Pretzel Bun

These pretzel rolls are easy to make at home and are just like the real German deal-shiny, salty, perfectly burnished, densely bread-y, and reminiscent of a soft pretzel but in a more versatile shape. Smother with butter, stuff with your favourite sandwich fixings, or inhale straight off the baking sheet!

These pretzel buns are an absolute must-try recipe for any baker! It is almost addictive-well, they certainly taste addictive anyway! Plus, it is nice to have a savoury baking recipe that isn't just regular bread or bread rolls- a little bit of changing things up is never a bad thing!

So delicious, chewy and soft....these pretzel bun recipe makes the perfect burger bun or fantastic soft pretzels

Ingredients:

• ¾ cup water
• 1 tsp instant yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• 28g butter, melted & cooled to room temperature
• 2¼ cups plain flour
• 1 tsp salt
• ¼ cup baking soda
• 1 egg, beaten
• kosher or pretzel salt to top rolls

Method:

In a large mixing bowl, combine the water, yeast, flour, butter, sugar and salt. If using a stand mixer, use the dough hook attachments to mix the ingredients, then knead at medium -high speed for 1 minutes. (This will help develop some gluten). If not using a stand mixer, you can also do this by hand or with a hand mixer fitted with the dough hooks.

Shape the dough into a ball and place it back into the mixing bowl. Cover with clean kitchen towel and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Separate into 4 to 5 equal portions if making hamburger bun sized buns or 8-10 equal portions if making dinner rolls. Form into balls by pulling the sides to the centre and pinching to seal. Place the formed rolls, seam side down onto a baking paper lined baking sheet. Cover with the towel and allow to rise again for 30 minutes.

Heat the oven to  210ºC/190ºC for fan assist oven. Bring 8 cups of water to a boil in a large sauce pan, then add ¼ cup of baking soda. Boil each roll for 1 minute, flipping over halfway. Place the boiled rolls back onto the lined baking sheet, seam side down. Brush the tops with beaten egg, then lightly sprinkle with salt.

Using a sharp knife or razor, slice 2-3 cuts into the top of each unbaked roll about ¼ inch deep or so. You can also slice a shallow "X" into the top of each roll. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Serve warm or at room temperature. You can also freeze for later use in a freezer bag once cooled to room temperature

Notes: You can use vegan butter if you plan to make a vegan pretzel bun. Omit the egg brush for vegan pretzel roll.