Pretzel Shortbread
- Total Time
- 2½ hours
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
Advertisement
Ingredients
Yield:About 15 cookies
- ½cup/65 grams pretzel crumbs (see Note)
- 3¼cups/415 grams all-purpose flour
- 1cup/210 grams Demerara sugar
- ¼teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1¼cup plus 2 tablespoons/310 grams unsalted cold butter (2¾ sticks), cut into ½-inch cubes
- ¼cup baking soda, or 1 large egg white
- Pretzel salt or flaky sea salt
Preparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spread pretzel crumbs on a rimmed baking sheet and bake them, stirring once, until they smell toasty (they may not darken, and that's OK), about 5 to 10 minutes.
- Step 2
Pour crumbs into the bowl of an electric stand mixer to cool. Whisk in flour, sugar and salt. Place the butter cubes on top of the flour mixture and chill until everything is very cold, at least 30 minutes.
- Step 3
Using the paddle attachment, beat flour and butter mixture on low speed until it comes together into a dry, crumbly dough that just holds together when you squeeze it, 10 to 15 minutes. If the dough isn’t coming together in the mixer, use your hands to knead it. It will be difficult to work with.
- Step 4
Line a rimmed baking sheet with a silicone baking mat. On a floured surface, use a rolling pin to roll out and press dough into an 8-by-10-inch rectangle about ⅜-inch thick. (Alternatively, you can press the dough into a quarter sheet pan with your fingers instead of rolling). Cut into rectangles approximately 3 inches by 2 inches. Transfer rectangles to the lined baking sheet. Using the tip of a slim chopstick or a fork, poke holes all over the dough, going halfway but not all the way through. Place baking sheet in freezer until dough is frozen, at least 1 hour.
- Step 5
Heat oven to 500 degrees. If using baking soda for the coating, combine it in a small pot with 2 cups water and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring to dissolve. Let cool completely. Dip each cookie into the solution, letting the excess drip off, then place it back on the baking sheet. If using an egg white, whisk it with 1 tablespoon water until frothy, then brush it on top of cookies. Sprinkle the coated cookies evenly with flaky sea salt.
- Step 6
Transfer baking pan to oven and immediately lower the temperature to 350 degrees. Bake until deep golden brown, 18 to 23 minutes. Transfer baking sheet to a wire rack to cool completely before removing cookies, then store them in an airtight container.
Tip
- To make the pretzel crumbs, grind enough pretzels in a food processor or blender to yield ½ cup crumbs. (The amount of pretzels you will need to crush will vary, depending on shape and kind of pretzel.)
Private Notes
Leave a Private Note on this recipe and see it here.
Cooking Notes
Jan
If I want to use lye, how do I do that?
Erin
Salted or unsalted pretzels for the crumbs? I want to make this but want to get the salt ratio right!
Muna Shehadi
I did a total cheater version. I did toast the pretzel crumbs, but then mixed them into the dry ingredients in a food processor, cut in the butter using the machine, pressed the resulting crumbs into a 9X9 pan, dusted with baking soda, sprinkled with Maldon salt and baked as directed. Maybe it wasn't exactly the way they were supposed to be but it didn't take 2.5 hours and a million steps, and they were fantastic.
lupi
I respectfully ask that contributors to this column develop alternative suggestions to placing baking sheets in the freezer. Many home freezers cannot accommodate a baking sheet even when they are empty.
FRITZ
I use lye for Bavarian pretzels; bk soda & egg wash do not taste the same. I use food grade lye beads (Amazon--Essentials Depot vendor). For pretzel dip, I use 3 Tbs per 4 c water. Use non-reactive bowl and utensils (plastic, glass, good stainless steel; lye will corrode aluminum & other metals. Use goggles, gloves. Always slowly stir the lye into the water (not water into the lye) in well ventilated area. I hold my breath a bit while mixing this! Keep kids, pets away. continued in next note ...
anniebsf
How large should the pretzel crumbs be? Like cracker meal? Fine breadcrumbs? Panko? Peas? To my friends in the test kitchen - home cooks really need these specifics, thanks.
FRITZ
... (cont'd). I use double layers of parchment paper on baking sheet (lye ate through silicone mat). Using gloves, I lower pretzels into lye w silicone spatula so I can easily lift them out. Use gloved hand to secure cookie to spatula as you lift it out since lye will make it slippery. Keep lye dip close to baking sheet to avoid drips. I keep lye dip in the sink so drips can be wiped out. Lye has a warming effect so don't let cookies thaw or they might get mushy in dip. Discard lye down drain.
Michael
Made these without a mixer, used a food processor to cut in flour. I also prefer to press shortbread dough into a log, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate. Then it’s easy to slice into cookies to bake. That method worked great for these. Hope that helps someone- these are tasty and worth making.
FRITZ
One more note to add to my reply. When creating the lye mixture, it is extremely important to never add the water to the lye. This can cause a violent eruption and splattering. Lye can be used safely, but it must be slowly added to water. You must also keep stirring it, slowy, until dissolved (you may feel it begin to cake at the bottom if you add it too fast). Always use goggles, gloves, and in well ventilated area since it does create fumes. I use a disposable face mask during mixing.
elle
For LYE USERS: It has been said repeatedly, but a couple of people aren't understanding the methodology DO NOT add water to the lye. Add the lye to the water. As with all chemicals -- bleach, ammonia, etc. ONLY and ALWAYS when diluting, add the chemical TO the water, not the reverse. You learn this if freshman chemistry, but if you never took chem, you wouldn't know this.
