oiled plastic wrap or a damp towel while shaping each piece. 
5. Roll each piece of dough out into a 24 inch rope and form into a knot (see note above) and place on the baking sheet under the plastic wrap. 
6. Add the baking soda to the boiling water. One at a time, place the pretzels in the boiling water and boil, 30 seconds per side. Return them to the baking sheet. Brush with the egg wash and sprinkle generously with the Everything Bagel Topping. 
7. Bake the pretzels for about 16 minutes, until they are a deep brown. Transfer to  a wire rack for at least 5 minutes before serving. 
8. These are best the day they are made, but you can wrap leftovers individually in plastic wrap and place in a freezer bag and freeze for later for excellent results. 

https://www.karenskitchenstories.com/2018/04/everything-bagel-soft-pretzel-knots.html

Recipe adapted from Red Star Yeast