Pre-shape
Take
the
first
piece
and
gently
press
it
out
with
your
fingers
to
10
cm
×
10
cm
(4
in
×
4
in)
square,
then
roll
it
up
tightly.
Place
on
a
plastic
tray
lightly
sprayed
with
cooking
oil,
then
continue
with
the
remaining
portions
of
dough.
Spray
cooking
oil
on
the
top
and
cover
with
a
clean
tea
towel
(dish
towel).
Rest
for
15–30
minutes
or
until
the
dough
feels
slightly
puffy
again.
While
the
dough
rests,
line
a
shallow
tray
large
enough
that
the
pretzels
won’t
touch
each
other
(and
that
will
fit
into
your
freezer)
with
baking
paper.
Don’t
skip
the
pre-shape:
Pre-shaping
rests
the
dough
before
the
final
shape,
and
lessens
the
elasticity
that
would
make
the
dough
rope
spring
back
to
shorter
than
intended.
Put
your
first
rested
piece
of
dough
on
the
work
surface.
Again,
no
flour
needed.
Start
rolling
the
dough
piece
out,
always
squeezing
out
any
air
pockets.
Place
extra
rolling
pressure
at
the
ends
to
make
a
sharply
tapered
rope
around
60–65
cm
(23½–25½
in)
long – longer
if
you
want
a
thinner
pretzel.
Position
the
two
ends
to
form
a
U
shape
and
let
the
dough
relax
for
5
seconds – it
will
noticeably
stop
contracting.
Then
6–8
cm
(2½–
3¼
in)
in
from
the
rope
ends,
overlap
one
tail
over
the
other.
Repeat
the
overlap
motion
so
you
have
a
twist.
Then,
lift
the
tails,
fold
them
back
away
from
you
and
rest
the
left
tail
to
the
left
fat
pretzel
side
and
the
right
tail
to
the
right
fat
side.
Loop
the
tails
under
the
fat
pretzel
sides,
pinching
the
dough
points
to
secure
soundly.
Lift
gently
onto
the
lined
baking
tray.
Repeat
with
the
remaining
pieces.
If
your
pretzel
windows
look
small
or
uneven,
reshape
them
now.
If
the
pretzel
windows
are
too
small,
they
can
close
up
during
baking
and
you’ll
lose
some
precious
crust
real
estate.
Adaptrix
Noats
(no
oats)
O
mit
the
120
g
(4½
o
z)
oats
from
the
dough
and
replace
with
100
g
(3
½
oz)
extra
bakers’
(strong/bread)
flour.
Sprinkle
the
pretzels
with
salt
flakes
instead
of
the
oats.
No
honey
Replace
the
weight
of
honey
with
light
brown
sugar
or
the
classic
barley
malt
syrup.
Glaze
with
plain
melted
butter
at
the
end
or
omit
the
step.