"Auntie Anne's" Pretzels!

Dear Turkey,

Auntie Anne's may have

Closed in our mall, but my house

Can still smell like one

"Auntie Anne's" Pretzels

(adapted from once upon a chef, makes 12)

Ingredients:

For the dough: 

- 2 c milk, microwaved to about 90 F (I used coconut almond unsweetened)

- 5 t dry yeast

- 6 T brown sugar

- 4.5-5.5 c flour

- 8 T butter, melted (divided)

- 1 t salt 

For the savory filling:

- 1 c grated cheese (I used sharp cheddar)

- 1/4 t ground pepper

- 2 T herbs (I used fresh chives and thyme)

For sprinkling:

- Sugar + cinnamon

- Coarse salt

For dipping the dough:

- 1.5 c warm water + 1/6 c baking soda

Instructions:

- Mix the first 3 dough ingredients and let stand 5 minutes. You don't have to take the milk's temperature as long as you're comfortable with how hot something needs to be to kill yeast (your goal is NOT to kill the yeast).

- Add the remaining dough ingredients (reserve 4 T butter) starting with 4.5 c flour, and knead until a ball forms, adding more flour if necessary. Cover and let rise for 1 hour.

- Divide the dough in half and knead the savory fillings into half. 

- Divide each half of the dough into 6 pieces (for 12 pretzels total), roll each piece out into a log, fold it into a pretzel shape (you can see how not-picky I was with this step, but I do think that some type of texture, as opposed to just making rolls, is good so that the toppings have more places to sink in), and dip it into the baking soda solution for just a second. Please each pretzel on a cookie sheet that's been covered with parchment.

- Sprinkle the savory pretzels with coarse salt, and more cheese if you want. Sprinkle the sweet pretzels with cinnamon and sugar, and coarse salt if you want (feel free to go crazy with the cinnamon and sugar if you want that cinnamon-roll-glaze effect).

- Bake the pretzels at 450 F for 10-16 minutes, until they start to get golden brown on the top. 

- Melt the remaining 4 T butter and brush on top (this is optional, I guess). 

- Eat or freeze. These are great microwaved right from the freezer. 

Enjoy,

Tofu