What you will need:
Ingredients for Step 1
- 1 1/2 cups warm water (I try to keep it between 115 and 120 degrees Fahrenheit)
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 package active dry yeast
- 4 ½ cups of all-purpose flour
- ½ stick of unsalted butter, melted
Ingredients for Step 2
- Oil for bowl (I typically use Pam spray)
Ingredients for Steps 3, 4, 5 & 6
- 8 to 10 cups water
- 4 tablespoons of baking soda
- Kosher salt for pretzel tops
Step 1
Combine the water, sugar, and kosher salt in a bowl and gently sprinkle the yeast into that mixture. I use a stand mixer so this all goes in that bowl. You need to let the yeast sit for 5 to 7 minutes or until it begins to foam up. Typically, I’ll just wait no matter if it foams early or not. At this point, you can go ahead and add the flour and melted butter. If you’re using a stand mixer, go ahead and grab your dough hook and mix it on low speed until it’s combined. If it looks like it’s sticking to the bottom, don’t do anything, let it continue mixing! It will eventually start pulling away from the bowl as it mixes. If you’re doing this by hand, mix it until the dough is smooth.
Step 2
Take the dough out of the bowl and transfer it into your oiled bowl. This bowl needs to be as large or larger than your mixing bowl since the dough will double when it proofs. Once it is in the oiled bowl, cover that bowl with plastic wrap, stick it in your oven (make sure the oven is OFF!), and let it sit for 1 hour.
Step 3
After an hour, take the dough out of the oven and preheat it to 450 degrees F. Oil your cookie sheet or sheet pan and make sure it is on a level surface.
Step 4
Bring the water and the baking soda to a slight boil in a large pot. I use a 6 to 8-quart pot.
Step 5
You’re going to want to work with the dough in smaller “pieces”, so I cut it into pieces about the size of a baseball (maybe slightly smaller). To make Pretzel Bites, roll each piece of dough into a rope about an inch thick, it doesn’t matter how long the rope is, you just want that thickness. If you’re making actual pretzel shapes, you’ll want to make a U-shape with your dough rope, take each end of the rope and cross them (right over left) and connect them to the U. You should have a pretzel shape.
Step 6
Dip the pretzels bites into the boiling water about 10 at a time for 15 seconds or so. I use a spider to get them in and out, even if I’m doing pretzel shapes. If you’re doing pretzel shapes, only dip one at a time. Turn them out onto your cookie sheet and sprinkle them with Kosher salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color which will take about 12 minutes. Depending on your oven (mine runs hot), you may need to keep them in for another few minutes. Start at 12 and go from there. Let them cool for just a minute, but I won’t blame you if you hasafrass a handful…
Our Story
So, as I mentioned before, I HATE when I go to look up a recipe and I have to read/scroll through 7 pages of Becky’s life story and how she never has time to make dinner because she’s always on the go in order to get to the details of the recipe! That is why I put the recipe at the top and my “thoughts” here at the bottom. If you have read this far, you’re a trooper!
Anyway, I started making soft pretzels years and years ago, and these are not Disney per se, but these will 100% do in a pinch if you need that pretzel taste in your mouth and you’re missing the parks. I will say this, if you do these right, they’ll taste better than any pretzel you’re going to get at Disney.
I’ve dipped them in the cheese sauce you get at the grocery store where they have the taco kits (The ballpark nacho cheese sauce if you will). We’ve also dipped them in a white queso dip we get from Costco. Either way or even plain, they are delicious. The last time I made them, I shredded some pepper jack cheese and “stuffed” a pretzel. It was messy but it worked and it was so close to the pepper jack cheese stuffed pretzel at the Cheshire Café!
That’s enough out of me, it’s time for you to go bake some pretzels and snack on them while you watch Peter Pan!