Fresh Soft Pretzels

On Monday we booked our hotel for our stay in Las Vegas in June during a conference Justin attends. And all the talk about the hotel got me hungry for the food, primarily huge soft pretzels. I’ve had a recipe for soft pretzels floating around my kitchen for a couple of weeks now, but I never got motivated enough to attempt them. Which was silly, as they turned out to be so much easier than I expected. Honestly, the hardest step in the process was going through my pots trying to find one that wasn’t aluminum! I almost followed the recipe exactly, though I increased the salt added to the dough by about a half of a teaspoon (1 1/2 total), and I didn’t add the extra 1/4 cup of flour (only 3 cups total). Also, the recipe called to make 12 small pretzels. That did not fit the picture in my head regarding a New York pretzel, so I made six large pretzels. I rolled the dough into pretzels without a hitch, and then the boiling process went off without a hitch as well. Nothing fell apart or boiled out of control or was anything other than pretty easy. And the results are terrific! They are not honest-to-goodness pretzels, as I obviously could not boil them in lye, as professional pretzels are, but these are about as close as I’m going to get to an authentic New York pretzel in my kitchen. I will definitely be making these again very soon! I have visions of a “Hot Sam’s” Pretzel Party in the near future. Remember Hot Sam’s in the mall? Gigantic soft pretzels on a stick, and then you pick different toppings – from cheddar cheese to jalapenos to chocolate with sprinkles (my pick!). Pretzels definitely trigger happy (and ridiculously messy) memories!