Soft Pretzels

Makes 12-14 pretzels

Combine:

1 cup of warm water

2 1/2 teaspoons of active yeast

let sit for 5 minutes and them add:

1 1/2 cups unbleached flour

2 tablespoons soft butter

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

mix for 3 minutes and then add

1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour

Knead until the dough loses its stickiness. Let in rise in a covered and oiled bowl until doubled in sized. Punch down and divide into 12-14 pieces.

Roll into 18 inch snakes with tapered ends. Loop into traditional shapes, or hearts, letters, numbers... the possibilities are endless.

Place on a greased baking sheet and let rise until almost doubled in size again. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Here comes another exciting step. Bring a pot filled with 4 cups of water to a boil. Carefully add 5 teaspoons of baking soda. We loved watching each spoonful fizz as it went in. Don't use an aluminum pan for this step. Carefully lower the pretzels into the water for one minute or until they float to the top. Remove with a slotted spoon and return to baking sheet. Sprinkle with coarse salt

Bake until golden. These pretzels are incredible hot out of the oven, but should keep well for several days in an airtight container. I figured on having snack time covered for a couple of days... but this batch is almost gone!