Courtesy of Julie Grice of SavvyEat
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast (just over 1 packet)
- 1 1/2 cups warm water
- 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 tablespoons Garlic Gold® Italian Herb Nuggets (see note)
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for brushing and the pan
- 10 cups water
- 2/3 cup baking soda
- Coarse sea salt
- Garlic Gold® Italian Herb Nuggets, for sprinkling (see note)
(note): If you don’t have Garlic Gold® nuggets, replace with a mixture of garlic powder, dried basil, dried oregano and ground pepper.
Combine 1 1/2 cups of water, 1 tablespoon granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon active dry yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. Allow to sit undisturbed until the yeast is foamy (approximately 3-5 minutes), like this:
Add 4 1/2 cups flour, 2 teaspoons of salt, 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil and 2 tablespoons Garlic Gold® Italian Herb Nuggets (see note above). Using the dough hook attachment, knead the dough for 5-6 minutes. When the dough is cohesive and starts to pull away from the edges of the mixer bowl, transfer it to a well-greased bowl.
Loosely cover and allow to rise until doubled in size. This should take around an hour.
When the dough is pillowy and you can poke a hole in it without the dough springing back, it is done.
Preheat your oven to 450F. In a large pot, bring 10 cups of water and 2/3 to 3/4 cups baking soda to a boil.
Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. Roll each into a 3/4?-thick long rope.
Curve one rope into a U-shape. Cross the ends over each other and loop them back to create the traditional pretzel shape.
Grease a cookie sheet and set aside. Boil each pretzel for 30 seconds, then move to the cookie sheet using a slotted spatula.
Brush the pretzels with olive oil and sprinkle with Garlic Gold® Italian Herb Nuggets (again, see note above).
Bake at 450F for 13-16 minutes. At this point, the surface should be brown and cracked. Transfer to a cooling rack immediately. Allow to cool for at least 5 minutes before serving.
