Red Currant Bakery

Instructions

Dough

In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the all purpose flour (350 grams), the whole wheat flour (150 grams) and the instant yeast (8 grams).

Pour in the lukewarm water (300 grams), softened butter (20 grams), and kosher salt (10 grams).

Use the dough hook attachment to knead the dough on low speed until smooth, about 10 minutes.

Shape the dough into a ball and place back in the mixing bowl. Cover the bowl with a lid or some sort of cover and leave somewhere warm to rise until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 450 F with a rack in the middle of the oven, and another one, one to two slots below it.

Shape

Once doubled in size, knock the air out of the dough by punching it down and then briefly re-kneading it by hand. Use as little extra flour as possible.

Weigh the dough and divide the amount by 8. Use a bench scraper, knife, or your hands to divide the dough into 8 equal portions.

Working with one dough ball at a time, pat the dough into a flat(ish) disk, about 3" in diameter.

In a clockwise direction, bring the edges of the dough into the center of the disk and press together. Pinch the open seams together until the ball is smooth on the top and only has one small seam on the bottom.

Place the shaped rolls onto an un-floured kitchen towel and leave to sit until the oven is preheated.

Lye Bath

Once the oven is hot, it's time for the lye bath. Refer to the tips section earlier in the blog post for all the information and precautions when working with lye! Most importantly, wear gloves, eye protection, work in a well ventilated space, use a glass or stainless steel bowl, and add the lye into the water, not the other way around.

Set up your work station, it should go from left to right: rolls on a towel, bowl for the lye bath, a baking sheet lined with parchment with a cooling rack on top, and then another baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large glass bowl, add in 1 liter of water. Sprinkle with 37 grams of food grade lye. Use a stainless steel slotted spoon to stir it until the water becomes clear again. This is when the majority of the fumes will be released so I recommend being close to the window or even outside for this part.

Place one roll at a time onto the slotted spoon, carefully lower it down into the lye bath, and pull the spoon away. Use the spoon to press the roll down so that it is fully submerged, and hold it there for 15 seconds.

Carefully lift the slotted spoon away from the roll and use it to scoop out the roll. Allow the excess water to drip off and then transfer it to the wire rack.

Repeat with the remaining rolls.

Score and Salt

Before transferring the rolls, place a baking sheet or some metal baking dish in the oven on the bottom rack to heat up while finishing the rolls.

Carefully transfer them to the parchment lined baking sheet. I keep my gloves on for this step because it is hard to only use the slotted spoon.

Be intentional about where you place the rolls because they are hard to move once on the parchment paper.

Once transferred, use a bread lame, razor blade, or knife to cut one slit in the top of each roll. The slit doesn't need to be very deep as the rolls don't expand as much due to the lower hydration of the dough.

Sprinkle the top of each roll with your desired amount of pretzel salt. I like a lot but you can always do less if you prefer.

Bring your sheet of scored and salted rolls next to the oven. Measure out a 1/2 cup or 125 milliliters of water in a measuring cup.

Bake

Place the baking sheet with the pretzel rolls in the oven, on the middle rack.

Immediately after, pull out the bottom rack with the baking sheet and pour the water onto it. Quickly close the oven to trap in the steam and bake for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, rotate the baking sheet with the rolls 180 degrees. Bake for another 10-15 minutes until they become a deep golden brown color.

Once baked, take the baking sheet out of the oven. Place on a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Then use oven mitts or a spatula to transfer the rolls to their own cooling rack – this allows any excess moisture to evaporate rather than soak back in.

Allow the rolls to cool for another 10 minutes before serving!