This one was on Food & Wine and I just had to make it. Yup salty is my weakness!! I made a couple minor changes, and used my stand mixer instead of my hands to need the dough. Salty, slightly sweet goodness.
1/2 cup light brown sugar or palm sugar
Water
4 1/2 tsp or 2 envelopes active dry yeast
1/4 c vegetable oil
5 3/4 c all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
3/4 c baking soda
1 large egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of water
Flaky salt
Yellow mustard, for serving
In a large bowl, stir the brown sugar into 2 cups of warm water (105 – 115) until dissolved. Sprinkle the yeast over the water and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Stir in the vegetable oil and flour.
Using the dough hook, mix on low speed until well combined. Increase the speed to medium and knead the dough until it is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, creating a ball of dough around the dough hook. Beat on medium speed for approximately 4 minutes
Transfer the dough to an large, oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 450°. Line 3 large cookie sheets with parchment paper and butter the paper. Punch down the dough and turn it out onto a floured work surface. Knead the dough lightly, flatten it out and cut it into 24 pieces. Roll each piece into a 9-inch stick about 1/2 inch thick. Transfer the sticks to the prepared cookie sheets, leaving at least 2 inches between them. Let stand uncovered until puffed, about 25 minutes.
In a large, deep pot stir the baking soda into 2 quarts of water and bring to a simmer over high heat. Reduce the heat to moderate. Using 2 slotted spoons, carefully transfer 6 pretzel sticks at a time to the simmering water 30 seconds, turning once; add about 1 cup of hot water after before cooking the second batch of pretzels. Transfer the pretzel sticks to paper towels to drain, then return them to the cookie sheets, spacing them evenly.
Brush the pretzel sticks with the egg wash and sprinkle with salt. Bake until richly browned, about 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature, with mustard.
These freeze beautifully! Bake, cool and then freeze on a cookie sheet. Once frozen pop in a ziplock as freeze until you are ready to consume.
To rehear pop in a 450 oven for 5 minutes.
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