Soft Beer Pretzels

TOTAL TIME: Prep: 1 hour + rising Bake: 10 min.
MAKES: 8 servings

Ingredients

• 1 bottle (12 ounces) amber beer or nonalcoholic beer
• 1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
• 4 to 4-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 10 cups water
• 2/3 cup baking soda

TOPPING:

• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon water
• Coarse salt

Directions

1. In a small saucepan, heat beer to 110°-115°; remove from heat. Stir in yeast until dissolved. In a large bowl, combine butter, sugar, 1-1/2 teaspoons salt, yeast mixture and 3 cups flour; beat on medium speed until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (dough will be sticky).
2. Turn dough onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 425°. Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide and shape into eight balls. Roll each into a 24-in. rope. Curve ends of each rope to form a circle; twist ends once and lay over opposite side of circle, pinching ends to seal.
4. In a Dutch oven, bring water and baking soda to a boil. Drop pretzels, two at a time, into boiling water. Cook 30 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon; drain well on paper towels.
5. Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. In a small bowl, whisk egg yolk and water; brush over pretzels. Sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to a wire rack to cool.

Tips

• Freeze option: Freeze cooled pretzels in resealable plastic freezer bags. To use, thaw at room temperature or, if desired, microwave each pretzel on high 20-30 seconds or until heated through. Yield: 8 pretzels.
• To Make Pretzel Rolls: Divide and shape dough into eight balls; roll each into a 14-in. rope. Starting at one end of each rope, loosely wrap dough around itself to form a coil. Boil, top and bake as directed. Yield: 8 pretzels. 
• To Make Pretzel Bites: Divide and shape into eight balls; roll each into a 12-in. rope. Cut each rope into 1-in. pieces. Boil and top as directed; bake at 400° for 6-8 minutes or until golden brown. Yield: 8 dozen.

Nutritional Facts
288 calories: 1 pretzel (calculated without coarse salt), 4g fat (2g saturated fat), 16mg cholesterol, 604mg sodium, 53g carbohydrate (6g sugars, 2g fiber), 7g protein .