Soft Homemade Pretzels

After several failed attempts at making pretzels,I thought it was time to try it once more.. and this time? SUCCESS!
Wonder why? well.. we all know following directions is a must in baking..cooking.. the dreaded schoolwork, etc. haha
So.. what went wrong?
Well.. the first recipe for pretzels I followed came from Alton Brown's kitchen. In one of the last steps, he boiled the baking soda and water. I thought I had to do that in this recipe so I did and well? big mistake and extra work! All I had to do was dip it in the baking soda and water mix, let it rise, and pop it in the oven.
I got this recipe from cdkitchen.com so the credit goes to them. I'll post the recipe here for anyone who want to try.

Ingredients:
1.5 cup warm water
1.25 tsp active dry yeast
2 TBSP Brown Sugar
1.25 tsp Salt
1 C Bread Flour
3 C All Purpose Flour
2 C Warm Water
2 Tbsp Baking Soda
Coarse Salt to Taste
4 TBSP Butter (melted)

Directions:
Mix yeast with 1.5 cup warm water in a mixing bowl. Add sugar, salt, and stir until it dissolves. Add flour and knead dough until smooth and elastic. If the dough is too sticky, add a bit of flour to your hands and the surface you knead your dough on. Remember, you can always add flour in but once you add it in, you can't take it out. Allow the dough to rise for 45 minutes.

After 45 minutes


While the dough is rising, mix the baking soda and 2 cups of water in a bowl. Remember to stir often. After your dough has doubled in size, take a pizza cutter and cut off about 1/2 inch or less thick of dough and shape. To shape, make a "U" shape and cross the two sides over each other. Dip the pretzel in the baking soda solution and place on greased baking sheet. Allow the pretzel to rise for about 30 minutes again.




Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 450F. When your pretzel is done rising, pop it in the oven for 10 minutes or until golden brown. You can also try 500F for 7 minutes.

Brush your pretzel with melted butter and enjoy!!

Note: I added raisins to mine because my grandma loves raisin.. You can add cinammon sugar, walnuts, almonds, whatever you desire :)
Final Results!
1st batch... ehh

Second Batch: Much better!
3rd and Final Batch!