Rosemary Sea Salt Soft Pretzels
Hello friends!
Can you believe it’s already Friday?! No seriously: I know I right that every Friday but where on earth is 2013 going?! It’s already mid-February?? There’s one month exactly until my last Spring Break ever?!
WHAT IS GOING ON?!
In order to not fall off the deep end, I’m going to focus on these pretzels…
which are delicious…
but were sort of super hard to make.
I’m so relieved that they turned out tasty, because rolling them into teeny skinny ropes to shape was one of the most frustrating moments of my week. How on earth do those people at Auntie Anne’s make it look so easy?
But, my desire for salty snacks won out in the end; and I can officially cross pretzels off my why-haven’t-I-baked-these-yet list. And now that’s it’s off the list, I think I’ll stick to buying Auntie Anne’s glorious little pretzel bites whenever I hit the mall.
And no one even mention Wetzel’s Pretzels. It only wishes its pretzels were worthy of Auntie’s seal of approval. My mother is currently shaking her head in disapproval, but I’m an Auntie Anne’s Gal for life. 
However, if you feel adventurous and avoid the mall at all costs because it’s full of mall rats, go ahead and try out these pretzels! Particularly lazy today? Just make little pretzel bites and avoid the hot mess of attempting to be a pretzel pro.
I picked this current recipe out because it seemed like it would be quite simple. Too simple apparently. They bake up great but the dough is weirdly dry, so I suggest throwing in some extra water if you feel it’s needed.
I’m off to make homemade pop tarts with the Rutgers Student Bakers, so I’ll see you all next week!
Happy Baking!
Rosemary & Sea Salt Soft Pretzels
Recipe Source: Will Cook for Smiles
- 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 cup water (like I said, it was really dry, you may want to do 1 1/4 cups)
- 3 cups AP flour
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
- 3 tbsp baking soda
- 2 tbsp fresh chopped rosemary
- 1 tbsp sea salt
egg wash: 1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp of water
- Combine yeast, salt, sugar, and water in a small bowl, whisking until sugar dissolves. Let sit until foamy, 5-10 minutes.
- Combine flour and cayenne pepper in large bowl. Using a pastry cutter, two knives, or your fingers, cut butter into flour mixture until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Carefully pour yeast mixture over flour mixture, and stir to combine. Gather dough together with your hands and turn out onto lightly floured surface. Knead until no longer sticky, about 5 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise 30 minutes.
- Cut dough into 12 pieces, and roll each out into thin ropes (she said 18 in, I got to 10 in and called it close enough).
- Form a u-shape with one rope, then twist ends together before pressing gently onto bottom of pretzel loop. Repeat with remaining ropes of dough and place all on an oiled baking sheet.
- Let rise for 20 minutes. In the meantime, bring a medium pot of water to a boil and preheat your oven to 450 degrees F.
- Once the water is boiling, add the baking soda. Working with 2-3 pretzels at a time, gently lower them into the boiling water and boil until slightly puffy, about 1-2 min per side. Remove pretzels to piece of paper towel to drain and repeat.
- Place pretzels back onto baking sheet. Brush lightly with egg wash, then sprinkle with rosemary and sea salt.
- Bake at 450 for 7-10 minutes or until golden brown.
All Photos And Writing Copyright © 2013 Jessica Gonzalez | On Sugar Mountain
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Jess… you are amazing!! I LOVE soft pretzels like this and have always wanted to make some. These really look gourmet and so beautiful. I’m sorry it was harder than you expected… but the end result was perfect. I love all the pictures too… you are really doing some amazing food photography these days. Have you tried to get your stuff approved by Foodgawker? I think you have some gawker worthy stuff here!
Oh my goodness Ramona Thank you!! I have tried many times to get onto that site but I must not have the magic touch. Either that or they are tired of seeing my submissions over and over again
But you saying that just made my day 
I’ve been itching to make soft pretzels again after crossing them off my bucket list… I LOVE the idea of adding in rosemary. Yum!
Thanks Ashley! And the rosemary was the perfect flavor for these: even my pickier roommates loved them
I love soft pretzels and I love the addition of rosemary!
First off, thanks so much for re-tweeting about these Jessica! It was super awesome of you and made my day heehee. And seriously, rosemary pretzels should become a staple at all pretzel places
They are delicious!
Wow – I love making homemade pretzels, and the addition of rosemary sounds absolutely phenomenal. I’m already dreaming up dipping sauces to serve with baby versions of these! Yummy
Though they were a lot of work, they were so worth it
And thank you so much for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment!
these pretzels are gorgeous! I love the addition of rosemary. Why haven’t I ever thought to add rosemary to mine? It’s a must try. Maybe when we make the next batch.
I love homemade pretzels!
Thanks Sally! They were a bit of extra work but totally worth it
And rosemary should absolutely be a main flavor for pretzels at Auntie Anne’s. It’s soooo goood.
These pretzels look utterly beautiful my friend
– they look so addictive!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Thanks CCU!
My son is on an eternal quest to find a recipe that duplicates the soft pretzels at a southern restaurant franchise called “Mellow Mushroom”. They are made out of the pizza dough and are my son’s version of nirvana. In the meantime, we enjoy all the homemade recipes we make while in search of the holy grail. Your recipe is next. Thanks!
Yay! I hope he likes them and ends the quest with the perfect pretzel
I love rosemary and sea salt but I never thought to add them to pretzels! These sound so good – can’t wait to try
Have a great weekend!
Thanks Liz! Hope you had a lovely weekend as well!
I heart Auntie Ann’s pretzels too!!! Yours looks 100 times better though
They are absolutely gorgeous and I love that you added rosemary!!!
Thank you so much! I can’t believe I found fresh rosemary for 99 cents at my grocery store! I now know it was a sign to use it on these pretzels heehee
Oh my goodness. pretzels are still on my list of things to make. And I LOVE that you added rosemary, I can only imagine how good that tastes!
Thanks Aimee! They were a bit more work than I expected but I really loved the rosemary flavor
We gobbled them up in a day lol.
Gooodness sakes, girl. I don’t think it’s appropriate that I’m licking my screen, but hooooly crap, I need these. I die for pretzels and get one almost every time I hit up the mall. And I mean, anything with sea salt on top is perfection!
It is TOTALLY appropriate to lick the screen. It is for me anyway I do it with all your crazy cakes and sugary concoctions
I think Maria from Two Peas and Their Pod made a similar pretzel and I could not stop thinking about them! I think it must be a sign that you made them as well. Time to go buy some rosemary
. Oo I have extra Asiago cheese, asiago cheese pretzels? Do I hear the sound of the best pretzel ever??
You know you can get fresh rosemary in a little container at the new grocery store downtown for 99CENTS?!
If that’s not a sign I don’t know what is.
I’m so glad you liken my pretzels
It was not as simple as it is to me now. The more I make them, the easier it gets!
I LOVED them Lyuba! I think I will make them more so that I can get the hang of it