Soft Pretzels

The first yeast bread we ever made was soft pretzels so it has a special place in our hearts. We use the recipe in the Taste of Home Baking Book that has instructional pictures and is really quite easy to follow.  The pretzels turned out so wonderfully the first time that we've been brave enough to try lots of different yeast breads and pretzels multiple times.  Brett got a hankerin' for soft pretzels recently and already had the dough rising when I arrived home.

When it came time to roll the dough out into logs and form them into pretzels I jumped in there because I had only ever watched.  It looked like fun.   I had seen something on T.V. about noodle making where the guy takes the dough and swings it around and it stretches out perfectly, so I decided to try that.  My first one swung and stretched pretty well so I thought I would try it with my next one.  Well, as I was swinging I must have gotten a little overzealous because the long end that had just stretched out broke off and went flying across the kitchen and landed in the sink right in a dirty enchilada pan.  Oops!  Of course I was left with a handful of dough so I made a baby pretzel and fired myself.  Here is some of Brett's handiwork:

With the pretzels formed, Brett poached them in boiling baking soda water for a short time and then I got to salt them before they went in the oven.  My mini pretzel came out cute and soft.  I thought it might have a different texture than its larger counterparts, but it was equally delicious.

We must have a knack for pretzel making because they turn out as good as the kind you buy at sporting events or fairs.  I'm not kidding.  When we see soft pretzels out in public we are able to resist because, "What's the big deal?  We can make them at home!"  We saw some Mickey Mouse shaped pretzels at Disneyland recently and thought that maybe we could try that next time.

The only problem is that they have to be eaten fresh.  They do not store well at all.  We tried the empty cereal bag trick that helps with other breads, but it just does not work with pretzels.  They taste ok the next day but they look wrinkly and have a different texture.  So we just gorge ourselves when they're fresh so that we have as few leftovers as possible.