Pretzel Burger Bun Recipe

Somehow my sister and I can live thousands of miles apart and still manage to copy each other. She’d say she copies my style, but in most areas of life, I copy her–being that she’s five years older and somehow light years ahead in responsibility and discipline. Recently, I attempted to start a new 30-day elimination diet, (I completed day 1 successfully and then gave up) only to learn that Lindsay had already begun and successfully completed six days of the same diet, and is still going strong. I’m choosing to live vicariously through her victory. But last week I happened to Face-time her while she and her family were eating, and I heard all about how delicious her homemade pretzel buns tasted. Thus began my newest culinary venture, the salted pretzel bun.

Like I’ve said before, when it starts getting above fifty degrees, our household kind of transplants to living outdoors. From May to October, we eat outside every night, retreating indoors only for rain and large bumblebees. So grilling is (obviously) how we get by during the summer, since I refuse to waste a moment of beautiful weather laboring in a stuffy kitchen. Thus, our obsession with burger night.

I may not always have vegetables or meat, but I always have a pantry full of yeast, flour, sugar, and every other ingredient to whip up cookies or brownies or breads or basically any pastry item that isn’t healthy. So for me, on a night when I want burgers and I don’t have buns, making some buns isn’t that big of a stretch. For those of you normal people non-baking types who actually stock your fridge with healthy food, you might want to buy some of these ingredients in advance.

I found a few pretzel bun recipes on Pinterest, and naturally, I had to bounce around a little bit between two or three to get a recipe that had ratios and ingredients that worked for me. So here it is, the newest hero of your dinner night…

Salted Pretzel Bun Recipe

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

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 package of active dry yeast

1/4 cup brown sugar

4 1/2 cups all purpose flour

5 Tbsp salted butter

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup baking soda

4 quarts boiling water

Kosher salt*

*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.

First, dissolve the yeast in 1/2 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 pretzel 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!

Let me guarantee that your family won’t want any more store bought rolls. We stuffed turkey burgers, sauteed mushrooms & onions, and guacamole between our pretzel buns and we were all a happy chorus of moans. Your taste buds will thank you. Your family will think you are a rock star. And really, how bad can a few carbs be? Life is short, people. Eat well.

Have you ever had a pretzel bun?

Copyright © Charis Freije, Moms of Faith®, All Rights Reserved