Soft Pretzels

The perfect snack!

Ingredients:
1 package active dry yeast
1 1/3 cups warm water (105 ˚F to 115 ˚F)
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
3 ½ -4 cups unsifted, all purpose flour
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons coarse salt
Preheat oven to 425 ˚F. Grease 2 large baking sheets. In large bowl sprinkle yeast over warm water (above); stir with rubber spatula until well blended and yeast is dissolved. Water temperature should be between 105 ˚F and 115 ˚F. If water is too hot, it will kill yeast. With wooden spoon, gradually stir in sugar, salt, and enough flour (about 3 ½ cups) until a soft and slightly sticky dough forms.

Turn dough onto well-floured board. To knead, fold dough toward you (above); with heels of hands push dough away with short rocking motions. Rotate dough a quarter turn and repeat above motion. Continue kneading and turning about 5-7 minutes, adding another ½ cup or more of flour if necessary, until dough is smooth and elastic. Dough should not stick to board or hands.
Cut dough in half, and then cut each half into 4 equal-sized pieces. With floured hands, roll one piece of dough back and forth between palms of hands to form a dough rope. Continue rolling and stretching dough rope until its 15 inches long. Place rope on baking sheet. Cross left side of rope over to the middle of rope, creating a loop. Then fold right side of rope up and over the first loop to form pretzel shape (above). Continue with remaining dough, placing pretzels 3 inches apart on baking sheet. Enlarge holes in pretzels by inserting thumb and index fingers into holes. This will prevent them from completely closing during baking. In small bowl mix together egg and water; brush on pretzels (above). Sprinkle with salt. (For variety, you can sprinkle them with cinnamon and sugar.) Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Pretzels taste best when eaten warm. Makes 8 pretzels. Preparation time: 45 minutes

*When recipes with yeast are involved, it’s not always a good idea to make multiple recipes at once. When baking these for my family, I make two to three recipes separately. It really doesn’t take much longer if you do it separately. These are lots of fun to make for a snack! Enjoy!