Pretzel Sticks with Mustard Mayo Sauce

Apr 09, 2025

Pretzel Sticks with Mustard Mayo Sauce

'I don’t eat enough pretzels. Not that there is some sort of daily pretzel-eating threshold that must be met…I just know that all of us could probably be a little bit happier if we ate more pretzels. They’re satisfying and salty with that classic roasty caramelized dough flavor.' – Derby at Home Chef Joshua Weissman

PREP TIME: 25 Minutes + 1 Hour 2 minutes to rise + Making May0 (if desired)

COOK TIME: 25 Minutes

SERVES: 2 Dozen

Ingredients:

• 2 cups (500ml) filtered water, heated to about 100°F (38°C)
• 1/3 cup (72g) firmly packed light brown sugar
• 31⁄4 tsp (14g) instant dry yeast
• 1⁄4 cup (60ml) neutral-tasting oil
•  51⁄2 cups (825g) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1 tsp (6g) fine sea salt
• Flaky sea salt
• Mustard-mayo sauce:
• 1⁄2 cup (115g)
• Mayonnaise (page 44)
• 1⁄2 cup (120g) whole-grain mustard
• Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Lye bath:

• 1,000g filtered water, room temperature
• 30g food-grade lye

Instructions:

1.         In a large bowl, mix together the water, brown sugar, and yeast. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 10 minutes. The mixture should get lightly foamy, and the yeast should dissolve. Then whisk in the oil.

2.         In a separate large bowl, whisk together the flour and fine sea salt. Add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture and begin mixing by hand until you get a shaggy dough. (The dough may or may not be a little sticky depending on your flour. Just keep mixing and kneading until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl.

3.          Turn the dough onto a generously floured surface and continue kneading for 3 to 5 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Transfer the dough to a large, greased bowl, cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

4.          While the dough is rising, make the mustard-mayo sauce. In a small bowl, mix together all of the ingredients. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

5.         preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit (230 degrees Celsius). Line 2 or 3 baking sheets with silicone mats. Turn the dough onto an unfloured surface. Punch down the dough to release the gas. Using a kitchen scale for roughly equal pieces. Divide the dough into 24 pieces (60-70g each). Roll each piece into a ball, cover the balls with a damp towel, and allow to rest for 15 minutes. Then roll each ball into an 8 inch (20 cm) about ½ inch (1.25 cm) thick with slightly tapered ends.

6.         Put on rubber or latex food-safe gloves. Be very cautious not to get any of the caustic lye solution on your hands or face. In a large metal or glass bowl, make the lye bath: add the water to the bowl, and whisk in the lye until dissolved.

7.         To the lye bath, add 4 to 6 pretzel sticks at a time and soak for 15-20 seconds. With gloved hands, carefully transfer the dough to a baking sheet with a 1 to 2 inch (2.5-5cm) space between each. Leave them in the tube shapes or the French shape shown in the photo. Cut the pretzels in 3 intervals at a 35-degree angle about three-fourths through the pretzel and turn each segment in an alternating direction.

8.        Sprinkle the pretzels with flaky salt. Bake one sheet at a time for to 10-15 minutes, or until deep brown. Enjoy while they’re still warm with mustard- mayo sauce for dipping.