Name: Soft Pretzel Rolls
Prep time: 90 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 110 min
Ingredients: 1 cup skim milk; 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (cut into chunks); 2 tablespoons brown sugar; 1 packet dry active yeast; 2 teaspoons salt; 3 cups all purpose flour; 12 cups water; 3/4 cup baking soda; 2 tablespoons butter; 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder; Pinch of coarse salt (optional for topping)

These soft pretzel rolls are great on their own…chewy, buttery, fluffy, but if you’re looking to make these into a meal, they make amazing sandwiches and an even better panini!

Trevor’s been working a lot lately. I’m not complaining, but I have a lot, and I mean, a lot, of “me time” on my hands these days. Now that I have this food blog as my full time job, I spend most of my days in the apartment by myself. I make sure to see my friends and take Teddy for long walks, but unlike working a “normal” job, I’m by myself most days! I wouldn’t change a thing, but the only problem is that I love to talk (thanks Teddy for listening ;)).

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I love talking almost as much as I love food. Get me talking about food and you’re in for a long night of chatting! Once Trevor gets home from work, I pretty much word vomit all over him for the rest of the night. I lead a very exciting life and need to tell him every detail of my day 😉 Normally, he smiles and listens (or at least does an ahhhhmazing job of pretending like he is – kidding!), but because he has a big deadline coming up, he really needs to get work done when he comes home.

At first, I didn’t quite understand. What the heck was I supposed to do if Trevor was home, but needed to work? I have to do something to keep me from distracting him and talking his ear off!

The solution? Baking. It takes up some of my time and it produces yummy results. You can all thank Trevor for working hard, so I can bring you today’s recipe for soft pretzel rolls! After you make these, I know you’re going to want to send him a thank you note. 😉

While I’m not talking and baking, I need to listen to something. The silence is too deafening. During the day, I have Netflix on in the background – I’m not going to tell you what I watch, it’s too embarrassing….ok, fine! I watch Gilmore Girls and yes I’ve watched all the seasons more than once! Trevor on the other hand, doesn’t need to listen to Gilmore Girls 24/7, so you want to know something really embarrassing?

I strap my running armband onto my arm, shove my earbuds in my ears, and listen to Netflix. *Hangs head in shame* Do I have a problem? Whatever. I wouldn’t do anything differently if I did 😉

I think I’ve embarrassed myself enough for one day, so on to the soft pretzel rolls!

These are totally yum-mo! I could use a million + adjectives to describe how amazing (*ding* if you got the Jimmy Kimmel Bachelor reference, leave a comment below so I feel better) these are, but I’ll narrow it down for you. These soft pretzel rolls are salty, soft, chewy, and buttery. They make a great base for a sandwich, too! They’re also a lot easier to make than you’d think!

I got the idea to make these soft pretzel rolls, because I was seriously missing Mr. Beans. Remember Mr. Beans? I first told you about it when I made my vanilla chai tea latte recipe. In case you forgot, it’s a really cute coffee/sandwich shop back in Iowa. They make the best vanilla chai tea lattes and they also make amazing soft pretzel roll sandwiches!

Start by making the dough. Heat milk and butter together until the mixture reaches 110 degrees F. Combine this with a packet of yeast and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl. Stir in salt and 2 cups of flour. Beat this on low in your stand mixer for 3 minutes.

Now, slowly add in one more cup of flour. Once combined, dump out onto a well floured surface. Knead this until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.

Next, place the dough in a greased bowl, cover with a kitchen towel, and let rise for 90 minutes. The dough will have significantly risen.

Easy right? 🙂

Now, for the part that makes this dough taste pretzel-y!

Make a boiling solution by combining 12 cups of water and 3/4 cup of baking soda together in a large pot. Bring this to a boil while you’re shaping your dough. To do this, punch the dough down and divide it into 8 equal pieces. It’s really important to form each piece into a tight, smooth ball.

Your boiling solution should be, um, boiling now. Boil each dough ball for 1 minute and then flip it over and boil the other side for another minute. Remove from the boiling solution with a slotted spoon and set aside. Repeat this process with each pretzel dough ball!

Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking sheet with a silicone mat. Place the pretzel dough balls onto the lined baking sheet and brush the tops with a mixture of melted butter and garlic powder (I used this basting brush and highly recommend it). Then cut a cross in the top. You can sprinkle these with a pinch of coarse salt, too, if you like!

Now bake these for 10 minutes. Then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and bake for an additional 8 – 12 minutes. The soft pretzel rolls should be nicely browned on top and fluffy in the middle!

Remove these from the oven and immediately let cool on a wire cooling rack.

These soft pretzel rolls are great on their own…chewy, buttery, fluffy. Mmm 🙂 If you’re looking to make these into a meal, however, these make amazing sandwiches and an even better panini! Today, I used ham, cheddar, dijon, a little mayo, a slice of tomato, and fresh romaine lettuce! Customize it to make your new favorite sandwich…the possibilities are endless! Whatever you do, I highly recommend putting that baby on a griddle to make this panini style!