auntie anna's pretzels.

i went to the mall a couple weekends ago and decided i needed to make some pretzels.

so i did.

the recipe is pretty easy.

ingredients:

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons salt

1 package yeast

4 cups flour

4 tablespoons melted butter

10 cups water

2/3 cup baking soda

1 egg yolk

1 tablespoon water

coarse salt (if you don't have it, you can use the regular kind but it's pretty cheap and worth the investment!)

directions:

pour 1 1/2 cups of warm water into a bowl. add 1 tablespoon of sugar and 2 teaspoons of salt and stir it all up. then add 1 package (or 2 1/4 teaspoons) of yeast into the mix and let it sit for about 5 minutes until it gets kind of foamy. 

then add about 4 cups of flour and 4 tablespoons of melted butter (1/2 stick). mix it in little by little. if you have a dough hook, you can use that. otherwise just do it by hand (like i do). keep kneading it until it's all good and mixed together. this part should take a few minutes.

roll the dough into a ball, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise for about an hour.

now's a good time to preheat the oven: 450 degrees...or 400 if your oven is super-hot like mine. you can also get your cookie sheets ready. you'll probably need two (or just bake one batch at a time) so line them with parchment paper.

also bring 10 cups of water to a boil and add 2/3 cup of baking soda. 

while that's working, roll your pretzel dough into pretzel-like shapes. you should be able to make 8 medium sized pretzels or more smaller ones. when those are ready, put each pretzel in the boiling water for 30 seconds -- one at a time. that's what gives it the nice coating when it bakes.

after they get their baking soda bath, put the pretzels on the parchment paper-lined cookie sheet and brush them with a mixture of 1 egg yolk and 1 tablespoon water. add coarse salt on top. 

bake them for 12-14 minutes (or 10 if your oven is super-hot like mine).

and voila. homemade pretzels ( :