I am a big fan of good bread and sliders. When you find them together, jackpot! I made these pretzel rolls thinking I might use them in sliders. They ended up with pulled pork, so that’s pretty close. They are so delicious, we ate several of them with just a spread of butter.
I want to give credit where credit is due and tell you that I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com. I’ve adapted to correct one glaring omission. They need salt on the top! I was lucky enough to have some nice salt from our road trip through France last year. It fit the bill perfectly!
Some of the comments on the original recipe suggested that they wouldn’t make it again because they found it too dense. Density is one of the key traits for pretzels, bagels, etc., any bread that gets boiled before baking. The longer you boil, the more substantial crust you’ll have. Boiling cooks the outside of the dough, setting it, limiting expansion for the most part, so as the bread cooks and tries to expand, it has no where to go. You end up with a very dense center. The same is true of my Polish Sour Dough Rye bread. You don’t boil it, but you do brush the top with boiling water, yielding a flat top and a wonderful dense bread, chocked full of sunflower seeds.
You can make this bread as rolls, or fashion it into two small loaves if you prefer. Give it a try! The process is easier than to think and very forgiving. You’ll start seeing store bought bread in a new, less desirable light.
My other big project in the kitchen this weekend will be a venison stew that I made in Poland. Not having friends who are hunters close by, venison is harder to come by here. Ed made a trip crosstown to a butcher shop that has venison, and half of our weekly food budget later, we’re ready to cook. The post will be up before Monday!
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Pretzel Rolls
- Yield: 8 rolls 1x
- Category: Bread
Description
A delicious dense, chewy pretzel roll or loaf!
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- I envelope rapid rise yeast
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 3 quarts water
- 1/2 cup baking soda
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon water
- Coarse salt, for sprinkling
Instructions
- In a saucepan, melt milk and butter to 110 F, butter will only partially melt
- Add yeast and brown sugar
- I mixed this dough by hand, adding everything to the sauce pan, you can transfer to a bowl and use a mixer if you prefer
- Stir in salt and 2 cups flour, beat for 3 minutes
- Add enough of the remaining flour to make a soft dough
- Knead on a floured surface until the dough is smooth
- Place in a greased bowl, turn to oil all of the dough
- Cover and let rise for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
- Preheat oven to 400 F
- Heat 3 quarts water with baking soda, bring to a boil
- Punch dough down and divide into 8 equal pieces
- Roll each piece into a smooth ball
- Boil each piece for 2 minutes, turning after 1 minute
- Remove the rolls loaves using a slotted spoon and place on a greased baking sheet
- Beat egg and 1 teaspoon water, use a pastry brush to to paint the rolls with the egg wash
- Sprinkle each rolls with a pinch of coarse salt
- With a very sharp knife, gently cut a cross in the top each each roll
- Bake for 15 minutes then reduce the temperature to 350 F
- Bake 10 – 12 minutes until the rolls are evenly browned
An accountant by trade and a food blogger since 2009, Lois Britton fell in love with Polish cuisine during the years she lived in Poznań, Poland. As the creator of PolishHousewife.com, she loves connecting readers with traditional Polish recipes. Lois has a graduate certificate in Food Writing and Photography from the University of South Florida. She is the author of The Polish Housewife Cookbook, available on Amazon and on her website.
Pat Adams
Lois,
I took note of your explanation about the role that water plays in making dense bread and will try brushing baguettes with water in the future. I have always baked them with a pan of hot water in the oven but would like a crustier loaf than what that gives.
Have you tried using some whole wheat flour in this recipe? I know it wouldn’t look like a pretzel roll but I’m all for using healthier carbs when we can get by with it.
polishhousewife
Hi Pat,
I’ve made this twice, but haven’t had whole wheat flour, so I’m not sure how it would be. I love to hear about it if you give it ago!
David
These look wonderful, and I absolutely agree about the density of a good pretzel or pretzel bread! I will definitely try this… And am, of course, curious as to which butcher you found!
polishhousewife
Hi David,
Thank you! The butcher was Dickman’s on the east side.
Julie Kenkel
those look so delicious and I might try them, but I’m having to figure out how to bake at altitude now, and a new oven. Might be awhile before I make peace with both.
polishhousewife
I know you’ll get the hang of it!