Soft pretzels

Ok...so these are sort of like the pretzels I learned to make in 7th grade cooking class. But so what? They were freaking amazing...the outside is salty and just a tiny bit crispy while the inside is soft and doughy. I crave these constantly. Serving suggestion: straight out of the oven with some yummy mustard!

From Food pics

Ingredients:

1 package active dry yeast

1 cup1 warm water

1/4 cup sugar

2 Tbsp butter or margarine, softened

2 tsp salt

1/2 egg

3 1/4 cups flour

egg yolk

2 tbsp cold water

1.  In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add sugar, butter, salt, egg and 2 cups flour. Beat until smooth. 

2. Stir in enough of the remaining flour to make the dough stiff. Place in greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and refrigerate 2-24 hours.

3. Punch the dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Cut each half into 16 pieces. Roll each piece until you've got a long skinny piece of even width and shape it. Place each pretzel on a cookie sheet.

4, Beat yolk and cold water and brush over pretzel, coat with coarse grain salt (or cajun spices, cinnamon sugar, Parmesan cheese, etc). Cover and let rise until doubled in size, about 25 minutes.

5. Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.