Pretzel Buns!

 Okay, it’s true, we are a weird family! When we decide that we want to make something, we won’t rest until we get it perfect!

Zac had a small obsession with making the perfect pretzel bun, which meant making it several times until it came out perfect. This is the fruit of his labors and you won’t be disappointed.

If you don’t know where to get some of the ingredients, go to Amazon, you will find everything that you will need. 

Pretzel Buns

Ingredients:

3 cups bread flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 packet RapidRise yeast
2 teaspoons diastatic malt powder
1 1/4 cups water
Lye bath:
10 cups of lukewarm water
1/2 cup food-grade lye microbeads ( you can buy them from Amazon)

Pretzel Buns

Directions:

Dissolve the malt powder in 1/4 cup of water. in another bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water; let stand for 5 minutes. Combine the malt and yeast together.

• Add the dry ingredients to a mixer bowl with a dough hook, slowly add the water and keep kneading until the dough forms a ball and clears the sides of the bowl. If it appears to be too dry, add a little bit more water until you achieve the desired consistency.
• Let rise until it doubles in size, preferably overnight. On baking day, preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
• Slowly add the food-grade lye to the COLD water, close the pot and bring the lye to a rolling boil, then turn off the heat.
• Divide the dough into 10 equal pieces. Spray the baking sheets with cooking spray.
• CAUTION: Never, ever add food lye to boiling or even really hot water as it is heating on the stove. It will cause the pot to instantly boil over and possibly splatter you with lye.
• Shape each piece into a round and be sure to seal them well on the bottom.
• Proof them at the most to 1/2 proof, not fully. Dip the rolls into the hot lye upside down, remove with a skimmer, drain well and place onto the baking sheet. Score them with a serrated knife. Sprinkle with salt on top.
• Bake until they are a deep brown color, about 27 minutes.