Creating a Soft Pretzel Bagel: A Step-by-Step Guide

Based on my examination of the field sample, I have decided to adapt an old bagel recipe that I feel produces a bread that is very close to a soft pretzel. One way to achieve this is by adding butter to the dough. In fact, two ounces of unsalted melted butter will be added to the dough, which I believe will enhance the flavor and texture of the final product.

To begin, we need to weigh out 22 ounces of all-purpose flour, which is equivalent to about four and a half cups or one pound six ounces. This amount of flour will provide the perfect balance of structure and tenderness for our soft pretzel bagel. Once the flour has been measured, it's time to add the other essential ingredients: water, yeast, sugar, and salt.

The water should be heated to around 115 degrees Fahrenheit, which is slightly cooler than boiling point. This temperature will help to activate the yeast and promote fermentation in the dough. One tablespoon of sugar will also be added to enhance the flavor and browning of the bagel. Two teaspoons of kosher salt will provide a subtle yet essential seasoning that will balance out the other flavors.

Next, we'll mix together the water, yeast, sugar, and salt to create a liquid solution. The mixture should be combined with the flour in the mixing bowl using Captain Hook, which is likely a reference to a stand mixer or a handheld electric mixer. We'll work at low speed until the dough comes together, then boost the speed to medium for about four to five minutes. This will help to trigger the great cosmic intermingling of water and wheat proteins, such as gluten and gliadin, which form gluten.

As the dough is being mixed, it's essential to pay attention to its texture and consistency. The dough should be smooth and satiny, with a matte finish that comes away from the sides of the bowl easily. If the dough becomes too sticky or difficult to work with, we can quickly spray the bowl with some no-stick cooking spray to prevent sticking.

Once the dough has come together, it's time to cover it and let it rise in a warm place at 70 degrees Fahrenheit for about an hour. This will allow the yeast to ferment and the dough to expand and become more aerated. As we wait for the dough to rise, we can take this opportunity to prepare the shaping station.

For our soft pretzel bagel, we'll need to divide the dough into eight equal pieces, each weighing approximately four and a half ounces. We can either use a scale or simply divide the dough evenly by hand. Once the dough is divided, we can shape each piece into a ball and then flatten it slightly into a rectangle using our hands.

To shape the bagel, we'll need to create a seam along the bottom of the rectangle and then roll the dough away from us with some pressure, followed by a gentle push-back to create tension in the dough. This will help to create the characteristic ring shape of a pretzel bagel. We can repeat this process for each piece of dough until we have eight evenly shaped bagels.

Before baking, we'll need to dip our soft pretzel bagels in hot water and baking soda to give them that distinctive pretzel crust. The mixture should be heated to around 190 degrees Fahrenheit, which is slightly above boiling point. We can use a wide sauté pan or a specialized pretzel steamer to create this environment.

To cook the bagels, we'll simply drop two at a time into the hot water and baking soda mixture, using a slightly altered splatter screen or spatula to gently guide them in. The perfect amount of exposure for our alkaline solution will be around 30 seconds, which should help to activate the yeast and promote browning on the surface.

Once the bagels have been cooked, we can remove them from the water and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Before placing the bagels in the oven, we'll need to brush them with an egg wash made from one egg yolk thinned with a tablespoon of water. This will provide a golden brown color and help the salt to stay in place.

