Pretzel Rolls

Reader Submission for the Pinstrosiversary Challenge:

I’ve seen pretzel rolls all over grocery stores and restaurants lately, but have never tried them.  When I saw this pin, I knew this was my chance.

http://une-bonne-vie.blogspot.com/2010/08/pretzel-rolls.html

I’ve been making rolls and bread for a while.  So when I set out to tackle this pin, I was confident of a “pin win.”  I found the recipe to be kind of vague.  When I added the ingredients suggested, the dough was in no way “stiff.”  I added more flour, despite the dire warning and used my KitchenAide to knead the dough until it looked right.  When I formed them into roll-sized pieces of dough for the second rise, I ended up with twice as many pretzel rolls as the recipe promised.  The “bath” was fun, but I knew my serrated knife needed sharpening when I tried to cut the slits in the top.  Also, I had fine sea salt, not coarse.  I barely sprinkled any salt on top.  So how did they turn out?

They’re definitely not as pretty.  But my family LOVED them.  The crust was crunchy and they tasted like a soft pretzel.  We had lots of leftovers.  I found that microwaving them in a slightly damp paper towel for about 20 seconds, and then sticking them in our toaster oven makes them crisp up like the day I made them.  I will definitely make these again, this time with more salt and a sharpened serrated knife.