Happy New Year friends!  I hope 2013 is treating you well.  Yesterday was filled with college football goodness.  Since I was camping out on the couch watching TV most of the afternoon, earlier that morning I tried to get lunch prepped and ready to go.  Who wants to sacrifice crucial #okstate game time?  That’s right, no one!

I have found a pretzel recipe on Pinterest that I have made on several different occasions and I am very pleased with.  They remind me of the pretzel shops you see in shopping malls.  If you give these pretzels a try, your house will smell amazing! Mine do not turn out that pretty but they are so yummy.

Ingredients

• 3 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ½  teaspoons table salt
• Rock Salt for topping
• 1 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon butter (melted)
• 3/4 cup + 1 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon + ½ teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1 ¼  cups + 2 tablespoons warm water

Instructions

1. Prepare yeast as instructed on the packet
2.  Add oil to the yeast and stir.
3.  In a separate bowl mix place powdered sugar, butter, flour and salt. Mix to combine.
4. Place yeast mixture into the dry ingredient bowl.
5. Flour a surface and knead the dough mixture for about 10 minutes. (I use my KitchenAid mixer with the dough hook attachment and mix until the dough is formed into a ball around the hook)
6. Place dough in a covered bowl and let it rest for about an hour at 80 degrees. The dough should double in size.
7. Preheat oven at  425
8. Take dough and cut into 8 sections. Roll into a long rope and twist the dough into the pretzel shape.
9. Prepare a baking soda water bath with 2 cups warm water and 2 tbsp baking soda.
10. Dip each pretzel into the baking soda water bath.
11. Place pretzel on to parchment paper on top of a baking sheet.
12. Bake for about 10 minutes or until pretzel is brown.
13. Blush additional melted butter onto each and sprinkle salt on top.

Happy baking,
Lindsey