Fluffy Jalapeño Pretzel

by Irma | mycreativekneads

12 Pretzels

1 hr 42 min

Do you remember the days of going to the mall, standing in long lines just to buy a soft pretzel? You know which ones I’m talking about, the ones that were topped with course crunchy salt and had a shiny crust. Growing up I loved Auntie Anne’s and Wetzel Pretzel but after making my own, I soon came to realize what real good soft pretzels should taste like and I’ve never revisited the other pretzel places.

I think anything homemade is much better than store purchased but homemade soft pretzels are everything! The wonderful thing about them is that you can create them according to your favorite flavors and use the best quality ingredients. For these, I decided to make them with jalapeños, parsley, and stuffed with cheddar cheese. For the topping, I used additional finely chopped parsley, jalapeño, minced garlic, and Everything But The Bagel Seasoning from Trader Joe’s.. The flavor was incredibly good and the pretzel was soft and fluffy. You can make these as spicy as you want, all you have to do is add more jalapeño. The only bad thing about them was that my family ate them so fast, I wasn’t able to eat one myself. These were fluffy enough to use as sandwich bread, which is exactly what my husband did.

One important step to preventing the cheese from leaking out during the cooking time is to ensure you cover and seal it between the dough. If you pinch the dough tightly around the cheese and roll the dough ropes a few more times after stuffing with cheese, you are able to create a tighter seal. Don’t worry though if some of the cheese leaks through, it’s still going to taste incredibly delicious.

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Alright, let’s get baking!

The shaggy dough

This is what the dough will look like after mixing it in a stand up mixer using a dough hook. It’s shaggy and wet but after kneading it becomes smooth.

Kneading the dough

Kneading the dough on a floured surface for approximately 10 minutes until smooth.

Oiling a bowl

Proof time

Placing the dough into an oiled bowl for proofing, approximately 1 hour.

Doubled in size

Deflate the dough & cut

After deflating, flatten the dough and cut into 6 pieces.

The cuts

Rolling dough

Rolling the dough into approximately 24 inch ropes.

Flatten the dough ropes

Flattening the dough ropes to prepare for stuffing them with cheese.

The cheese

Flattening the dough ropes and placing thin slices of cheese in the center.

The seal

Sealing the dough around the cheese and pinching the dough together tightly to create a seal around the cheese.

Shaping the pretzel

First step to creating the pretzel is to shape the dough rope into an upside down U.

Shaping (contd)

Step 2 to shaping: take the left side of the upside down U and place it across and over the right side.

Shaping (contd)

Step 3 to shaping: twist the bottom strands.

Shaping (contd)

Step 4 to shaping: flip the bottom twisted strands over and on to the top of the upside down U.

Shaping (contd)

Step 5 to shaping: lightly pinch the strands that were placed on top of the U together and secure in place.

Resting time

After they’re shaped, allow them to rest for approximately 15 minutes.

Water bath

After the 15 minute rest time, place the bagels into the boiled baking soda water for approximately 10 to 15 seconds on each side then place them on to a parchment lined baking sheet.

The topping

Brush the pretzels with the egg wash and sprinkle the jalapeño mixture.

The topping and baking

After adding the topping, place into A pre-heated 375° oven and bake for 12 - 15 minutes or until Golden.

Enjoy!

Fluffy Jalapeño Pretzel

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Recipe details

Yield 12 Pretzels
Time spent: Prep time: 90 Minutes Cook time: 12 Minutes Total time: 1 hr 42 min

Show Nutrition Info

Per serving

% Daily value

Ingredients

For the dough

5 cups all purpose flour
2 tbsp instant quick rise yeast
4 tbsp sugar (brown or white)
2 tsp Himalayan sea salt
2 cups warm milk
1/2 cup combination of finely chopped jalapeños and parsley
Cheddar cheese cut into thin slices

For the topping

5 minced garlic cloves
Combination of finely chopped jalapeños, finely chopped parsley, minced garlic
Everything But The Bagel Seasoning

For the egg wash

1 egg
1 Tbsp water

Instructions

For the dough

In a bowl mix together the milk, sugar and yeast and let sit for 10 min until bubbly
In a stand up mixing bowl mix together the dry ingredients then add the finely chopped jalapeños and parsley.
Into the dry ingredients add the milk and yeast mixture, and the vegetable oil and mix using a dough hook until a soft dough ball forms.
Remove dough from bowl onto a floured surface and knead for about 10 min until smooth.
Transfer to an oiled bowl, cover and let rise until doubled approximately 1 hour.
Once dough is doubled, Deflate the dough, cut in half and cut each half into 6 pieces, shape into a long rope about 24 inches long.
Flatten the dough ropes and place cheese in center of dough for the entire length of the dough rope then pinch tightly the sides together over the cheese to seal the cheese.
Shape into a pretzel and allow them to sit for about 15 min
In the mean time, boil water in a large pan and add about 4 tbsp baking soda.
Place 2 pretzels at a time in boiling baking soda water for approximately 30 sec on each side then remove and place onto parchment paper covered baking sheet.
Brush each bagel with an egg wash (Using 1 egg with 1 Tbsp water)
Sprinkle finely chopped jalapeños, garlic, parsley and everything but the bagel seasoning on top of the pretzels.
Bake at 375° for approximately 12 to 15 min or until Golden. Enjoy!

For the topping

In a bowl combine the finely chopped jalapeños, parsley, minced garlic and Everything But The Bagel Seasoning according to taste.

For the egg wash

In a bowl, beat the egg and water.

For the boiling soda water

Bring 12 cups of water and 4 tbsp baking soda to a boil.

Tips

To create a good seal around the cheese, ensure you pinch the dough tightly and roll the dough ropes a few more times to secure the seal.
I’ve used brown or white sugar for the dough but prefer the flavor of the brown.

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