Homemade Soft Pretzels

I'd never made pretzels before. I'd purchased them a few times at malls, ball games, airports... whenever the smell of hot, fresh pretzels hit me hard and I couldn't withstand the temptation. I really never even thought of making them myself. Until I was in the Bargain Store prowling the aisles and found a tub of Gourmet Pretzel Mix. Hmmm, I thought, "this could be fun." The tub was only 50 cents and extra bargain... they were marked buy one, get one free. I guess a lot of folks are intimidated by the prospect of making their own pretzels. But, they shouldn't be.

I decided to make the fresh pretzels for a treat this weekend. Following the directions carefully, they were quick, easy and fun to make. Although the mix from the bargain store is certainly a bargain, it will not be there for very long. And, I want to add these yummy pretzels to my cooking repertoire. So, I began searching for pretzel recipes.

The first place I looked was my trusted Woman's Day Encyclopedia of Cookery. There I found an interesting write-up on the history of pretzels, but no recipe. Did you know that pretzel bakers are credited for saving the city of Vienna from Turkish invaders in 1510? Or that pretzels are on record as existing in the USA as early as 1652, when court records show a baker sold pretzels to the Indians. Some historical accounts credit the invention of the pretzel to monks somewhere between the 5th and 7th centuries and state the shape resembles a person's arms folded in prayer. Pretzels also showed up in marriage ceremonies and the pretzel shape was referred to as a "marriage knot". A gilded pretzel hanging outside a shop in Germany or Switzerland represents a bakery. I learned that the pretzel was very much a German staple.

I was even more determined to find a recipe after reading about pretzels. I have a strong German heritage, but somehow... I missed out on the pretzel baking!

I've now found 3 recipes which are similar to one another that I'll try before I post the recipe here. The similarity is that they all call for dipping the pretzel dough in boiling baking soda water. This step adds flavor and creates the lovely firm skin. Avoid quick recipes that simply call for frozen bread dough which you thaw, shape and brush with egg... they won't be the same and you really aren't saving much by purchasing frozen bread dough.

Mixing up your own dough is not difficult, especially if you have a mixer with dough hooks. While some folks find working with yeast intimidating, they really should not. It's quite simple and just requires some time to allow the dough to rise. I suppose that's easy for me to say since I recall baking my first batch of bread at age 9. We did a lot of such baking because it stretched our family budget. It was much cheaper for us to bake our own bread than to purchase it from the store. And, nothing beats hot, fresh bread from the oven slathered with fresh churned butter! Except, maybe a hot, fresh pretzel!