Andrew
Actually, there is something virtually as effective as lye: sodium carbonate. Here's a link to a NY Times article from Harold McGee about it: https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/15/dining/15curious.html
Dini G
I was curious to know what the fuss was. There are steps & waiting, so it’s time consuming but I got this batch together while attending other matters. The dough is very crumbly, at first I rolled-it too thin & it wouldn’t hold; crumbling when I tried to transfer to the tray, so I remixed & shaped it on the tray thicker & then the cut held. I get the fuss, it’s the best of short bread & sweet/salty. Worth the labor & time. Highly recommended!
ann gary
Another alternate dipping suggestion from Cooks Illustrated. Make sodium carbonate from baking soda. https://www.cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/6399-professional-quality-soft-pretzels-at-home
shelley
Oooooooh!! I love these shortbread cookies but am too cheap to spend the $9!! Thanks for this!!
C
You can use salted pretzels for the crumbs. As stated in the article, this recipe was developed to use excess pretzels from the bakery. So, using salted soft pretzels will get you closer to the LB version.
sewn
Made this the other night for a group dinner. I used frozen butter and the stand mixer. Also followed the other suggestions and just pressed it into the pan to make it hold together better, then made the cuts and holes. Did not have all the time to do the freezer/cooling & dipping so the dusting of baking soda on top and pretzel salt sprinkled on top worked just as well. They tasted delicious! Good amount of salty & sweet. Served with fruit & whipped cream
Cris Waller
These are absolutely delicious! I did not have any problems with the dough, unlike many other readers. I put it into the food processor until it formed sandy crumbs, then transferred to the stand mixer. The dough came together in 2-3 minutes. I pressed it into a pan, cut and froze. I used lye, which I have around for pretzel-making. The cookies had a nice brown sheen and that distinctive pretzel flavor. This is a keeper!
Kim
Delicious but not much pretzel flavor. I used the baking soda method so it may be better with lye or egg whites. I used salted sourdough pretzel nuggets. My pretzel crumbs were a mix between fine powder and larger crumbles. I ended up crushing up too much so I topped the cookies with the extra pretzel crumbs before baking instead of salt because I didn’t know if I should have used unsalted pretzels. I forgot to poke holes in the cookies before freezing but they still turned out fine!
mary
I man the best of intentions with this note but you can’t cut 3x2” rectangles from a 8x10” square. The math doesn’t make sense, maybe suggest 9x12? Otherwise all is lovely and recipe is amazing.
Erin
These took a while, and maybe we're not as deeply golden brown as the picture, but they really are a cross between a crunchy pretzel and shortbread. I would make them again.
Alyssa
Really delicious, perfect if you love a sweet & salty desert. Just don't bake them at 500 degrees like I did until you realize it said to lower the temperature down to 350. Luckily I caught them soon enough that they were still edible (and delicious)!
Tracey
I live at altitude (6200 feet), and the dough absolutely would NOT come together even after 15 minutes in the stand mixer. I had to put it in the food processor and add 2T of water to get any kind of dough to form. I've made these twice, the first time I did the egg white wash. The second time I tried the baking soda dip and it was a huge improvement. Definitely worth the trouble, and honestly it wasn't that hard. Sprinkled with equal parts kosher salt & sugar. AMAZING!
jennifer
A friend gave us a bag from the Lost Bread Co, we got totally addicted. Used half the sugar, it’s sweet enough. Tried both baked baking soda and egg wash. The baking soda DEFINITELY tastes more pretzel-y. Water in the egg wash created a cellulite texture, omit. These are tasty, but as my first attempt, are a far cry from the original which had a deep, even mahogany, very crisp on the outside, soft inside, pronounced pretzel flavor. Will try mixer instead of food processor cheat, no egg wash.
ea
Mixed in food processor, pressed in 1/4 pan. Froze overnight. Impossible to cut, impossible to even poke holes. Too crumbly. Baked w egg wash. Tasty but do not really get the pretzel flavor. Used hard sourdough. Inside not crunchy. Wondering what would happen if Reduce total dry crumb/flour by 50-100 gr and double pretzel crumbs next time? Tried to bake for a cookie swap but too crumbly to share. Basically spooning it out of the pan. Not sure there will be a next time unless my kids request.
Rachael
If you like these, try making pretzel “Krinkle” cookies using your fave Krinkle recipe and substituting ground pretzels for the flour 1:1.
margot
I thought I’d leave this recipe feeling like it would be worth it to spend $12 on 8 cookies to not have to do this process but if you leave the cookies in the freezer overnight it’s not so bad and they are some of the best cookies ever. And these are much bigger and you get at least twice as many so I’ll be saving my $12. Thank you to lost bread for sharing this! I’m obsessed.
EmilyD
I made and liked these- they aren't too sweet and the pretzel flavor really comes through. I used brown sugar instead of the fancy stuff. I'll definitely make these again.
Peter
I haven't tried this recipe, which sounds interesting, but I often make shortbread, for which I would never think of using anything but unbleached white pastry flour and caster sugar for a distinctive shortbread texture. Cultured butter, too, for flavor, before it mysteriously vanished from grocers in my area.
Ferguson
I had no trouble getting this to work as described. I chose egg white to coat before baking. I prefer the recipe from the Betty Crocker cook book I have been making for half a century but I am always game to try a new recipe from Melissa Clark.
Tracey T
I decided that, although I had lye on hand from making pretzels, I’d skip right to ordering the shortbread cookies to see if the taste made it worthwhile for me to do a “make it at home” project. I’m not a fan. I prefer other shortbread varieties, or other sweet cookies topped with flaky salt or even pretzel bits. The cookies dipped in warm melted chocolate are what it takes to make them at all tasty to me. “Horses for courses” …
Private notes are only visible to you.
Advertisement
