I’ve been wanting to give homemade pretzels a try and my friend Ann had a recipe for them so I gave it a shot and they were so yummy!  The top one is cinnamon and sugar and the bottom is salty, the cinnamon and sugar were the winners, they were gone ASAP.

dough

3 1/2 – 4 1/2 cups flour

1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)

1 1/2 cups milk

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons oil

1 teaspoon salt

egg wash

1 egg white

1 tablespoon water

toppings

cinnamon and sugar

coarse salt

Parmesan cheese

poppy seeds

1  Preheat oven to 450.  In mixer bowl, whisk together 1 1/2 cups of the flour and the yeast.

2  In a saucepan over medium low heat, stir milk, sugar, oil, and salt until warm, 120 – 130 degrees.  Add to flour mixture in bowl.

3  Using bread hook attachment, turn mixer on low for 30 seconds.  Continue to add flour 1/2 cup at a time until dough forms a ball on the bread hook attachment.  Do not add too much flour or over mix.

4  Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead enough of remaining flour in to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic.

5  Shape dough into a ball and place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease surface.  Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in size or place in a Ziploc bag and let rise in fridge over night.

6  Punch dough down.  Turn out on to lightly floured surface.  Cover and let rest 10 minutes.  Roll dough into 12 x 10″ rectangle.  Cut into sixteen – twenty 12 x 12″ strips.  Gently pull/roll each strip into a 16″ long rope.

7  Shape each pretzel by crossing one end over the other to form a circle.  Tuck ends under edges to make a pretzel shape.  Moisten ends and press to seal.

8  Combine egg white and water to make egg wash.  Brush pretzels with egg wash and top as desired.

9  Bake for 14 minutes, turning halfway for even baking.

Yield: 16 pretzels