Pretzels - Hard And Soft - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 (1/4 ounce) package dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
4 cups flour
1 large egg, beaten
coarse salt, to taste

Preparation

SOFT PRETZELS:
Dissolve yeast in water, add salt and sugar.
Blend in all the flour and knead until smooth.
When smooth, cut dough into small pieces and roll into ropes. Twist ropes into conventional pretzel shapes and place on a paper-lined cookie sheet.
Brush pretzels with beaten egg, sprinkle with coarse salt.
Bake in a 425 degree oven for 12-15 minutes, or until brown. These do not keep long.
HARD PRETZELS:
Do everthing above, but decrease water to 1-1/4 cups and add 1/4 cup of melted butter.
Make pretzels smaller and bake until browned.
These pretzels will stay good for months in a tight container.