For this pretzel bun recipe, you will need a large stock pot, a slotted spoon, a cookie sheet lined with greased parchment paper, and your oven preheated to 425 degrees
Ingredients
1½ cups warm water
1 package of active dry yeast
¼ cup brown sugar
4½ cups all purpose flour
5 Tbsp salted butter
¼ tsp salt
¾ cup baking soda
4 quarts boiling water
Kosher salt*
Instructions
First, dissolve the yeast in ½ cup of warm water and let it rest for 10 minutes until the mixture looks frothy and the yeast has woken up.
Then pour that mixture into the bowl of a standing mixer and add the next 4 ingredients (including the remaining 1 cup of water) until it forms a loose dough.
Knead for 7-10 minutes by hand, or using a dough hook in the standing mixer. My mom always says you know dough is kneaded well when it bounces back when you spank it. I don't know, try it. It works. It helps expel some aggression. Whether or not you believe in spanking children, you can always spank bread dough.
Once the dough has been kneaded, place it in a greased bowl covered by a loose towel to rise for 60-90 minutes, or until it has doubled in size.
After the pretzel dough has risen, begin boiling the four quarts of water and baking soda. Meanwhile, punch the dough down in the bowl (so much aggression in this process), and roll it into a long log, slicing it in even sections. (This should make about 8-10 sections) Roll each section by hand into round balls, and pinch the bottom of each ball to form a base for it to sit on.
Drop three to four rolls into the boiling water for 30 seconds, then flip each roll over in the water to allow the tops to boil for another 30 seconds. The longer you boil, the more golden the dough gets, which makes for a richer pretzel flavor. So I let mine boil for about 15 seconds extra each side. I'm a rebel. I love pretzels. I hate rules.
Remove each roll and place it on the greased parchment paper, and continue with the remaining dough balls; boiling and flipping. Once you have completed boiling each roll, take a sharp knife and make two criss-crossing cuts about an inch into the top of each roll, being careful not to deflate the rolls as you do so.
Sprinkle each pretzel bun with however much kosher salt you like, and then place the greased tray into the oven for 15-18 minutes or until the rolls are a deep golden brown. And eat 'em quick! They taste best warm!
Notes
*I didn't have kosher salt, so I used regular salt. It tasted just like it should, but there was a depressing lack of crunch on the rolls where the thick granules of kosher salt ought to have been. Moral of the story: don't be depressed like I was, buy kosher salt in advance.