Homemade Soft Pretzels

In case you haven't figured it out by now, I pretty much have a carbohydrate addiction! Maybe I just love bread types things, maybe I should blame it on my Italian heritage, or maybe I should just succumb to the fact that I can't live without them! Bread, bread, bread! In any case, Not all of them are bad ... especially if you go with whole grain versions and such. For me, I'm not a fan of plain ol' white bread but I sure do love crusty French and Italian breads, sourdough breads, or just about anything homemade.

I posted my recipe for Cocoli the other day and still had half of my bread dough recipe left over in the fridge. You can simply go back a couple of posts and get the recipe for the bread in my Cocoli post to use for pretzels. Pretty much ... bread dough is bread dough. Don't let anyone fool you. If you can make a nice loaf of bread, you can make a yummy pizza crust. The only difference I find is about 2 tablespoons of olive oil!

Anyway, these were so good I might just have toi make another batch of dough and create more soft pretzels this evening ... sad, I know. But they were soooooo good! In fact, I have been motivated to find and/or create a recipe for a yummy grainy mustard to go with these pretzels! I used a plain yellow mustard and a honey mustard to dip these in but mmmm, a good grainy mustard ... how yummy could that be? Stay tuned, I know it'll happen soon! In the meantime, here is my recipe for the soft pretzels!

Homemade Soft Pretzels

• 1 batch of bread recipe (from my cocoli post)
• flour for sprinkling
• 6 cups water
• 1/4 cup baking soda
• 1 beaten egg with 2 TBSP water added
• coarse salt (or even kosher salt)
• Cooking spray or parchment paper to line a cookie sheet

While you are preparing your dough, put the 6 cups of water and 1/4 cup of baking soda into a kettle to boil. Divide your dough recipe into 8 even balls. Roll each ball into a long thin rope approximately 24" long. You may find this a bit easier if you give your counter a light dusting of the flour. Once your ropes are made, create a pretzel shape by forming the rope into a "U" shape, twisting the top ends once and folding the "arms" down to the bottom of the "U". Gently press the arms into the bottom and repeat until all of your pretzels are created. By now, your water is probably boiling. (If you haven't already, mix the beaten egg with 2 TBSP water to glaze your pretzels before they go in the oven.)

Spray your cookie sheet with cooking spray or simply line your pan with a sheet of parchment paper. One at a time, gently place each pretzel into your boiling water mixture for 30 seconds. (I find a spider, a large slotted spoon or a large flat spatula seems to work best for this.) As you remove each pretzel, let it "dry" for a few seconds and place it on the cookie sheet.

When all of your pretzels are done, brush each pretzel with the egg mixture glaze (all over to ensure the beautiful brown color) and sprinkle with the coarse salt. Bake in a preheated oven at 425 degrees for approximately 15 minutes. (It's such a short time ... make sure that you watch them so they don't burn.) Let them cool slightly and serve with your favorite dips!

You may also decide you'd like to sprinkle them with sugar and cinnamon, a spice blend, or drizzle them with butter as soon as they come out of the oven ... they're your pretzels and as I always try to stress, this is simply a method to create. Make them your own and if you create something wonderful, please be sure to let me in on the secret!

As always, until next time, ciao.....