delicious soft pretzels

Nothing tastes better than a fresh baked soft pretzel! Back in Jr. High - we had a unit on home economics - there were a few recipes that we made, and although I wasn't at school on the day these were covered - my best friend brought home a copy of the recipe and we made them together.

I quickly became obsessed, as did my brother and all of his friends...it was a regular request and a recipe that was frequently made.

The original recipe only makes 8 pretzels - so I used to triple it - even by doing that, they often only lasted 2 days.

I don't make them near as often as I should - but my brother has been bugging me for MANY months to bake them - so yesterday I set to work

I am not sure where the recipe came from as I have long since lost the paper it came on - but here it is

1 cup luke warm water
1 tsp sugar
1 pkg (15 ml) dry yeast
0.5 tsp salt
2 3/4 cups of flour (you may need to add a little more if the dough is too sticky)
1 egg white
coarse salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees; grease baking sheet

In a small bowl - dissolve the sugar and yeast in water (mix with a fork and let sit approx 5 minutes)

In a large bowl - combine flour and salt; add the yeast mixture and combine using your hands. Mixture will be sticky - combine and knead approx 5 minutes - dough should be slightly elasticky (if it sticks to your hands, add a small amount of flour)

Break into 8 pieces - roll out on a floured surface and then shape into a pretzel (or any shape you like); place on your baking sheet and continue until all pieces are done.

Brush each pretzel with egg white and sprinkle with coarse salt

Bake approx 10 minutes (tops should be slightly golden)

Serve warm (I like mine with butter, but my brother and hubby eat theirs with mustard)