Buttery Soft Glazed Raisin Pretzels

Place all of the dough ingredients (except raisins) into a bowl or an electric mixer bowl, and beat until well-combined. Knead the dough, by hand or using the dough hook of your mixer, for about 5 minutes. Knead it until it’s soft, smooth and pretty slack. Add raisins and mix until combined. Place the dough in a floured bowl and turn to coat.

Transfer the dough to a plastic bag, close the bag loosely, leaving room for the dough to expand, and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

While the dough is resting, prepare the baking soda bath. Combine the boiling water and baking soda in a heatproof bowl, stirring until the soda is totally dissolved. Pour the mixture into a wide pan (an 8×8 or similar) and set aside to cool to lukewarm (or cooler).

Preheat your oven to 475°F. Prepare a baking sheet by spraying it with vegetable oil spray, or lining it with parchment paper.

Transfer the dough to a lightly greased work surface, and divide it into eight equal pieces. Allow the pieces to rest, uncovered, for 5 minutes.

Roll each piece of dough into a long, thin rope (about 30″ long), and twist each rope into the shape of a pretzel. Set the pretzels on your work surface.

Working with 4 pretzels at a time, place them in the pan with the baking soda/water, spooning the water over their tops. Leave them in the water for 2 minutes before placing them on the prepared baking sheet. This baking soda bath will give the pretzels a nice, golden-brown color. Repeat with the other pretzels. Allow the pretzels to rest on the baking sheet, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

Bake the pretzels in the preheated oven for 7 to 9 minutes, or until they’re golden brown.

Remove the pretzels from the oven, and brush them thoroughly with the melted butter. Keep brushing the butter on until you’ve used it all up. It may seem like a lot, but that’s what gives these pretzels their wonderful taste.

In a small bowl, mix together 1 cup of powdered sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and enough milk to reach your desired pouring consistency. I used about 1-2 tablespoons of half-and-half. Drizzle the icing over the warm pretzels.

Serve warm, or you can reheat them in an oven or microwave.

Note: The quantity of water to use in the dough will vary depending on the season. Use 1 cup in the winter, 7/8 cup in the summer, and somewhere in between in the spring and fall. Your goal is a soft dough.

I adapted this recipe from King Arthur Flour.