Baked Cinnamon Pretzels

Today I wanted to bake something nice and tasty for FHE and so I decided to go ahead and make some of these "Auntie Anne Copy Cat Pretzels", that I found on this website.

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups water
• 1 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast ( 1 pkg.)
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 ¼ teaspoons salt
• 1 cup bread flour
• 3 cups flour
• 2 cups water
• 2 tablespoons baking soda
• coarse salt
• 2 -4 tablespoons butter ( melted)

Directions

1. Sprinkle yeast on lukewarm water in mixing bowl; stir to dissolve.
2. Add sugar, salt and stir to dissolve; add flour and knead dough until smooth and elastic.
3. Let rise at least 1/2 hour.
4. While dough is rising, prepare a baking soda water bath with 2 cups warm water and 2 tbsp baking soda.
5. Be certain to stir often.
6. After dough has risen, pinch off bits of dough and roll into a long rope (about 1/2 inch or less thick) and shape.
7. Dip pretzel in soda solution and place on greased baking sheet.
8. Allow pretzels to rise again.
9. Bake in oven at 450 for about 10 minutes or until golden.
10. Brush with melted butter.
11. Toppings: After you brush with butter try sprinkling with coarse salt.
12. Or for Auntie Anne's famous Cinnamon Sugar, try melting a stick of butter in a shallow bowl (big enough to fit the entire pretzel) and in another shallow bowl make a mixture of cinnamon and sugar.