Homemade Soft Pretzels

There is nothing quite as tasty as hot fresh, buttered, salted pretzels...mmmm. To keep my family busy on a rainy afternoon we decided to try out a new recipe for making some of our very own at home. My eager 5 year old insisted we attempt to make heart shapes out of the dough instead of the standard pretzel shape. I think the finished result looks more like an inverted bagel than a heart but the kids didn't seem to notice or mind. Besides..the thing that matters most is the TASTE..and these tasted AMAZING. Good enough that I downed 5 in one afternoon..shameful.
Soft Pretzels

Ingredients

2 cups buttermilk (make your own by mixing just under 2 cups of milk with 2 tablespoons of white vinegar and letting sit for about 5 minutes)
1 egg
1/4 tsp. baking soda
4 cups flour
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 egg white
1 tsp. water
Stuff for Sprinkling - Coarse salt, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, cinnamon, sugar, etc.

How-To
1. Preheat oven to 375. In a medium sized bowl beat the buttermilk together with the egg and baking soda.

2. In a large bowl stir together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the buttermilk mixture to the mix and stir until blended. Sprinkle the dough and your hands with more flour and knead the dough until it is pliable. (I found I needed about a 1/4 cup extra flour to make the dough not as sticky and more workable)

3. Working with a small amount of dough at a time, on a floured surface, roll the dough into long ropes (or snakes as my son calls them). Twist the rope into desired shape and place on a greased cookie sheet. *Note - The thicker the shape the softer and breadier the finished product will be.

4. In a small bowl mix together the egg white and water and brush over the tops of the pretzels with a pastry brush. Sprinkle with desired toppings.

5. Bake for 20 minutes. *Note - To make these pretzels extra special, brush with butter and broil for about 5 minutes after baking time. That's my kind of pretzel!!

Enjoy!!