Soft Pretzels

When I was in grad school, my breakfast of champions was a big bottle of Coke and a hot-from-the-oven soft pretzel (or sometimes two). I cut the caffeine out of the equation after graduation, but not the pretzels. I still take my kids down to South Philly early some mornings to buy pretzels fresh from the factory. Since I can’t eat the heavily salted commercial kind anymore, I came up with my own. These are still mighty tasty, especially with a squirt of spicy no-salt-added mustard.

Yields 10 pretzels.

SODIUM CONTENT: 9.5 mg per pretzel**

INGREDIENTS

4 1/2 t. (2 pkgs.) dry active yeast
1 1/2 c. warm water
2 T. honey
3 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
1 egg, beaten (for brushing)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Measure yeast into a large mixing bowl. Add water, then honey and flour, and stir to combine. Turn dough out onto clean surface and knead 5 minutes. Cut dough into 10 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a long snake-like tube, then twist to form a pretzel (feel free to be creative). Place pretzels onto ungreased baking sheet(s) and brush lightly with the beaten egg. Place sheet(s) on middle rack in oven and bake about 15 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from oven and gently remove from baking sheets. Enjoy warm or cool.

**NOTE: Additional nutritional information provided below – many thanks to Kelly and recipespark.com!

Calories 199.7
Total Fat 0.9 g
Saturated Fat 0.2 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.3 g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.2 g
Cholesterol 10.6 mg
Sodium 9.5 mg
Potassium 128.1 mg
Total Carbohydrate 41.8 g
Dietary Fiber 2.9 g
Sugars 0.2 g
Protein 6.3 g