Soft Pretzels

• 1-1/2 cups warm water
• 1-1/8 tsp instant yeast
• 2 tbsp brown sugar (packed)
• 1-1/8 tsp salt
• 1 cup bread flour (125g per cup)
• 4 cups all purpose flour (125g per cup)

• 2 cups warm water
• 2 tbsp baking soda

• sweet butter (or spray butter if you don't want to dip the pretzels)
• either cinnamon and sugar or kosher salt, depending on what kind of pretzel you want

Put warm water into large mixing bowl, add instant yeast and stir. Allow yeast to activate for 8 minutes. Add brown sugar, salt, then stir until dissolved. Add bread flour, then 2 cups of all purpose flour to begin kneading. As you knead, work the remaining all purpose flour into the dough. You may need more or less flour, but be sure to knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes. Let the dough rise for at least 30-60 minutes.

Take the dough out of the large mixing bowl, place on your counter and beat it down a little, then clean out the bowl so you can use it for the dough wash. Add the warm water for the dough wash, then mix the baking soda until dissolved. Pinch off a small portion of dough (maybe the size of a tennis ball or slightly smaller), and roll out on the counter. To get the proper shape, you need to roll out the pretzel to nearly 50 inches long and about 1/4 to 1/2 in thick (could be slightly thinner). Once you have it shaped, dip it in the water/baking soda solution, splash a little over the top, then immediately place it on a greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 450 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes, until golden brown. When ready to serve, dip in melted sweet butter (or spray with butter), then coat the top with cinnamon/sugar mixture or salt to taste.

• It is difficult to get the dough this long just by rolling, so roll a little then let it rest for a couple of minutes. Roll it a little more, pick it up and hold it vertical, gently sliding your fingers up and down over the thicker parts to get a good length. If you mess up and break the strand, fold some back over the joint and work it back together again.