Sourdough Discard Pretzels
What You’ll Need
1 cup + 2 tbsp of warm water
1 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tsp kosher salt
2 ¼ tsp active dry yeast
1 cup sourdough discard (room temperature)
3 cups Better Bread Flour
4 tbsp unsalted butter melted
Boiling water
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
Egg Wash
1 large egg yolk + 1 tbsp water (egg wash)
Flakey Kosher, toppings pretzel or sea salt, parmesan cheese, etc.
Instructions
Bloom your yeast by combining your warm water, sugar and salt and yeast into the bowl of your mixer. Let sit for 5 mins until yeast begins to foam.
Add sourdough discard, butter and 1 cup of flour. Mix with a dough hook and slowly incorporate the additional 2 cups of flour. Your dough should be slightly sticky; if it seems dry, knead in an additional tablespoon or two of water. Continue kneading for 5 mins.
Oil a large bowl and transfer dough to the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit to rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 350F. Bring 10 cups of water and 2/3 cup of baking soda to a boil in a large pot. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
Once your dough has risen, dump it out onto a clean work surface. You do not need to flour your work surface, you will want some traction. Divide your dough into 12 equal pieces, rolling each piece into a 18’’ rope. Make a U shape, then cross the ends over ones another once or twice, pressing the ends of the rope into the bottom of the pretzel. If you want smaller pretzels, use a 12’’ rope with the same method.
Add pretzel to boiling water for 20-30 seconds on each side. Remove the pretzel from the water using a slotted spatula and place on baking sheet.
Brush each pretzel with egg wash and sprinkle with flaky salt, and bake for 25-30 mins until golden brown.
I like to brush a little butter on each pretzel when they come out of the oven, but that’s just me!
The flavour options are endless! One of our favuorites is cinnamon sugar. Skip the egg wash and salt, bake as directed and let cool. Once cooled, melt ¼ cup of unsalted butter. Mix together ¾ cup of granulated sugar with 2 tsp of ground cinnamon. Brush each pretzel with butter and sprinkle on the cinnamon sugar mixture.
Note- you can make these yummy pretzels into pretzel bites by cutting your dough ropes into 1’’ pieces and continue following the instructions above.