Better than Mall Bought Soft Pretzels

The new apartment is coming up so fast! I finally moved a whole car full of things (a table, a computer desk, along with many kitchen gadgets, small appliances, etc.) over to where I’m staying on Long Island, and will hopefully be able to get the rest of my stuff down to the apartment in one trip in the car. (:

I found a table and three chairs for $25 at a yard sale- a little grungy looking and definitly in need of some TLC, but with the pricetag, totally worth it. So, after a little bit of sanding, repainting, and lots of love, I’m really happy with how nice the table and chairs turned out. A picture of those will come sometime after I get settled in the apartment and take pictures of the kitchen.

While walking around the mall today (where I applied to three different stores for a job!), I picked up this lovely centerpiece for my new kitchen table on sale, and Joanna and I both decided we were craving pretzels when we walked by the Auntie Anne’s stand, so I promised I would make some as soon as we got home. I’ve made these pretzels once before, and they were a huge hit, disappearing right away (as food often does in this house), and SO much better than the mall bought ones.

Better than Mall-bought Soft Pretzels

Ingredients:

Buttery, Garlicy (is that a word?) goodness. (didn't get time to snap a better picture since they were all gone by the morning-sorry!)

1 1/2 cup warm water
1 packet yeast (I used the rapid rising type, I was hungry!)
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1 1/8 tsp. salt
4 cups AP flour (and extra for shaping)

for baking soda wash:
2 cups warm water
3 tbsp. baking soda

for egg wash (optional):
1 egg, beaten
2 tbsp. water

toppings:
4 tbsp. melted butter (not margarine!)
kosher salt
cinnamon sugar
garlic powder

Directions:

Add the yeast and sugar to the warm water in a bowl and stir until dissolved. Add 2 cups of the flour and stir to combine, then add the salt. Add another 1.5 cups of flour and combine, then add the last 1/2 cup in while kneading the dough.  Knead the dough until it is elastic and springs up after being poked (mine was still fairly sticky at this point, but that’s fine). Let the dough rise for 30 minutes, then pull pieces off of the dough and shape your pretzels. I just take two long strands of dough and twist them together- though braids and traditional pretzel shapes are fun to make, too (I might try making some bite sized pretzel nuggets next time- yum!).

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine the 2 cups of warm water and baking soda in a bowl, and either dunk your shaped pretzels in the mixture, or brush it onto the pretzels liberally before placing them on a  greased cookie sheet to rise again for 15 minutes.After the pretzels are done rising, you can choose to wash them with an egg wash by brushing on an egg/water mixture, which gives them a nice, brown color during cooking. Cook the pretzels for 8-10 minutes in a 450 degree oven, and brush with melted butter once they’re out of the oven. Top with course salt, cinnamon and sugar, or my favorite- garlic powder.

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These pretzels are so incredibly light and fluffy in texture, but still have that nice pretzel crust on them. Every time I make these, I wonder why I don’t make them more often- though the ingredients and process may seem daunting initially, they’re very simple to make, and the ingredients list is very undemanding. A nice, bready snack (though I had two garlic ones as a substitute for dinner) that went very well with the Scrubs marathon that we were watching on tv. (:

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