Soft Pretzels

Soft Buttered Pretzels

-Pillsbury recipe

3 to 3 ½ c all purpose flour
1 T sugar
1 t salt
1 pkg dry yeast
1 c water
1 T Crisco (I used butter)
6 c water
¼ c baking soda
2 T melted butter
Pretzel salt, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, etc…

COMBINE: 1 c flour, sugar, salt and yeast in a medium bowl. Blend well. Heat 1 c water and 1 T butter to 100 – 110 degrees. Add liquid to flour mixture. Blend at low speed until moistened. Beat 3 minutes at medium speed. Stir in an additional 1 ½ to 1 ¾ c flour or until dough pulls cleanly away from sides of bowl. Knead in ½ to ¾ c flour until dough is smooth and elastic. Place dough in greased bowl. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and cloth towel. Let rise in a warm place (80 – 85’) until light and doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

SPRAY two cookie sheets with nonstick spray. Punch dough down. Divide into 12 pieces. Roll each piece into a 16 inch rope. Form into pretzel shape. Place on greased cookie sheets. Cover. Let rise in warm place about 15-20 minutes. Adjust oven rack to top position. Heat oven to 400’. Combine 6 cups of water and baking soda in a shallow sided saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil. Slowly drop pretzels into water, one at a time, cooking 15 seconds on each side. Remove from water with slotted spoon and return to greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with pretzel salt, etc…

BAKE for 8 minutes. Brush with melted butter. Bake 2 additional minutes or until golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet. Brush generously with remaining butter. Serve warm.

I changed the Crisco for butter... you know how I feel about butter! :)