Matcha Soft Pretzels

Recipe down below – if you’d like to watch the process, check out my highlight for this recipe on my Instagram @pokethedough

Ingredients

Makes 6 pretzels

Based off of Host the Toast’s recipe for soft pretzels

2/3 cup baking soda

2 tbsp sugar

1 packet (2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast

1 tsp kosher salt

1 stick (8 tbsp) unsalted butter, divided into 2 and 6 tbsp

4 tbsp matcha powder

3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

Vegetable oil, for greasing bowl

Coarse sea salt

Black sesame seeds

Regular sesame seeds

Instructions

Baking the baking soda: Pretzels are usually made with lye, which gives pretzels a chewy, brown crust. Because lye is not very accessible or safe to the common consumer, we can substitute baking soda, which is weaker but still works well! To make the baking soda even stronger, we can bake it in the oven. This step is optional, but if you want your pretzels to have intense browning, go ahead with this next step.

Preheat the oven to 250F. Line a baking sheet with foil. Evenly sprinkle the baking soda over the prepared baking sheet and bake for 1 hour. Melt 2 tbsp of butter at this point.

Preparing the yeast mixture: In the meantime, pour 1 cup of warm water into a large bowl (we’re going to use the bowl for the dough). Whisk in the sugar until dissolved. Sprinkle the yeast over the water and let sit until the yeast becomes frothy and bubbly, about 5-10 minutes.

Stir in the salt, 2 tbsp of butter, and the matcha powder.

Preparing the dough: Add the flour, stirring in a bit at a time, until a dough forms and loses most of its stickiness. Knead the dough until smooth, about 5-10 minutes.

Lift from the bowl and oil the bowl with vegetable oil. Place the dough back into the bowl and cover with a moist towel or plastic wrap. Let sit in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 45 minutes to an hour.

Prepping to bake: Remove baked baking soda from the oven and set aside. (Be careful not to breathe in or handle with bare hands as it can be irritating.) Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside. Preheat oven to 450F.

Shaping pretzels: When the dough is ready, lightly flour a surface with plenty of room. Cut the dough into 6 parts and form into rectangles (weigh it if you want to be precise).

Stretch and roll the strips into long thin ropes, about 2 ft each. If the dough is tearing and is too stiff, periodically moisten your hands with water and roll with your palms. If it’s still working against you, roll as long as you can and set aside for the gluten to relax, and work on the next rope.

Shape the rolls into pretzel shape: for shaping help, watch my Instagram highlight for this recipe!

Baking soda wash: Bring 8 cups of water to a simmer. Whisk the baked baking soda into the hot water until dissolved. Dip each pretzel, one at a time, into the baking solution for a couple of seconds.

Place the pretzels on the prepared baking sheet. You should have 6 pretzels that have space in between them.

Dressing the pretzels: Sprinkle on salt lightly. Generously sprinkle pretzels with black and regular sesame seeds.

Baking the pretzels: Bake for 8 minutes at 450F, turning the tray halfway through. Melt the remaining 6 tbsp of butter.

Finishing the pretzels: Brush the finished pretzels with melted butter and serve warm and with your choice of dips.