What you need for these awesome pretzles:
1 package active dry yeast
1/4 cup HOT water or milk
1 1/3 cup HOT water or milk
1/2 cup brown sugar
5 cups flour
baking soda
water
coarse salt
melted butter
Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Dissolve the yeast in the 1/4 c hot water or milk, add in the brown sugar and the rest of the hot water or milk and stir. Add in 1 cup of flour at a time. Stir in the first 2 cups, after adding the 3rd cup, I find it a little bit difficult to get it all incorporated with just stirring. I then add the last 2 cups of flour and knead it until it is all mixed together.
Let the dough sit for 5 minutes. While it is resting, get a pot out and for every 2 cups of water add 1 TBSP of baking soda. You only need enough water to cover the pretzles. Let this baking soda water come to a light boil and turn off the heat.
Grab about a tennis ball or little smaller sized chuck of dough and roll out with your hands in to a long snake. Twist into a pretzle and dip in the baking soda water for about 15 seconds. Put on baking tray and sprinkle with coarse salt. I make 2 trays of pretzles.
I also roll a long snake of dough and make little pretzle sticks. Bake pretzles for 8 minutes or until golden brown. Either rub a stick of butter on the top of the pretzles or melt butter in a dish and spoon over the pretzles right after coming out of the oven. If you want cinnamon sugar pretzles, after putting butter on them, sprinkle with the cinnamon and sugar. (I do not have a picture of that kind). This is a fun treat to make with the kids. Mine LOVE to help me make these and they try to roll and twist their own pretzles.
