Soft Pretzels

I love it when I'm walking through the mall and I pass by one of those soft pretzel shops!  They always smell so good!  The smell will make me start to salivate when I'm still 5 stores away.  They are just so wonderful.  So chewy...and buttery...and perfect in every way!  They only thing that I don't like about them is paying for them.  I'll be honest, I'm tight with our money when it comes to that sort of thing.  So I wasn't sad when I happened to come across several recipes for them online!  This recipe is from one of my favorite blogs Creations by Kara.  She always has the best things on her site.  These pretzels are so easy!  Have fun and enjoy!

Soft Pretzels

1/2 cup warm water

2 Tbsp yeast

1 cup milk

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 Tbsp sugar

4 cups flour

Add yeast to warm water..  Add sugar, salt, and milk.  Stir in flour to make a stiff dough.  (Unlike most bread recipes, you want plenty of flour.  That makes the pretzels chewier.)  Knead on floured counter about 5 minutes.  Let dough rest for 5 minutes.  Form into pretzels following the instructions below.  Bake at 400 degrees F for about 15-18 minutes.  Depending on the size of your pretzels, this recipe makes about 10-12 pretzels.

1. Pull off an egg sized ball of dough.

1. Roll the dough into a rope about 14"-20" long.  I roll it until it is about the diameter of a pencil.

1. Cross ends to make a loop.

1. Twist ends one time. (Sorry the picture is fuzzy)

1. Bring the ends down

1. Tuck ends under the bottom of the loop and place on a greased cookie sheet.

1. Brush pretzel with milk and sprinkle your favorite toppings.  I'm boring. ;-)  I stuck with course sea salt.  So very yummy!

1. The finished product.  

1. Happy baking!!!

For those of you that are admiring my plate, it is a Moda Home product, but I'm sorry to say that it has been discontinued.  For a limited time, there are a few left here in a different print.  Get them fast before they are gone!