Soft Pretzels

Try these yummy soft pretzels - so good!!! Hot out of the oven I also basted them with melted butter to make them extra soft and delicious. Also, when you are rolling the dough out into ropes before shaping, try to get it about as thin and your finger - they rise and get thick in the oven, so if you don't roll it thin enough it doesn't end up very pretzel-like.

Ingredients:

4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 1/4 cups warm water
5 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/2 cup baking soda
4 cups hot water
1/4 cup coarse salt, for topping

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeats and 1 teaspoon sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center and add the oild and yeast mixture. Mix and form dough. If the mixture is dry, add one or two tablespoons of water. Knead the dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
3. Preheat over to 450 degrees F, in a large bowl dissolve baking soad in hot water.
4. When risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape. Once all of the dough is shaped, dip each pretzel into the baking soda solution and place on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with coarse salt.
5. Bake in preheated over for 8 minutes, until browned.