Chocolate Brioche Pretzels

Have I mentioned that I love Smitten Kitchen?  For Christmas Adam surprised me with a signed copy of the new Smitten Kitchen cookbook and I have yet to find a recipe I don’t like.  This weekend was much of the same.  Adam is currently in his surgery rotation at school which means he is not around a lot, so I have a lot of downtime and nothing is better on a rainy Saturday morning than baking! 

The dough was so dense I thought my mixer was
going to fall apart!

After the butter has been added

When in France I fell in love with chocolate croissants.  I mean who wouldn’t want chocolate for breakfast every morning?  Well let me tell you, these chocolate brioche pretzels take me back to my favorite French breakfast treat.  There is just the right amount of sweetness paired with the soft, light, buttery French brioche. 

Chopped chocolate

The dough after it had finished rising.

Most importantly the recipe was really easy to make.  Other than the slight concern that my Kitchenaid mixer was going to fall apart during the dough mixing, everything worked out perfectly.  I was a little nervous because I have never made bread or worked with yeast before (that was always Adam’s department), but all of my fear was in vain.  These brioche pretzels are beyond good.  I think I may eat my third while curled up with a blanket and my book.  Not even three of these pretzels are enough for one day.

Chocolate Brioche Pretzels

(makes 8 pretzels)

Dough:

1/3 cup whole milk

1 tsp instant yeast

2 ¼ cups flour

2 tbsps sugar

½ tsp table salt

2 large eggs (lightly beaten)

8 tbsps unsalted butter, at room temp

 1 cup well-chopped chocolate or mini chocolate chips

¼ grated orange zest (optional)

Glaze:

1 large egg

½ tsp table salt

1 tsp water

Course sugar for finishing

Whisk the milk and yeast together until the yeast has dissolved.  In a mixer with the paddle attachment, stir together the flour, sugar and salt.  Add the eggs and the yeast mixture and mix the dough at low speed until it starts to come together.  Now here is where things got interesting.  Smitten Kitchen says to raise the speed to medium and beat for 10 minutes, but when I did this my mixer was making very loud noises and sounded like it was going to explode, so I put it back on low speed and mixed it for only 5 minutes with the paddle.  Then add the butter, a third at a time, mixing the dough between additions.  Switch to the dough hook and knead at speed 2 for another 5 minutes.  Add the chocolate and zest until everything is mixed.

Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let is rest in a warm space for 2 hours, until the dough has almost doubled. 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Divide the dough into 8 pieces and roll each out into an 18 inch-long rope.  I didn’t need to flour the counter at all, but you can if you find your dough sticky.

Look at the pictures above to form the pretzel, but all you have to do is twist the rope ends together and then fold the twist down, separating the ends so they look like a pretzel.  Transfer them to the prepared baking sheet, brush them with the glaze and sprinkle them with the sugar.  You can let them rest for 15 minutes and then brush them with the glaze a second time, but I didn’t do this and they still turned out wonderfully.  Bake for 12 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cool on a rack.