Philly Style Soft Pretzels Recipes

Steps:

• Make the pretzels: Warm the milk in a saucepan 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; 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. Let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and grease a large baking sheet. Punch the dough to deflate it, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface. (If the dough seems tight, cover and let rest until it relaxes.) Divide the dough into 6 pieces. Roll and stretch each piece with the palms of your hands into a 30-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.
• Prepare the sauce: Combine the mayonnaise, mustard, brown sugar and vinegar in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate.
• Melt the remaining 8 tablespoons butter in a shallow dish. Dip the hot pretzels in the butter, turning to coat; place on a wire rack to let excess butter drip off. Serve the pretzels warm with the sweet mustard sauce.
• Illustration by Jason Lee

Steps:

• Dissolve yeast in warm water in large mixing bowl.
• Stir in teaspoon salt, sugar and 2-cups of flour.
• Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour t make dough easy to handle.
• Turn dough onto lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic. (about 5-minutes).
• Place in greased bowl; turn greased side up. Cover: let rise until doubled (about 60-minutes). Dough is ready if an indentation remains when touched.
• Heat oven to 425°.
• Punch down dough and cut into 16-equal parts. Roll each part into a rope about 18� long. Twist each rope into a pretzel shape.
• Brush pretzels with beaten egg and sprinkle coarse salt. Bake until pretzels are golden brown (about 15-20 minutes).
• If using self-rising flour omit 1-teaspoon of salt.

Steps:

• In mixing bowl add warm water and yeast. Stir until the yeast is completely dissolved.
• Add the sugar. Stir. Gradually stir in the flour. The dough will become stiff and dry. That's what you want.
• Sprinkle some flour on the counter or on a board. Flour your hands, too. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes.
• Form the dough into a ball. Place the ball of dough back in the bowl and cover the bowl with a dish towel. Let the dough rise in a warm, dark place for at least 30 minutes, or until the dough has doubled in size.
• While the dough rises, heat the oven to 400F degrees. Grease or butter a cookie sheet.
• Fill a saucepan half full of water, add the baking soda, and bring the water to a slow boil.
• When the dough is finished rising, put it on a floured surface. Flour a rolling pin and roll the dough into a square shape, about 1/4-1/2 inch (6-10 mm) thick. Cut the dough into 1/2-inch (or so) wide strips. They don't have to be perfect.
• Twist each strip into a pretzel shape, pinching the ends so they don't fall apart. Be careful not to let the strips stretch too thin as you handle them.
• Place a pretzel on a spatula and lower it into the boiling water for 5-10 seconds. It will puff up and float. Use the spatula to remove the pretzel from the water. Place the pretzel on the greased cookie sheet. Repeat this with the other pretzels.
• In a small bowl, beat the egg for 1 minute. Use a pastry brush to coat the top of each pretzel with the egg. Sprinkle salt over the pretzels.
• Bake for about 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown.
• Serve with warmed mustard or melted cheese. YUM!