Pretzel rolls - yay!

Can you tell I couldn't think of a cutesy title for this post?  Sigh.

When we lived in Los Angeles, my company used to order boxed lunches from a regional deli called The Corner Bakery.  The food was decent, but what made me super excited on Corner Bakery day was that my sandwich came on a pretzel roll.  Soft. Salty. Pillowy.  Which is why I was super stoked to find Soft Pretzel Rolls from The Lady Behind the Curtain.  Side note: is that caricature in her blog heading wearing a lot of eye liner, or is it just me?

I liked the idea of the pretzel rolls, but since I'm so comfortable making bread with my own recipe, I decided to "Sarah-tize" these rolls.

Pretzel Rolls
1 batch of my basic bread recipe
1/2 cup of baking soda
Kosher salt
2 quarts of water

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Follow the directions for my bread recipe through the 1st rise and 2nd kneading.  Pinch chunks of dough off and roll in to a smooth ball.   Place on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.  Let rise for about 45 minutes.

Care to wager a guess if I'm making hot dog buns on this sheet, or dirty rolls for a bachelorette party...

In a large dutch oven, bring 2 quarts of water to a rolling boil.  Add baking soda to the boiling water.  Place 2 balls of dough in to the water, and "boil" for 30 seconds on each side.  Using a slotted spoon, remove the ball and place it back on the baking sheet.  Sprinkle with kosher salt.

Bake for 10 minutes, and then rotate the pans in the oven and bake for another 7-10 minutes, or until golden brown.  Place on wire cooling racks, and allow to cool.

Even Star Wars machines love pretzel rolls!

Once cooled, cut in half length-wise.  Place your favorite sandwich fixin's on the roll.  Make sure no one is around so that you can make out with your sandwich in peace.