Soft Rye Mustard Salt Pretzels

Homemade soft pretzels are a real treat, and these are a great snack on their own or as an addition to your game night munchies table. This pretzel recipe created by Chef Ashley of Saltine Baking Company may look daunting at first (it’s not), but the process is broken down into clear, very manageable parts. Most of the time is really spent resting and proofing the dough. Shaping the pretzels may be challenging, but hey, you can shape these delicious bites your way – braided, figure eight, straight up, however you like!

We love the sprinkling of our latest limited edition salt to level up the flavour of these yummy bites – Caplansky’s Deli Ballpark Mustard infused Vancouver Island Sea Salt. Gorgeous, bright, crunchy, zingy and oh, what a delightful flavour explosion this salt has! You’d want this Mustard Salt not just on these pretzels but everywhere you want an extra oomph of deliciousness.

So get your ingredients and equipment ready, and have fun with this recipe!

Homemade Rye Pretzels with Caplansky’s Deli Mustard Salt

Buy Caplansky's Deli Mustard Salt

Soft Rye Pretzels with Caplansky's Deli Mustard Salt

Course Snack

Keyword mustard salt, pretzels, rye, soft pretzel

Prep Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Servings 8 pretzels

Author Saltine Baking Company

Ingredients

Pretzel Dough

1 cup warm water (between 105-110°F)
2¼ tsp active dry yeast
2 tsp molasses
2 cups organic wheat flour
½ cup organic rye flour
1½ tsp Vancouver Island Sea Salt (fine)

Boiling Solution

10 cups water
2 tbsp baking soda
2 tsp Vancouver Island Sea Salt (fine)
2 tbsp honey

To Finish

Caplansky's Deli Mustard Salt

Instructions

Prepare Pretzel Dough

Place warm water in bowl of stand mixer, add active dry yeast and molasses, then stir gently to combine. Allow to stand for 5 minutes or until yeast becomes foamy.
Add wheat flour, rye flour and Vancouver Island Sea Salt.
Mix dough on low speed using the dough hook until mixture comes together. Allow to mix an additional five minutes. If dough appears sticky, add 1 tbsp flour and mix well until dough is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. If dough appear dry, add 1 tsp water at a time and mix until fully incorporated.
Coat a large bowl lightly with pan spray or oil and transfer pretzel dough to it. Cover with a towel and allow to sit at room temperature for 45 minutes to an hour or until dough has doubled in size

Prepare Boiling Solution

While the pretzel dough rises, prepare your boiling solution.
To a 5L pot, add all listed ingredients from above and whisk to combine.
Over high heat, bring the solution to a boil. Cover and allow to simmer on the stove-top until mixture turns a dark caramel colour, about 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Leave the solution on the stove-top over low heat until pretzels are ready to bake.

Shape + Proof Pretzels

Line two baking sheets with parchement paper.
Once doug has doubled in size, turn the doughout onto a clean surface. Split it into eight equal pieces.
Roll each piece into a long skinny rope, approximately 12 inches across. Make a U-shape with the rope,twist the top two ends together and bring the bottom of the U-shape up, pressing it gently into the twisted ends to attach.
Transfer shaped pretzel to a baking sheet and continue with following pretzels until all have been shaped.
Once all pretzels have been shaped, cover them with a towel and allow to rise an additional 30 minutes.

Boil + Bake Pretzels

Bring oven to 425'F while your shaped pretzels proof.
While oven preheats, bring boiling solution back to a simmer.
Once pretzels are slightly puffy to the touch, they'reready to boil!
Lower pretzel, one to two at a time (whatever can fit comfortably in your pot) into the simmering solution. Allow the pretzel to boil one minute per side.
Once both sides have been boiled, use a slotted spoon to transfer the pretzels back to the baking sheet and sprinkle with Caplansky's Deli Mustard Salt.
Continue boiling and salting pretzels until all eight pretzels have been boiled.
Transfer both trays of pretzels to the oven and bake 15-20 minutes, rotating halfway through, until golden brown.

Notes

Pretzels are best eaten the day they're baked but can be stored at room temperature for one to two days.
The combination of wheat and rye flours give these pretzels a great depth of flavour. However, you can substitute all purpose flour or bread flour instead.
Brown sugar can be used as a substitute for molasses, just subtract a tablespoon of flour to account for the hydration.