Hot Pretzels

1 pkg. active dry yeast
1/2 c. warm water (105 to 115 degrees)
1 c. milk, scalded, cooled to lukewarm
2 tbsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3 1/2 to 4 c. all-purpose flour
2 qts. water
1 tbsp. baking soda
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp. water
Coarse salt

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water in large bowl. Let stand 10 minutes. Stir in milk, sugar, salt and 2 cups of the flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle.

2. Turn dough onto lightly floured board. Knead until smooth, about 10 minutes. Place in greased bowl; turn greased side up and cover. Let rise in warm place until double, about 1 hour.

3. Turn onto lightly floured board. Roll into rectangle, 18 x 10 inches. Cut lengthwise into 10 strips, 1 inch wide. Roll strip of dough on lightly floured board with palms of hands until rounded and about 20 inches long. Holding ends of strip, form loop. Twist dough twice at top of loop. Bring ends down and fasten at opposite sides to form pretzel shape. Repeat with all strips. Let rise uncovered on floured board 30 minutes.

4. Heat water in 4-quart Dutch oven to boiling last 10 minutes of rising process. Add baking soda. Transfer pretzels, one at a time, into boiling water solution using large slotted spoon. Boil until dough feels firm but sticky, about 1 minute. Lift out with slotted spoon, allowing water to drain off. Place on well-greased foil-covered baking sheet. Repeat with remaining pretzels.

5. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Mix beaten egg and water. Brush pretzels lightly with egg mixture; sprinkle lightly with coarse salt. Bake until crust is golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer immediately to wire rack. Makes 10.

TIP: Soft pretzels taste best when they are served hot, right from the oven.

Another on the list of foods from my native land that I miss terribly, and so have decided to learn to cook myself.

I love hot pretzels, big soft hot pretzels with tons of salt, and I prefer them with a bit of mustard too. I looked around at a bunch of recipes, and it seems to me that the big difference between a salt bagel and a pretzel, is it’s shape. No wonder I love them so. I decided to go with this recipe from Cooks.com because it had a little extra sugar in the dough, and milk too. I thought that would help to balance out the copious amounts of salt that they have.

They came out really good. They were smaller then the ones we used to get in New York, but the texture was good. It’s amazing what boiling bread dough will do.

I recommend that you brush the salt back off of the ones for babies, as it is a bit much for them, but these disappeared so fast, it was shocking