Maggie Cubbler is a beer-and-food-loving Yankee living in North Yorkshire,…
These pretzels are dense and chewy like classic Philadelphia soft pretzels, which pairs perfectly with the sweet and spicy beer mustard.
By Maggie Cubbler
- ¼ cup (60ml) warm water (about 100-110?F or 38-43?C)
- 1 (1/4 oz) pkge active dry yeast or 2¼ tsp (1/4 oz)
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp kosher salt, divided
- 1 cup (240ml) beer at room temperature
- 3¾ to 4 cups (469g-500g) all purpose flour
- 2 cups (475ml) hot water
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 egg, beaten
- Kosher salt
- 4TB yellow mustard seeds, divided
- 1TB black mustard seeds
- 6TB + 2¼tsp (100ml) beer
- 5TB (75ml) cider vinegar
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- 2TB (runny) honey
- 1TB dark muscovado sugar (or other dark brown sugar)
- ¼ tsp turmeric
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- ½ tsp fine salt
- Dissolve the yeast in the ¼ cup of water and let sit for about 5 minutes.
- Add the flour, sugar, olive oil, kosher salt, and beer to a large bowl. Add in the yeast and combine all together.
- Once combined, knead the dough for about 6-8 minutes or until nice and elastic. Put in a large, lightly-greased bowl, cover with a towel and allow to rest in a warm place until it doubles in size, or about an hour.
- Preheat the oven to 425?F (218?C)
- Then punch out the dough and maybe toss is around a couple more times (this also helps with the density.) Then split into 12 sections. Cover the sections you're not working with so they don't get crusty and dry.
- Roll out the each section so they're about ¾" in diameter and about 16" long. Form into the shape of a pretzel. Set aside and cover each one until you're done with them all.
- Dissolve the baking soda in the 2 cups (475ml) of hot water. Dip each pretzel in the solution and then place the pretzel on a lightly greased baking sheet. Cover them all and allow to rise for about 15-20 minutes.
- Brush each pretzel with the egg and sprinkle on the salt.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 15-20 minutes or until they are browned.
- Take 2TB of the yellow mustard seeds and grind them into a powder using a spice or coffee bean grinder.
- Put the powder in a medium size non-metal bowl (enough to handle all of the ingredients) and add to that the remaining yellow mustard seeds and the black mustard seeds.
- Heat the beer, vinegar, onion powder, garlic powder, honey, brown sugar, turmeric, nutmeg, and salt in a non-reactive saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low and simmer gently until the liquid has reduced by about half.
- Pour the liquid over the mustard seeds in the bowl. Run the mixture through a food processor until it has achieved your desired consistency (the mixture will thicken up some in the refrigerator) leaving some whole seeds intact.
- Put the finished product in a sterilized Kilner jar (or other canning/glass jar.) I had a glass canister (with NO metal on it!!) that I dampened and microwaved for a minute or so to sterilize it--that should do the trick.
- Refrigerate and age for about 24-48 hours. If you've properly sterilized your jars, the mixture should last for several months in the refrigerator.
- Serve the soft beer pretzels with the beer mustard.
Maggie Cubbler is a beer-and-food-loving Yankee living in North Yorkshire, England. When she's not pulling pints at a traditional Yorkshire pub, she devotes her time to her Labrador, husband, and working on her blog: Loaded Kitchen. She loves to pair beer with food, cook with beer, and drink a (half) pint or two with the natives. Besides blogging and drinking, Maggie is currently studying to become a certified Cicerone while trying to figure out why Yorkshire men like lime cordial syrup in their lagers. Take a swing by her blog and check out the party in her pans.