This week the kitchen smells like pretzels. We’re making soft pretzels from scratch, and I mean the real thing. Chewy crust, soft pillowy inside, deep golden brown. Better than any mall pretzel you’ve ever had. Here’s the thing about a pretzel. What makes it a pretzel isn’t the shape. It’s the bath. Before these go in the oven, they take a quick dip in boiling water with baking soda stirred in. That alkaline bath is what gives you the dark color, the shine, and that chewy pull when you bite in. Skip it and you’ve just got bread shaped like a pretzel. That same bath is the magic behind our pretzel loaf, so if you’ve baked that one with us, you already know the secret. Three ways in this week. Pick the one that fits you: 🥨 Classic Soft Pretzels. Yeasted, start to finish in about two hours. Best entry point. https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/recipes/classic-soft-pretzels 🥨 Sourdough Soft Pretzels. Naturally leavened, deeper flavor, and you can stretch it overnight. Twists, bites, or buns. https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/recipes/sourdough-soft-pretzels 🥨 Kids Can Bake Pretzels. No mixer, built-in science lessons, made for little hands at the counter. https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/recipes/kids-can-bake-soft-pretzels Saturday we bake together. Working thread opens at 8:00 AM ET. Mix with us, post your photos, ask your questions in real time. No lye. No special equipment. Just baking soda, a pot of water, and your hands. Pull up a stool. Let’s twist. Perfection is not required. Progress is. Henry ⭐🔥

Hello to all my fellow backers. Getting ready for the next bake along and bread baking . Unfortunately I missed the last two. Been away with other obligations and treated myself to a new monkey lame , can’t wait to use it. Been listening to the latest videos and tutorials. Thank you Henry

His name is @David Smith . We crossed the line today, bakers. One thousand members. And the seat we'd been holding for that milestone moment now belongs to David, out of Bothell, Washington. David found us through a friend, joined quietly, and is already showing up. He loves fishing, cooking, and learning Greek. The kind of person who appreciates a process that takes time and rewards attention. That tracks with bread, doesn't it. David, welcome. You picked a good crew. Jump into the feed when you're ready and introduce yourself. Tell us what you're hoping to bake, what you've already tried, or what's been giving you trouble. Whatever you bring, this room will meet you where you are. To the rest of you: this milestone belongs to all of us. Every conversation, every Saturday bake-along, every loaf you posted whether it worked or didn't. Every time you answered another baker's question before I got there. That's what one thousand looks like. Shannon at 800. Amanda at 900. David at 1,000. And we're just getting started. Perfection is not required. Progress is. Henry ⭐🔥

I need someone to bake this and tell me how it turns out. I’ve never seen anything like this in all my born days. I need to know.

I went hunting for shaping video this week and a perfect one popped up in my own archive. Me, sub rolls, same exact technique as a baguette. Don't let the size throw you. Sub rolls are about the same length as a full sub sandwich, which is right in the baguette range. The shaping move is identical. Pre-shape, rest, fold, roll, taper. That's the move whether you're making a 14-inch baguette or a 12-inch sub roll. Watch the hands. Heads up: this is an older video with music, no narration. Hooked on Classics. The pace is a bit quick because I'm running through a batch. Watch it twice. First time for the flow. Second time to catch the moves. The step-by-step below tracks exactly what my hands are doing. Here's what I'm doing, step by step: Pre-shape. I'm shaping the dough into a rough log already. Pre-shape isn't a round for baguettes. It's an elongated shape because that's where the dough is heading anyway. Less work on the final shape if you start it pointed in the right direction. The rest. Bench rest 15 to 20 minutes. The dough relaxes. Skip this and the dough will fight you on the final roll. Stretch the ends. Take the dough by the two ends and stretch it gently. Just a little. You're waking up the length without tearing the gluten. First fold. Fold the two ends in toward the center, about an inch or two each. You're building structure. Top to center. Fold the top edge down into the middle. Flip and repeat. Turn the whole thing around and fold the new top edge down into the middle again. You're stacking layers of tension. Seal it. Take the top edge one more time, fold it all the way over, and press the seam closed with the heel of your hand. That seam is what holds the shape during proof. Roll and taper. Hands flat. Start in the middle, roll outward, narrow the ends as you go. The roll elongates the loaf. The taper points it. Where it goes next. In the video I'm placing my rolls in silicone molds because that's what I'm baking in. For your bake Saturday, you're going onto a couche, seam-side up, with the linen pleats supporting the sides. Same shape. Different proofing surface.