World Famous Pretzels

There is a reason these are called “World Famous”. They are famous in my house, they are now famous in my neighborhood. I’m sure they will be famous on pinterest soon:)! I wish I could explain to you the amazing moist, flavorful, salty and sweet these are. I’m not going to lie. I ate the largest one I made...and then another one. Then, yes, after those two, I snuck a few bites of my husbands...before he got home! Oops:) I’ll be making these again soon. Maybe tomorrow. Or tonight. PLEASE make thee. You will not regret it. Actually you will love me for it!

World Famous Pretzels
Printable Version

1 cup milk
1 package active dry yeast
3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for greasing
1 teaspoon fine salt
1/3 cup baking soda
2 tablespoons coarse salt

Warm the milk in a saucepan or heat in the microwave for about 1 minutes, until it's about 110 degrees; pour into a medium bowl and sprinkle in the yeast. Let the yeast soften, about 2 minutes; stir in the brown sugar and 1 cup flour with a wooden spoon. Dice 2 tablespoons butter and soften. I nuked it in the microwave for about 10 seconds, then stir into the mix. Add the remaining 1 1/4 cups flour and the fine salt to make a sticky dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, adding more flour if needed, until smooth but still slightly tacky, about 5 minutes. Shape into a ball, place in a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. I like to grease my bowl with shortening, but cooking spray also works well. Let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1.5 hours.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and spray large baking sheet with baking spray. (I have a silpat, and it is my best friend. I couldn’t live without it! No grease, no cleaning sticky pans!) Punch the dough to deflate it, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface.
Divide the dough into 6 pieces. Roll and stretch each piece with the palms of your hands into a 20-inch rope, holding the ends and slapping the middle of the rope on the counter as you stretch. Form each rope into a pretzel shape.
Dissolve the baking soda in 3 cups warm water in a shallow baking dish. Gently dip each pretzel in the soda solution, then arrange on the prepared baking sheet and sprinkle with the coarse salt. Bake until golden, 10 to 12 minutes.
Melt the remaining 4 tablespoons butter in a shallow dish. Brush the hot pretzels in the butter. Serve the pretzels warm, but they are also delicious cold and every other way!

Makes 6 pretzels
Recipe from Food Network Magazine