Soft and airy on the inside, with a perfectly pretzel-y exterior, these rolls are great dipped into beer cheese soup, or as buns to elevate your favorite burger or breakfast sandwich. They come together in about an hour.
I use my bread machine to make the dough, which makes an already very quick and easy bread recipe even quicker with less mess. This is the model of bread machine I have (non-affiliate link). I’ve used it at least once a week since 2016 and I love it.
Recipe
Yields: 1 dozen rolls (68 g each)
Servings: 12
Active Time: 20 minutes
Bake Time: 10 minutes
Passive Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Ingredients
Dough
275 g Water, if making as quickly as possible in bread machine or if making dough by hand, water should be warm but not hot
45 g Neutral Oil
480 g All Purpose Flour, not bread flour. Bleached all purpose preferred, i.e. not King Arthur APF
20 g Sugar
0.75 tsp Kosher Salt ( 3 g ), Table Salt: 1/2 volume, same weight
2 tsp Instant Yeast, aka Bread Machine yeast
Lye Dip
1000 g Cool Water
40 g Lye Crystals
Pretzel Salt, optional. Or Kosher salt. For sprinkling.
Notes
Store rolls in an airtight container at room temp for up to a week.
Method
Bread Machine Dough:
Add Dough ingredients to your bread machine pan in the order listed above.
If you’re not in a hurry, run your machine on the Quick Dough Course (it usually takes around 50 minutes).
If you are in a hurry, run a Homemade Course with these settings:
Rest: Off
Knead: 20 mins
Shape: Off
Rise 1: 10 mins
Rise 2: 10 mins
Rise 3: Off
Bake: Off
Keep Warm: Off
Total Time: 00:40
Once the timer goes off, skip to the shaping and baking section
Handmade Dough:
Mix together dough ingredients in a large mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook until a shaggy dough forms.
If working by hand, turn dough out onto a heavily floured work surface. Using floured hands, knead the dough until it passes the windowpane test, usually around 8-10 minutes, but it could be more.
If using a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, run your mixer on low until the dough passes the windowpane test, usually around 8-10 minutes, though it could be more.
Put back into a bowl (or leave the dough in the bowl if using a stand mixer). Cover and allow to sit for 10 minutes in warm, draft-free spot.
Punch down and allow to sit covered for another 10 minutes.
Shaping & Baking
Grease or line pan(s). Once dough has finished its second rise, turn it out onto a floured work surface. Cut it into 12 equal pieces (will be about 68 g each).
Shape those pieces into balls, placing them on your baking pan seam side down.
Cover the dough balls and allow them to rest in a warm, draft-free spot while the oven preheats and you prepare your lye solution.
Oven: 260C | 500F, lower rack.
Once the oven has pre-heated: Working in a well-ventilated area, cover your work surface in towels. For maximum safety, wear gloves. CAREFULLY mix together the Lye Dip ingredients in a glass or high-quality plastic bowl.
Lye is extremely caustic, so please use caution. Avoid allowing it to come into contact with your skin or countertop.
Working one roll at a time, dip them into the lye solution for about 15 seconds, flipping the dough ball halfway through. Using a large slotted spoon, spider skimmer, or skimmer spoon remove the dough ball. Place the lye-dipped roll back on your prepped baking sheet.
Once all the rolls have been dipped, you can score the tops and/or sprinkle them with pretzel/kosher salt, but neither is strictly necessary.
Bake rolls for 10 to 12 minutes, until rolls are a deep coppery brown.
Remove to rack to cool.
Inspiration
Zojirushi How to Enjoy Your Home Bakery Virtuoso Breadmaker Pizza Crust Dough Recipe
(I couldn’t find the PDF of the exact same booklet that came with my bread machine, but the recipe on page 22 is pretty much the same as the one in mine)
Changes to original recipe:
Made into pretzel rolls instead of pizza
Adjusted the ratio of oil to water. I found the slightly higher fat content makes the dough more pliant and less sticky for working
Thread & Thrum 