They were so good we had Pretzels for Dinner. Uh huh.

 I've been wanting to make soft pretzels for a long time.  I was waiting for a good chunk of time (and to remember to buy yeast at the grocery store since it's the one ingredient I never have on hand-I'm not a big baker, obviously).  So, this snow storm was the perfect time! 

Last year during one of the blizzards we made doughnuts so we're carrying on the tradition of "let's make things we love but usually buy and never make."  So, since I'm currently in love with the Pioneer Woman's recipes I decided to try her recipe.  A decent amount of work but the results were phenomenal, spectacular, ahhhhmazingly scrumptious.  Mmmmm.  We'll be making these again for sure.  Possibly even before it snows again :-)

1.The first steps are to combine the first few ingredients and then let the mound of dough rise for 30 minutes.  We let it go about twice that then dumped it out on a floured counter.

 2.Next, we used a pizza cutter to slice off chunks of dough and tried various methods to make them into ropes we could then shape into pretzels.

the "roll between your hands" method

the "put some muscle into rolling it" method

 

 

 

 

 3. Eventually you end up with a bunch of sort of pretzel shaped things :-)  The next step is one of those things that seems like it'd be a "secret" step that changes everything.  You boil some baking soda in water and then dip the raw pretzels into the water.  Weird but apparently important (I think it makes them crispy on the outside not just soft and doughy).

4. Now, let the bored child rest since she can't participate in the hot on the stove step and is cranky because you won't let her eat spoonfuls of cinnamon sugar you got out for a topping when the pretzels are done. Oy.

5. Bake them for 8-10 minutes and voila!!!  Now just dip 'em in melted butter and add your favorite toppings! (this involved kid-friendly jobs like sprinkling and was getting very close to eating so the child-helper was miraculously revived!)

We made some with butter and salt...

 Pepperoni...

 and Cinnamon-Sugar...

SO good! We asked Ella if they were like Auntie Anne's and she said "Yes.  Just hotter!" Seriously, seriously tasty.