Finally, our soft pretzel bagels are ready to be baked in a hot oven at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for about 14 minutes. During this time, we can rotate the baking sheet every seven minutes to ensure even browning. And with that, our delicious homemade soft pretzel bagels are finally ready to be devoured!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enbased on my examination of the field sample i have decided to adapt an old bagel recipe that i feel produces a bread that is very close to a soft pretzel only i'm going to add butter in fact two ounces of unsalted melted butter and more water one and a half cups in fact heated to around 115 degrees to that i will add one tablespoon of sugar two teaspoons of kosher salt and one package worth of active dry yeast that's a two and a half teaspoons meanwhile weigh out 22 ounces of all-purpose flour that's about four and a half cups one pound six ounces there we go now i've got a tear function on my scale so i can just zero out the weight of the mixing bowl before the flour went in now clamp this on to your mixer add your water yeast slurry and the two ounces of melted butter to bring this together we will employ captain hook and we're gonna do this at low speed just until the dough comes together when the dough ball comes together thusly boost the speed to medium for four to five minutes this will trigger the great cosmic intermingling of water and wheat proteins like gluten and gliadin which form gluten well just about the time that the old mixer crawls right off of the counter we should be done dough should be nice smooth and satiny like this he's kind of almost like a matte finish comes away in a ball so we will get rid of the hook give the bowl a quick spray with some no stick because as this rises it will get very sticky indeed back in the bowl we will cover the bowl with a tea towel oh it's pretty and stash this in a warm place say 70 degrees for one hour as you can see our dough has doubled in size signifying that it is prepared to move on to the next phase of production first we must portion our dough we have 36 ounces of this stuff and we would like eight portions so that's um excellent uh four and a half ounces each now we cut now you certainly don't have to do this with the scale you can simply divide your dough into eight even pieces but trust me this is easier now we shape make sure that uh that you have plenty of room here put your ball right in front of you and squish it out with the heel of your hand so you get a little rectangle there now roll it up nice and tight and make a good seam along the bottom there now start rolling with just one hand the goal is to push it away with some pressure then just roll it back lightly and push it again and when it gets long enough i have the second hand now if you start to see a twist form right in the very middle of the dough you know that you do not have your your hands coordinated and that twist could become a break point so be watching for that now our target length is 24 inches give or take an inch or so there now for the uh the basic uh pretzel shape fold this end around and this end around you don't have to press down just barely pinch so that they join there you can move that onto the pan and go ahead and cover it with a tea towel and give that a few spritzes of water just to keep it damp now i'm sure there are other ways to dip a pretzel but i think this rig is pretty sweet here i have 10 cups of boiling water and a wide saute pan which i've added two-thirds of a cup of baking soda now uh i'm just kind of bathing uh the pretzels two at a time lifting them uh out and dropping them in with a slightly altered splatter screen you could use a spatula or a spider whatever you happen to have i'm going to scoot those out while they're still nice and warm and get on the next load i am figuring that 30 seconds should be the perfect amount of exposure for the alkaline to do its job and of course the the hot water is also going to go to work uh gelatinizing the starches on the outside this is by the way the exact precise uh method for making bagels and i figure that's a that's a good thing of course these are never going to be as golden brown and delicious on the outside as the lie dipped versions but wait hold on many is the pastry item that has received an extra dash of color from eggs one egg yolk thinned with a tablespoon of water should provide enough wash for our entire batch the other nice thing about the egg wash is it will definitely help that salt to stay in place park these in the hot box 450 for 14 minutes and give the pans a spin seven minutes in youbased on my examination of the field sample i have decided to adapt an old bagel recipe that i feel produces a bread that is very close to a soft pretzel only i'm going to add butter in fact two ounces of unsalted melted butter and more water one and a half cups in fact heated to around 115 degrees to that i will add one tablespoon of sugar two teaspoons of kosher salt and one package worth of active dry yeast that's a two and a half teaspoons meanwhile weigh out 22 ounces of all-purpose flour that's about four and a half cups one pound six ounces there we go now i've got a tear function on my scale so i can just zero out the weight of the mixing bowl before the flour went in now clamp this on to your mixer add your water yeast slurry and the two ounces of melted butter to bring this together we will employ captain hook and we're gonna do this at low speed just until the dough comes together when the dough ball comes together thusly boost the speed to medium for four to five minutes this will trigger the great cosmic intermingling of water and wheat proteins like gluten and gliadin which form gluten well just about the time that the old mixer crawls right off of the counter we should be done dough should be nice smooth and satiny like this he's kind of almost like a matte finish comes away in a ball so we will get rid of the hook give the bowl a quick spray with some no stick because as this rises it will get very sticky indeed back in the bowl we will cover the bowl with a tea towel oh it's pretty and stash this in a warm place say 70 degrees for one hour as you can see our dough has doubled in size signifying that it is prepared to move on to the next phase of production first we must portion our dough we have 36 ounces of this stuff and we would like eight portions so that's um excellent uh four and a half ounces each now we cut now you certainly don't have to do this with the scale you can simply divide your dough into eight even pieces but trust me this is easier now we shape make sure that uh that you have plenty of room here put your ball right in front of you and squish it out with the heel of your hand so you get a little rectangle there now roll it up nice and tight and make a good seam along the bottom there now start rolling with just one hand the goal is to push it away with some pressure then just roll it back lightly and push it again and when it gets long enough i have the second hand now if you start to see a twist form right in the very middle of the dough you know that you do not have your your hands coordinated and that twist could become a break point so be watching for that now our target length is 24 inches give or take an inch or so there now for the uh the basic uh pretzel shape fold this end around and this end around you don't have to press down just barely pinch so that they join there you can move that onto the pan and go ahead and cover it with a tea towel and give that a few spritzes of water just to keep it damp now i'm sure there are other ways to dip a pretzel but i think this rig is pretty sweet here i have 10 cups of boiling water and a wide saute pan which i've added two-thirds of a cup of baking soda now uh i'm just kind of bathing uh the pretzels two at a time lifting them uh out and dropping them in with a slightly altered splatter screen you could use a spatula or a spider whatever you happen to have i'm going to scoot those out while they're still nice and warm and get on the next load i am figuring that 30 seconds should be the perfect amount of exposure for the alkaline to do its job and of course the the hot water is also going to go to work uh gelatinizing the starches on the outside this is by the way the exact precise uh method for making bagels and i figure that's a that's a good thing of course these are never going to be as golden brown and delicious on the outside as the lie dipped versions but wait hold on many is the pastry item that has received an extra dash of color from eggs one egg yolk thinned with a tablespoon of water should provide enough wash for our entire batch the other nice thing about the egg wash is it will definitely help that salt to stay in place park these in the hot box 450 for 14 minutes and give the pans a spin seven minutes in you\n"