If you've ever had one of those large, warm, delicious Old-World-Style [highlight= #ffff88]pretzels, you know what a treat they are. Here is my recipe for these tidbits from the old country.
3-1/2 cups freshly ground Hard White flour
1 cup warm water (aprox 120 degrees F)
4 Tbsp brown sugar or succanat
2 Tbsp yeast
2 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten with 1 tsp water, for egg wash
Course Sea Salt for sprinkles
In addition, you will want to boil 3 cups of water with 4 Tbsp baking soda disolved in it.
Mix warm water, sugar, yeast, table salt and the flour in your mixer. Mix until it forms a smooth ball.
Divide the dough into 6 or 8 pieces. Make each piece into a rope aprox. 18+" and tie into pretzel shape. Allow to rise until double in size.
Boil the water and baking soad mix on top of the stove. Drop each pretzel in the water (one-at-a-time) and boil for 1-2 minutes a side. Remove it and drain. Place in a greased baking sheet. Repeat for all the pieces. (this is critical).
Brush each pretzel with the egg wash, lightly sprinkle course sea salt on each and bake in a 400-450 degree oven to 10-12 minutes, or until nice and dark brown.
Place on a cooling rack to cool. Serve with Pretzel Dip.
Pretzel Dip:
1 cup Mayonaise or Salad Dressing
5 Tbsp mustard
5 Tbsp sugar, honey or succanat
1 tsp Worchestershire Sauce
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Onion Powder
Mix all ingredients together completly until smooth. Refrigerate any left over sauce.
