Soft Pretzels {Auntie Anne's Copycat}

I LOVE {love love love love} mall pretzels… ESPECIALLY the ones from
Auntie Anne's. I miss going to the mall with friends and going to Auntie Anne's
to grab a pretzel {plain with salt} and a Diet Coke… Yes please!

So I decided to google a pretzel recipe and found this "copycat"… PERFECT!
As you can probably tell… I may not be the worlds best pretzel shaper, but they
sure did taste REALLY good and pretty close to the real thang… :)

I don't know what it is about Saturdays, but I tend to do my "bigger" type
baking on the weekend. Probably because most things that I bake on Saturdays
have to rise, and I don't like stopping my school to do that and so on.

 I slept in until 8 o'clock this morning
{yes 8 is sleeping in for me now… How sad is that?},
laid in bed and did my "quiet time" while drinking a smoothie,
caught up on some emails and blogging,
made pretzels, and read. Very nice and quiet just the way I like it. :)

Auntie Anne's Pretzels: Copycat Recipe

Makes 12 

Recipe from Yammie's Noshery

2 cups milk

1 1/2 tablespoons (2 packets) active dry yeast

6 tablespoons brown sugar

4 tablespoons butter, melted

4 1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons fine salt

1/3 cup baking soda

3 cups warm water

Coarse salt

 8 tablespoons butter, melted in a shallow dish 

Warm up the milk in the microwave or on the stove for just about one and a half minutes. It should be about 110º. If it's too hot it will kill the yeast. You should be able to comfortably keep your finger in it. Stir in the yeast and let it sit for about 3 minutes. Add the butter and sugar. Add the flour about 1 cup at a time and the add the fine salt. Kneed for about 10 minutes with a stand mixer, or by hand. Put it in a greased bowl and cover with greased cling wrap. Let rise for 1 hour in a moist, warm place until doubled in size. Preheat the oven to 450º. Divide dough into 12 lumps (I like to divide it in half, then divide each half into three, and then divide each remaining one in half again). Roll them all out as thin as you can. Combine the warm water and baking soda in a wide bowl. Form the dough into pretzel shapes, then dip in the baking soda water. Place on a greased baking sheet and sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake for about 7-11 minutes or until browned. Dip each in the melted butter while hot.

Stop by Sweet Saturdays {#6}!!!

Have a great weekend everyone! 

-Sophie