Soft Pretzel Dough Brats in a Blanket

Look here there are many amazing things about fall. Apples, Beer, Brats, Pumpkins, Cider, Tailgates, Oktoberfest Celebrations.

Let's face it who doesn't love soft pretzels??? They are a great snack with cheese sauce or your favorite type of mustard.

Pretzel dough is awesome for making Brats in a Blanket and I will show you how to make them here.

Pretzel Dough

I like to use my sourdough starter but you can use water and 1  pkg of yeast if you like.

1 1/2 cups sourdough starter or 1 pkg yeast
1 TBSP sugar
2 tsp salt
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 oz melted butter
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
1 egg yolk
course salt
Using your sourdough starter or 1 1/2 cups water and 1 pkg of yeast. Mix in the 1 TBSP sugar and 2 tsp salt.

In a stand mixer combine flour, melted butter and yeast mixture. Mix until the dough forms a ball and cleans the side of the bowl. This is a dry stiff dough that may be made be hand but does require a lot of work!

Place your dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover and allow to rise until doubled.

Bring your water and baking soda to a boil. We can now roll out the dough, shaping into pretzels or small rectangles to wrap our Brats with. When finished shaping we are now going to put our pretzels in the boiling water for about 30 seconds. Remove and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Beat your egg yolk with a tablespoon or two of water. Brush the pretzels with the egg wash and sprinkle with salt, poppy seeds, etc.

Bake at 425 for 12-15 min for pretzels or until golden brown. For Brats I start at 350 degrees for 15 minutes to make sure the Brats get hot and then turn things up to 425 to get a nice color on them.

Commercial pretzels are interestingly enough dipped in food grade lye which is caustic but the cooking reaction makes them safe. Food grade lye is important because it contains no bad heavy metals.

I really hope you try this recipe! It is so yummy and there are so many thing you can do with pretzels! I would even suggest doing pretzel bites and after boiling them and finishing with egg and salt spread out on a cookie sheet with wax paper and freeze. After the are frozen solid place in a ziplock bag and you have a ready to bake snack!
Enjoy!