Pretzel-ly Hallows

by Posted on

“The Elder Wand,’ he said, and he drew a straight vertical line upon the parchment. ‘The Resurrection Stone,’ he said, and he added a circle on top of the line. ‘The Cloak of Invisibility,’ he finished, enclosing both line and circle in a triangle, to make the symbol that so intrigued Hermione. ‘Together,’ he said, ‘the Deathly Hallows.’” (DH 409)”

One of the most recognizable Oktoberfest staples is a large soft pretzel. These have a magical twist on the traditional knotted shape, using the deathly hallows symbol instead.
RESTING TIME:

30 MINS

COOK TIME:

 15 MINS

TOTAL TIME:

1 HR  15 MINS

PASSIVE TIME:

30 MINS

INGREDIENTS
Pretzels
  • 300 grams bread flour
  • 159 grams water warm
  • 12 grams butter unsalted
  • 1 3/4 tsp. yeast
  • 1 tsp. salt
Lye Solution
  • 40 grams Food-grade Lye
  • 2.2 lbs. water cool
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
Pretzels
  1. Combine all ingredients in bowl of stand mixer, water and butter first.
  2. Mix dough on first speed for four minutes. Then mix on 3rd speed for three minutes.
  3. Remove dough from bowl, spray bowl with pan spray, and replace dough. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow dough to ferment for 30 minutes.
  4. Divide dough as desired, 80 to 100 gram pieces will yield decent-sized pretzels.
  5. Preshape dough pieces into logs. Cover pieces of dough with plastic wrap or tea towel and allow to rest for 5 to 10 minutes.
  6. Roll logs out to 16″ strands.
  7. Shape each strand into the deathly hallows symbol: start with the Elder Wand, then loop across to make the Resurrection Stone, finally wrapping around to make the Cloak of Invisibility. Pinch corners to make the shape more triangular.
  8. Set each pretzel on a parchment-lined baking sheet and set aside.
  9. Prepare a second baking sheet with well-sprayed parchment paper (or a silicone baking mat, no need to spray). Also prepare your lye solution (see below). Set up your dipping station: cover your work surface with a large plastic bag or plastic wrap. Place the lye solution in the middle, pretzels on one side, and prepared baking sheet on the other.
  10. Working with gloves and a slotted spoon, dip each pretel seperately in the solution for no more than 10 seconds (flip pretzel over if needed). Move pretzels to the prepared baking sheet.
  11. Once all pretzels are dipped, sprinkle with pretzel salt.
  12. Bake immediately for about 15 minutes.
Lye Solution
  1. Only work with lye in a plastic container. Wide and short is better than tall and deep.
  2. Add lye to water and mix until dissolved completely.
  3. Once finished with your lye, discard immediately, and clean plastic container and utensils thoroughly.
  4. See notes below for more information on working with lye.
NOTES
  • This dough is very dense. If your mixer is struggling, remove dough from bowl and knead by hand until smooth and dough bounces back when lightly pressed with pad of the finger.
  • If the dough is too tough to roll out to strands, allow to rest longer until it is fairly easy to work with. However, don’t hesitate to put a little pressure on the dough.
  • Lye is a chemical and can cause burns if it touches your skin. NPR discusses why this is important and also gives a safer baking soda alternative.
  • Find a container that will allow the water to be deep enough your pretzels will at least be half submerged. Do not add more water to the solution, 4% lye is necessary.
  • When baking, a slight green tint is the result of the lye, this color should be gone when pretzels are baked properly.
  • This is based on a recipe from Chef Ciril Hitz.
Spread the love

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.