Soft Pretzels

Mix yeast and water. Let sit for 10 minutes.

Add dry ingredients to bowl, and mix. Add primed yeast mixture to dry ingredients, mixing as you go. Gradually add butter, and mix until dough is incorporated and elastic. Proof, covered, for 15 mins.

Divide dough into 8 equal pieces. Lightly shape into a fat 4" log. Cover, let rest for 5 mins.

Take each fat log, and starting from the center, increase pressure as you reach the ends to get a tapered effect. Should be about 20" long that's fat in the middle and skinny on the ends.

Prepare two greased baking sheets. With each snake, take the two ends and bring them together, gently crossing over each other. Then, twist once, and gently bring it down to the middle of the snake, and attach the ends. Move to the greased baking sheet, and then do the next pretzel. When you're done, let them proof at room temp for ~30 mins and then put them in the freezer for at least an hour. If you don’t, they’ll be far too difficult to work with and turn into blobs.

Put the water in a nice big bowl, add the lye, whisk until dissolved. Make sure you use food-grade lye and wear gloves!

Preheat oven to 425F. Grease a wire rack. For each pretzel, dip each side in the lye for 10 seconds (WEAR GLOVES), then let it drain for a few seconds on the wire rack, and then return it to the greased baking sheet. Once done with all pretzels, score the thickest part of the pretzel, finish with pretzel salt, and then bake for 15-20 mins or until golden brown.