Salted Caramel Pretzels

I'm not sure where the idea for this recipe came from. I think it just popped into my head one day when I was hungry and then I could not stop thinking about it. My sister has been obsessed with anything salted caramel for a while and I think it is starting to rub off on me.

Salted Caramel Pretzels

Ingredients

For the pretzels:

1 3/4 cups warm water

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 package active dry yeast

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Vegetable oil

1 large whole egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water

Water

Sea salt

For the caramel sauce:

2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup salted butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Combine the warm water, sugar and kosher salt in a large bowl and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour and mix until well combined. Then begin to knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, oil it well with vegetable oil, then return the dough to the bowl, cover with a towel and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Prepare the caramel while the dough is rising:

1. In a large heavy saucepan, combine the white sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Bring to a boil and heat to 240 degrees F (116 degrees C), or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms a semi-firm ball that almost flattens when removed from the water and placed on a flat surface.
2. Combine melted butter with the heavy cream and heat to just under boiling. Carefully add cream and butter to corn syrup mixture. Stir until smooth. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Set aside.

 

Next, take a large pot and fill about 1/3 of the way with water.  Bring to boil over high heat and cover until the dough is ready.

Once the dough has doubled in size, turn it out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 1-ounce portions, approximately 36 pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a long, thin strand, no more than a half inch in width, and then twist into a pretzel shape. Make sure to press the ends down well. Place on a greased cookie sheet and keep the unused dough covered with a damp towel to prevent drying.

Gently place 6 to 8 pretzels at a time into the boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove the pretzels back to the sheet pan, brush with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the sea salt. Bake 35-45 minutes for crispy pretzels or about 15-20 minutes for soft pretzels. Allow to cool, then cover with caramel sauce and sprinkle with sea salt. Refridgerate for a few hours or until caramel has hardened.

 Tip: When dipping the pretzels in the caramel, its best to accept the fact that your fingers will get sticky and just submerge them completely into the pot of caramel. When lifting them out, there will be a little caramel in the holes. You can let it drip out a little bit,  After refridgerating for a few hours, you can lift the pretzels off the plate and the caramel that was in the holes should stick to the plate. 

Enjoy!

xo Heather