Soft Pretzels: A Recipe

I've made these soft pretzels a couple of times, and I'd like to thank Tablespoon for the inspiration. For those of us from Carrboro, NC who miss Katie's Pretzels, which used to be in Carr Mill Mall right next to Elmo's Diner and Alleycat Toys, this goes out to you. Because I miss those pretzels, and because I always wanted to know how to make them! And now I can, and I have! So here's the recipe for soft pretzels:

INGREDIENTS:

[ dough ]:
3 3/4 to 4 1/4 cups flour (you'll be adding some at the beginning and some later as you knead the dough, so don't worry too much about the exact measurements)
1 T* granulated sugar
1 1/2 t** salt
1 package regular or fast-acting yeast (2 1/4 T)
1 1/2 cups water
2 T vegetable oil

[ pretzel wash ]:
1 cup water
2 t baking soda

*T = Tablespoon
**t = teaspoon

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large bowl, stir 2 cups of the flour, the sugar, salt, and yeast with a wooden spoon until well mixed. Heat 1 1/2 cups water in a saucepan until just before it boils. Add warm water and oil to the flour mixture. You can either use an electric mixer at this point to mix the dough, or continue using the wooden spoon. (My experience with the electric mixer was that the dough simply spun above the beaters and it was entirely pointless ... so I just used the spoon.) With the wooden spoon or your clean hands mix in the rest of the flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until dough is soft and leaves the sides of the bowl. It should be easy to handle, but may also be quite sticky.

2. Sprinkle flour on clean countertop, large cutting board, or in the large bowl you are using and knead the dough for about 5 minutes, adding flour as you need it to keep it from sticking terribly, until dough is smooth and springy. (Knead by folding the dough toward you, then pushing it away with the heal of your hand, then turning it a quarter-turn-ish and repeating.) Lightly spray a sheet of plastic wrap and loosely cover dough, let rest for 10 minutes.

3. Pre-heat oven to 425 and mix 1 cup water with baking soda to make pretzel wash.

4. Divide dough into even pieces and roll each piece into a long, thin rope - about 18-24 inches long. Form pretzels by making a loop with the dough and then crossing the ends over each other a couple of times, then pinching them slightly to the loop. Stir pretzel wash and, with a pastry brush, lightly cover both sides of the pretzels. Set them on the baking sheets and cover them with plastic wrap. For thin pretzels, let rest about 5 minutes; for fluffier pretzels, let rest 15-20 minutes.

5. Just before baking brush pretzels with remaining wash and sprinkle with coarse salt or sea salt to taste. Bake 10-13 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from cookie sheet and let cool about 15 minutes before serving. Note: they do keep nicely in a plastic container, and re-heat nicely in a toaster or toaster oven if you have any left over. They are quite tasty served with marinara sauce, queso salsa, warm peanut butter sauce, Nutella, or whatever else you'd like to try them with! You can also make them with cinnamon sugar instead of salt for a sweet variety.

I've used this recipe a couple of times and had lovely results both times.

Enjoy!