Soft and Salty Pretzels

Last summer, I spent ten weeks in Berlin. Although I'm sure many places have great soft pretzels, I enjoyed both the flavor and price (about sixty cents!) of the Brezeln at a Bäckerei near my apartment. Since returning to the US, I had been wanting to try my hand at pretzel-making. In many recipes I found, the pretzels had to be dipped in lye. Not wanting to deal with buying and using lye, I searched around for an alternative. A friend recommended this recipe, which uses a baking soda mixture: http://thevegetarianginger.wordpress.com/2012/11/16/homemade-soft-pretzels/

I had never made bread on my own before, but I was very motivated by my memories from the summer before. I did my best to follow the instructions exactly, and kneading was great fun (and a good stress reliever)!.

 To deviate slightly from the recipe, I used a salt blend from Penzey's Spices that contained some paprika and other spices. I also eliminated dipping the pretzels in butter after they came out of the oven.

When making these, I found it hard to make them into the pretzel shape, but I did my best. My second batch turned out better. Keeping a consistent size to the pretzels helps get the baking time right. 

These pretzels are a great balance of salty but a little sweet. Definitely a recipe I will continue to make!