Saturday, August 26, 2023

{New} No-Knead Soft Pretzel Rolls + 7 Summery Recipes to Make This Week

At some point this summer, my youngest child introduced the family to pretzel rolls. She had tried one at her grandparents' house and asked me if I could start buying them, which I did.

A bag of four soon proved not to be enough for the family. As soon as I would bring them home, the kids would break into the bag, savagely grabbing them as though they hadn't eaten all day, as though they feared I might never buy them again. On our recent camping trip, my youngest, before going to bed, staked her claim on the last pretzel roll for breakfast, and when she awoke the following morning to find it eaten, tears ensued.

Friends, while these pretzel rolls from the local grocery store are good, they are nothing to write home about. I am still a little perplexed, in fact, by my children's enthusiasm for them. Deeply brown in hue, like a dark rye bread, the rolls are not terribly inviting (for children anyway), and while the crumb is light, the crust (to me) tastes like cardboard.

After buying bag after bag of pretzel rolls, I had to try making them from scratch. The recipe here is the product of several experiments, which began with this favorite soft pretzel recipe. It yields a tender-crumbed but sturdy roll, with an irresistible very pretzel-y tasting crust.

In short, I've changed the recipe by increasing the water and reducing the yeast, which means the dough comes together without kneading and requires a long, slow rise. I like mixing the dough in the evening, shaping the rolls in the morning, then boiling and baking them around lunchtime. See the recipe box for timing variations.

Friends, I hope you love these pretzel rolls as much as I do. My children still have yet to use the rolls for sandwiches, favoring eating them whole, but I have been halving them, spreading them with pesto, and loading them with roasted red peppers, eggplant, arugula, and mozzarella. I think they'd make an excellent egg sandwich, and, around the holidays, they'd be wonderful to have on hand for leftover turkey or ham sandwiches.

No-Knead Pretzel Rolls

PS: A video is coming soon... I'm having issues uploading it.