Inspired by a YouTube video of Timtracker (see down below) I made some delicious Mickey-shaped pretzels. They were not as big as you would buy them in the parks, but that did not matter because they were fun to make and very nice to eat.
Using lye is prohibited for personal use in the Netherlands, so I had to find a way which did not require a lye-water solution. Turns out, you can use a baking soda-water solution to get almost the same effect as the lye solution.
Let's get Baking
The Dough:
100 gr Plain White Flour
2 tsp fast action dried yeast (or 42g fresh)
260 ml water (lukewarm)
900 gr Plain White Flour
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp Salt
260 ml milk (lukewarm)
80 g unsalted butter (melted)
Mix 100 gr of flour, the yeast, and the water together into a bowl. Cover it with cling-film and put it in a warm (and preferably humid) place for about 3 hours (more is even better). This is your starter.
Watch a Disney movie while you wait.
When the starter is bubbling enough add the rest of the ingredients and knead for about 10 minutes to make a firm dough. When your dough is firm enough put it back in the bowl and cover it with a warm dampened kitchen towel and cling-film again. Leave this in the same warm place for about 1,5 hours.
Watch another Disney movie.
The dough is ready when you can push it and it gently springs back. Now get ready for rolling and shaping!
After shaping, put a warm damp kitchen towel over the pretzels and leave for about 30min to rise again.
Shaping the dough
Knock back the dough until a bit of a smooth ball has formed.
Push the ball a bit flat (not too much, leave the air in there) and cut it into 12 to 15 parts. Eyeball it a bit to see if you have a big piece enough to work with.
Now warm up your hands (that makes rolling easier) or ask someone with warm hands to help you. Roll out the little pieces into very long ropes (60cm) with the middle thicker than the ends. Shape immediately for they tend to shrink fast.
The dough is elastic so it can resist some pulling, but not too much. To shape the Mickey form, first form the original pretzel shape. see picture below. Then grab the to sides at the top part and twist them to form the ears. This may take a bit of reforming, shaping, and pulling, but once the lay down they won't move much.
Finishing your pretzels
3 tbsp Baking Soda
1 L water
Rock salt (topping)
Cheese (topping)
Any savory topping you like
Bring the water to a boil in a large pot or use the water heater and put the water in a large bowl, add the baking soda.
Dump the pretzels in the water solution until they float (one at a time) and lay them on a baking tray lined with a baking sheet or paper.
Spinkle with any topping you prefer (I only did salt and went a bit overboard, so watch out with that)
Bake your pretzel for around 16 min (depending on your over) on 200 degrees Celcius. Your pretzels should be deep brown (not golden or chestnut) when they come out of the oven.
Let them cool down a bit and ENJOY!!
Let me know if you tried to make the pretzels, I am curious to see how they turned out for you guys!
