Pretzels

I had an itch for home-made bread. I was going to make semeet again, since we liked it so much, but there wasn't any milk in the fridge (well, there were two bottles, but both quite curdled). So I decided that it was time to make some German-style pretzels. The ones you get at Wurstfest are actually pretty good, although a bit on the bland side. Those that you get at movie theaters or at the mall, doused with butter and soft like wonderbread are just plain crap. My aim is for the type of pretzel you buy in Germany, Switzerland (train stations have great ones) or Austria.

I found this recipe and made it last night, altering it to partly use whole-wheat flour and malt. I accidentally put too much butter into it, so they turned out softer than I like, but the overall flavor was great and the crust was a beautiful shiny deep bronze brown--just like the Silserli from Switzerland. Next time I'll use less butter and make sure to roll out the dough more--some of my pretzels rose so much that they ended up looking more like a roll.