Pretzels... Healthy vs. Not-So-Healthy

Ok, so if you've been a faithful reader of my family chronicles, you'll have noticed that I like to cook with healthy ingredients. And... if you know ME, you'll know that I love foods that taste scrumptious. I've posted some recipes that are both tasty and healthier. Well, I'm going to break that trend for today. You've seen in the pictures above that Izzy and I attempted to make some soft pretzels on Monday while Uncle Jordan was here finishing up some school work in between his college classes. I thought that the cheddar whole wheat healthy soft pretzels that we made were good, maybe just fine, but they were good with the spicy mustard. HOWEVER... I still wanted to see if I could make Auntie Anne's style pretzels. I went out and bought the bread flour yesterday, made the second kind of pretzels with my girls today, and I was in not-so-healthy heaven this afternoon! So was Izzy. I like making tasty healthy meals, but I think I'm just going to stick to a not-so-healthy recipe for soft pretzels. ;) Maybe this could be a once-a-year special recipe for a birthday or a Christmas day afternoon snack.

Clara and "Baby" were in on the action today:

Cool picture, huh?

Mmmmmmm, here they are: (On the left-cinnamon sugar, On the right-garlic parmesan)

Soft Pretzels
Serves: 8-12, Prep. Time: 2:00
1 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast 1/2 tsp. brown sugar 1 dash salt 1 1/2 cups 110 degree water 4 cups bread flour 1 Tbls. baking soda 1/4 cup warm water 1 cup melted real butter toppings (see Notes, below)

*This is the original recipe. I halved it, and I got 5 pretzels out of it.

-Combine first 4 ingredients; allow to rest for 5 minutes.-Stir flour to mixture and knead for 5 minutes.-Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with a damp towel, and allow to rise in a warm place for 1 hour.-Divide dough into 8-12 equal-size pieces; roll each piece into a rope; shape each rope into a pretzel.-In a shallow dish, stir baking soda into warm water; dip pretzels into mixture (or brush mixture over pretzels); lay coated pretzel onto a lightly greased cookie sheet.-Bake in a 450 degree oven for 8 minutes, or until golden brown.-Brush melted butter onto hot pretzels.

Notes: For salted pretzels, sprinkle with pretzel salt or Kosher salt. For cinnamon-sugar pretzels, stir 2 Tbls. honey into the melted butter before brushing on pretzels, then sprinkle with a mixture of 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1 tsp. ground cinnamon. For Parmesan pretzels, sprinkle with a mixture of 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese and 1 tsp. garlic salt; serve with marinara sauce.