Soft Pretzels

Friday night Chadd and I got the wild urge to make soft pretzels. Well, I used a recipe I had here and lets just say they didnt work out so hot. So Saturday we decided to try again. I got online and found a recipe that says its supposed to taste just like Auntie Ann's pretzels. I have never had one so I dont know for sure if these taste just like it but they were pretty good pretzels!
(No the photo of the pretzel is not mine, its a Auntie Ann pretzel. Mine were a little funny looking so you dont get a photo of mine :-)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup warm water
1 1/8 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup bread flour
3 cups regular flour
2 cups Warm water
2 tablespoons baking soda
to taste coarse salt
4 tablespoons butter (melted)

Directions:
Sprinkle yeast on lukewarm water in mixing bowl; stir to dissolve. Add sugar, salt and stir to dissolve; add flour and knead dough until smooth and elastic. Let rise at least 1/2 hour.

While dough is rising, prepare a baking soda water bath with 2 cups warm water and 2 Tbsp baking soda. Be certain to stir often. After dough has risen, pinch off bits of dough and roll into a long rope* (about 1/2 inch or less thick) and shape. Dip pretzel in soda solution and place on greased baking sheet. Allow pretzels to rise again. Bake in 450 oven for about 10 minutes or until golden. Brush with melted butter and enjoy!

Toppings: after you brush with butter try sprinkling with coarse salt. or for Auntie Anne's famous Cinnamon Sugar, try melting a stick of butter in a shallow bowl (big enough to fit the entire pretzel) and in another shallow bowl make a mixture of cinnamon and sugar. Dip the pretzel into the butter, coating both sides generously. Then dip again into the cinnamon mixture. Enjoy!

* The longer and thinner you can make the dough rope, the more like Auntie Anne's they will be.

This made about 6 pretzels but I didnt roll my dough ropes really thin so you could probably get 8 or more if you tried. I also melted butter and dipped all the pretzels in it right after they came out of the oven and 1/2 of them I sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon and the other 1/2 I sprinkled with salt. They were both good.