Soft Pretzel

I always think of a pretzel as something you get at the ball game or in the mall.  They are also good with beer.  But they go back, way back in history.

INGREDIENTS:

3 rounded cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder (optional, but recommended)
2 tsp active dry yeast
2 tbsp butter
1 cup warm milk
Egg-wash and toppers (optional; see below)

DIRECTIONS:

Sift together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and yeast. Combine with butter and milk to make a dough, kneading until satiny. Set dough in a greased bowl in a warm spot, and allow to double in bulk (or mix and rise in your bread machine, using the Dough cycle).

Put a large pot of water on to boil. Add a teaspoon or two of baking soda to the water, if desired. Do not salt or sweeten the water.

Punch down the dough and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll or cut each piece into a rope 18-20 inches long, and twist each rope into a pretzel (use a dab of warm water to cement the joining-points if need be).

Optional: At this point, cover the pretzels lightly with paper towels and allow them to rise for half an hour in a warm place.

Slide pretzels into water with a slotted spoon or broad spatula, and boil each one until they float to the top, not more than 10 seconds. Remove them immediately to a lightly greased cookie sheet.

The pretzels can be baked as-is, but are more pleasing when they are glazed with an egg-wash and topped with coarse salt or caraway seeds. To make an egg-wash, beat a single egg and a dash of water with a whisk until completely blended, and brush the tops of the pretzels with it. Sprinkle the topper onto the glazed surface.

Bake in a preheated 400º oven until golden. This will take approximately 15 minutes, but monitor the pretzels carefully after 10. If you are using an electric oven, bake the pretzels on a high rack, or the bottoms will over-brown. If no egg-wash was used, brush the pretzels very lightly with melted butter as they emerge from the oven.

Serve fresh and hot with a handy supply of deli mustard. Other tasty dippers and toppers range from garlic butter to melted cheese or even caramel. Note that this recipe makes some satisfyingly thick pretzels - if you enjoy slightly thinner ones, the dough may be divided 12 ways instead of 8.
 

History of the Pretzel

As we are with a lot of foods the exact origin of the pretzel is unknown. Many do agree that pretzels have been loved and enjoyed since the early 1800's.

Pretzels... The Worlds Oldest Snack Historians claim the first pretzels were made back in 610 A.D., when monks in southern France offered them as a reward to children for learning their prayers . Originally called "pretiola" (little reward), Some suggest the hard, brittle, glazed and salted treat came from Germany in 1835, where the dough was actually shaped to form the letter B, and stood for "Bretzel." Others insist the pretzel was first made by monks in 1800, who spent long hours forming bits of dough in the shape of a person's hand in prayer.

It was the immigrants from these countries who brought the "bretzel" to our shores during the 1800's, later becoming known as the "pretzel". The first commercial pretzel bakery was established in the town of Lititz in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania by Julius Sturgis in 1861. The modern age of pretzel making began in 1935 when the Reading Pretzel Machinery Company first introduced the automatic pretzel twisting machine. Prior to that, most commercial pretzels were actually shaped by a cracker-cutting machine, then placed on baking pans and put into the baking ovens by hand. This innovation made pretzels available to people in all parts of the country, and helped the fledgling industry grow...
Source: Snack Food Association