We love homemade pretzels! We've been hooked on them from our first batch made back in October. Every time we make them they are gone within a few days! Isaac is constantly asking for more pretzels!
They taste great in whatever shape you make them, and we've especially enjoyed making letter shapes, although I've been trying to make them a bit smaller than the ones we made in the picture above so that they don't spoil dinner if the kids eat them in the afternoon!
I found hundreds of recipes online, and here's the one I settled on, mostly because the dough can be made in the bread machine, which means less prep for me.
Homemade Pretzels
1 1/4 cups warm water
1 Tablespoon + 1/4 teaspoon yeast
Dissolve the yeast in the warm water in the bread machine pan for about 10 minutes. Then add the following:
3 3/4 cups flour (I usually use a combination of wheat and white flour, something like 2 cups whole wheat and 1 3/4 cups white flour.)
3/4 cups powdered sugar (the first time I made this I only had powdered sugar, but now I just use about 1/3 cup granulated sugar and it works great.)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
Select dough cycle. When the dough is ready, form shapes and dip them in a mixture of:
2 cups water
1/4 cup baking soda
(This helps the pretzels have a chewy outside and soft inside.) Lay on a greased baking sheet, sprinkle with Kosher salt, and bake at 425 for 6-7 minutes.
Enjoy!