Everything pretzel knots are here, and they are here to win your taste buds over. Who doesn’t love a good soft pretzel? I’m not sure I’ve ever met anyone who doesn’t. Because honestly what’s not to like. What do pretzels have in common with bagels? If you’ve never made either of them, I’ll let you in on a little secret. They are both boiled before baking. So the idea came to me while making bagels, what if we seasoned pretzels with everything bagel seasoning?
As you can see, they are loaded with everything seasoning so you get the savory goodness but also still that classic pretzel taste. I adapted my Easy Pretzel Rolls recipe to make these. So if you’re not interested in everything knots, the rolls are a great alternative. These knots can also just be cut into small bite size pieces, or even made into larger soft traditional pretzel shapes. I have made them all ways and both are excellent, with the exact same taste.
If you have never made soft pretzels at home, now is the perfect time to start. If you have made bread (or even if you haven’t) you can totally make these everything pretzel knots and bring the mall pretzel flavor at home for much cheaper. If you can’t get enough of these everything pretzel knots, I’d recommend also trying my Cheese Stuffed Pretzel Buns.
Baking Tips
When shaping your knots you will essentially be tying a knot with your dough. The dough can be slightly tacky, which will help create tension when you roll it into a rope but can make it harder when shaping. After I have gotten my piece of dough into a rope, I sometimes will lightly dust it with floured hands so that it’s easier to shape. After you have made the knot, you will have 2 ends. They can be tucked underneath to make a more round looking knot, or left out. There is no difference in taste or baking, that is just personal preference.
Boil the everything pretzel knots in smaller batches. It will make it easier to keep track of making sure both sides are getting done, as well as not having to rush as much to season them after boiling. Which leads to, I find it easiest to remove a batch from the boiling water, transfer them to the baking sheet, add the new ones to the water and then season the ones that I just removed. This allows the knots to still be wet, but they become slightly tacky and I feel the seasoning adheres better.
Everything Pretzel Knots Key Ingredients
- Baking soda – Baking soda is one of the ways pretzels get that distinctive color and taste on the coating. Traditionally they are cooked in lye, however baking soda is much easier to both obtain and use.
- Everything bagel seasoning – The taste of an everything bagel in a spice jar. Many different places offer this seasoning, I personally use the King Arthur brand.
Ingredients
- 480 g Bread flour 4 cups
- 2 tbsp Dark brown sugar
- 2 tsp Sea salt
- 2¼ tsp Instant yeast 7g
- 1 tsp Diastatic Malt
- 1⅓ cup Warm water
Water Bath
- 10 cups Water
- ⅓ cup Baking soda
- 1 tsp Salt
Topping
- ¼ cup Everything bagel seasoning
Instructions
- Mix together all dough ingredients: flour, water, salt, yeast, diastatic malt, and brown sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer with dough hook attached.
- Allow dough to mix on low until it is smooth, soft and no longer sticking to the sides of the bowl. 10-20 minutes.
- When dough is ready, remove from bowl, shape into a ball. Lightly grease bowl and place dough back in bowl and cover.
- Allow dough to rise in a warm spot for 90 min to 2 hours, or until doubled in size.
- When dough is ready, fill a pot wide pot with the water for water bath and place on the stove and bring to a boil.
- Preheat oven to 375°F and line a baking sheet with either parchment or a silicone mat
- While water heats up, remove dough from bowl and using a bench scraper or knife divide dough into anywhere from 8-16 pieces depending on how large you would like your pretzel knots to be. 8 pieces will create rather large knots and 16, closer to bite size.
- Roll each piece of dough into a rope shape and then tie into a knot. I find the easiest way is to wrap the dough around two fingers then push one end of the dough through. Place on baking sheet.
- Repeat with each piece of dough.
- Once all dough has been made into knots, and water is boiling, add salt and baking soda.
- Depending on the size of your knots and the size of your pot, place a few knots in the boiling water – being careful not to overcrowd the pot – 60 seconds. Flip the knots in the water after 30 seconds.
- Remove from the water bath back onto the baking sheet and sprinkle with everything seasoning immediately.
- Repeat with all dough until all the knots have been boiled and seasoned.
- Place your baking sheet in your oven on the center rack. Bake for about 20-25 minutes. Pretzels should be a rich to dark brown color when ready.
- Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack. Enjoy!
