Superbowl Sunday is fast approaching, and that calls for just one thing - snacks! I’ve always enjoyed the Superbowl, but not really for the football. Instead, my priority has always been the food, and this year will be no different. I’ll be whipping up a batch of these delicious soft pretzels for guests to dunk into our delicious Garlic Scape Mustards. Check out the recipe below and try it for yourself! Serve alongside some fresh veggie sticks to balance it out. Have a great weekend!

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Baking Time: 8 minutes

Makes: 8 soft pretzels

Ingredients:

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (1 standard packet)

1 cup warm water

1 tbs unsalted butter, melted

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

3 cups all-purpose flour + up to 3/4 cup more if needed

2 cups water

4 tbs baking soda

1 tbs coarse salt, for sprinkling on top

3 tbs salted butter, melted

Instructions

Preheat oven to 475⁰D and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper, then set aside.
Combine yeast, warm water, and sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with hook attachment. Let sit for approximately 5 minutes, until the mixture becomes "frothy". Stir in the salt and 1 tbs of melted butter.
Next, add flour 1 cup at a time until a dough forms and is no longer sticky. If you press your finger into the dough and it bounces back, it's ready to knead. Knead dough for 5 more minutes until smooth and pliable. Form the dough into a ball and place it back into the bowl to rest for 15 minutes. During this time, prepare baking soda bath.
In a small pot, combine 2 cups of water with 4 tbs of baking soda and bring to a boil. Once the baking soda is mostly dissolved, take mixture off heat and allow it to come down to a lukewarm temperature. Pour into a 9x9 baking dish once cooled down.
By now, the 15 minutes of dough resting time should be up. Take dough out of the bowl and flatten slightly with the palm of your hand. Cut dough into 8 sections (like a pizza). Roll each triangle into a long rope, about 19-20 inches long.
Shape dough as desired; into a traditional pretzel shape, twists, pretzel sticks, or pretzel bites. Place prepared pretzel shapes in the baking soda bath for 2 minutes. If the whole pretzel isn't covered by the water, spoon it on top of the areas is doesn't reach. Once the 2 minutes is up, carefully pick pretzel up either by your hand or with the help of a fork and place on prepared baking sheet. You may have to re-shape slightly. Sprinkle the pretzel with coarse salt while still wet (optional). Repeat these steps until all 8 pretzels are prepared and on the baking sheet(s).
Bake pretzels for 8-9 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and immediately brush the remaining melted butter.
These homemade soft pretzels are best served hot and fresh out of the oven but will keep for about 2 days stored at room temperature in an airtight container. Pop them in the microwave and they're good as new!

Recipe adapted from sprinklesomesugar.com by Alex Chesney, RD