Recipe Box: Homemade Dessert Pretzels

When it comes to desserts, we prefer the homemade kind here at LC.com. There’s something special about rolling up your sleeves and covering the kitchen in flour and sugar. Especially when you have your favorite girlfriends over to help you out and laugh along the way… I always look forward to baking and taste-testing sweet treats with my editors at all of our photo shoots. If you’ve been following along lately, you’ve probably caught this yummy homemade New York-style pretzel recipe, which was one of my personal favorites. Because they were such a hit, our resident baker Lauren Lowstan also created a sweet version of the classic snack. Say hello to Strawberry Polka Dot and Cinnamon Sugar dessert pretzels!

Both of these recipes are super simple to create and extremely tasty. Best of all, you don’t have to be a baking expert to whip up these scrumptious sweets. Whether you’re planning the dessert menu for an upcoming dinner party or whipping up treats for the perfect sweets table, these pretzels should be your go-to. Keep scrolling to see how you can prepare both of these sweet pretzel recipes…

Strawberry Polka Dot Pretzels

Ingredients:

For the dough: 

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 tablespoon butter, softened to room temp
• 1 teaspoon strawberry extract
• 1 drop pink gel food coloring
  
  

For the soda bath:

• large pot of water
• 1/4 cup baking soda
  
  

For the topping:

• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon water
• white round sprinkles
  
  

Instructions:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, add the flour, yeast, brown sugar, and salt. Mix for a few seconds until combined.

2. Heat the milk in the microwave or over the stove until it is no hotter than 110 degrees. If you heat your milk too much, it can kill the yeast. Or you can heat just until warm to the touch.

3. Add the milk, softened butter, strawberry extract, and pink food coloring to the dry ingredients and mix on medium speed with the dough hook for about 5 minutes, or until it comes into a nice soft dough.

4. Shape into a ball, and place into a well-greased large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let double in size, or about one hour. (You can also add it to the refrigerator immediately if you want to make overnight).

5. Once your dough has doubled in size, it’s ready to shape into pretzels.

6. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and line your baking sheet with parchment paper, coated in cooking spray.

7. Lightly oil your work surface. This will help with rolling your dough. Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces. Roll and stretch each piece with the palms of your hands, into a 25-inch to 30-inch rope. Now form your rope into pretzel shapes. How to create a pretzel shape: Form the dough into the letter U. Now fold the top right side of U over the left side, so that it crisscrosses. Take the tops of the U, and fold down into a pretzel shape, and tuck the ends under.

8. Set each pretzel aside until you’ve finished shaping them all.

9. Heat a small saucepan with water filled 3/4 of the way full and add the baking soda. The water just needs to be warm, not boiling hot.

10. Add one pretzel at a time for about 20-30 seconds. (This helps puff them up a bit, as well as get a nice brown coat on the outside).

11. Add your pretzels onto your lined baking sheet, and brush each pretzel with egg wash (just mix the egg and water together with a fork until foamy). Add your white round sprinkles to the tops of each to act as polka dots.

12. Bake in your preheated oven for 8-10 minutes, or until tops are golden brown.

Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels

Ingredients:

For the dough: 

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 tablespoon butter, softened to room temp
  
  

For the soda bath:

• large pot of water
• 1/4 cup baking soda
  
  

For the topping:

• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoon cinnamon
• edible gold disco dust
  
  

Instructions:

1. Follow the pretzel instructions in the above recipe.

2. While your pretzels are cooking, whisk together the 1 cup of sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl. Set aside to dip the pretzels in.

3. Immediately after your pretzels come out of the oven, brush the tops with melted butter and dip the pretzels into the cinnamon sugar.  Top with off with edible gold disco dust.

Are you going to try either of these sweet treats at home?

Let me know in the comments below… I promise you won’t regret it!

XO Lauren

Photos: Valorie Darling Photography