Herbed Soft Pretzels

I have a serious love for good soft pretzels. They remind me of sunny baseball games with my husband and shopping at the mall with my mom and sister. I can’t even tell you how amazing these are, whether it be the amazing golden crust or the soft chewy inside. I have a ton of herbs growing outside right now so I wanted to try lemon thyme and rosemary pretzels. But the beautiful thing about these is you can top them with anything your heart desires!! Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups warm water
• 1 tbsp. granulated sugar
• 2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 2 ¾ cup all-purpose flour plus more for kneading
• 4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tbsp. fresh rosemary, minced
•  ½ tbsp. lemon thyme
• 10 cups water
• 2/3 cup baking soda
• Egg wash (one egg plus a splash of water)

Instructions

Add the warm water, sugar, salt and yeast together in a large bowl with dough hook attachment. Let sit for 5 minutes until foamy. Add the flour, butter and herbs and slowly mix together until combined. With the motor running gradually add a little more flour until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Knead for about 5 minutes. Let rise for about one hour until doubled in size.

Once the dough has risen divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a long rope, about 24 inches. Form a U shape and twist the pretzel, place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. In a big shallow pot bring the water and baking soda to low boil. Gently place each pretzel one at a time in the water for about 15-20 seconds. This will create the golden crust on the outside. Place back on to baking sheet. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle salt and herbs over the top. Bake for about 12-14 minutes until deep golden. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce. You can also freeze these if you need to.