Pretzels - Hard and Soft

Posted in response to a request for a recipe for hard pretzels. EDITED TO ADD: After seeing Marlene's photo and reading her review, I just had to try this recipe immediately. Made soft preztels w/ my granddaughter this morning and they were both easy and good. From start to finish, it didn't take very long at all. A great project to do w/ kids!

• Ready In: 45 mins
• Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 1 (1/4ounce) package dry yeast
• 1 1⁄2 cups warm water
• 1  teaspoon salt
• 1  tablespoon sugar
• 4  cups flour
• 1  large egg, beaten
•  coarse salt, to taste

Directions

1. SOFT PRETZELS:
2. Dissolve yeast in water, add salt and sugar.
3. Blend in all the flour and knead until smooth.
4. When smooth, cut dough into small pieces and roll into ropes. Twist ropes into conventional pretzel shapes and place on a paper-lined cookie sheet.
5. Brush pretzels with beaten egg, sprinkle with coarse salt.
6. Bake in a 425 degree oven for 12-15 minutes, or until brown. These do not keep long.
7. HARD PRETZELS:
8. Do everthing above, but decrease water to 1-1/4 cups and add 1/4 cup of melted butter.
9. Make pretzels smaller and bake until browned.
10. These pretzels will stay good for months in a tight container.