By Jeremi Bibillo 7th Grade Period 5 November 2 nd, 2008

The History of the Soft Pretzel The soft pretzel is a popular delicacy enjoyed by many people. The pretzel is thought to have first been invented by an Italian monk in 610 A.D. it is thought that he made the pretzels for his students as rewards. He called his invention pretiola which means “little rewards”. Germany is thought to be the creator of the pretzel. Some legends say that a boy fell asleep while the fire baked the bread, and when he woke up the fire was out so he believed that the bread hadn’t baked enough so he turned the fire on again and the bread turned deliciously crispy.

Soft Pretzel Facts There are many facts that you don't even know about pretzels some are amazing while others not so much I think that there are some wacky uses in the world other than eating them DDid you know that in Germany on New Year’s Eve kids wear pretzels around their necks for good luck. IIn Austria some people will use pretzels to top their Christmas tree. TThe biggest pretzel that was ever baked was in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by a man named Joe Nacchio, the pretzel weighed 40 pounds and measured five feet across. AA pretzel with no salt is called a baldy. TThe different ways the hard and soft pretzels are baked is that hard pretzels are baked longer at a lower temperature and soft pretzels are cooked at a higher temperature for a shorter time. Now do you see that pretzels are more interesting than before.

Ingredients 2 tsp. salt 5 ½ to 6 cups of flour ¼ cup of butter 1 Tbsp. sugar 1 Tbsp. active dry yeast 2 cups warm water Soft Pretzel by Jeremi

Utensils  Dry measuring cups  Liquid measuring cup  Wooden spoon  Electric hand mixer  Pastry brush

Step 1 I poured two cups of warm water in to a big bowl. Then I carefully added 1 Tbsp. of yeast into the bowl and stirred. Step 2 Next I added 1 Tbsp. of sugar which is the food for the yeast and stirred it. After that I dumped in ¼ cup of soft butter and stirred in two cups of flour. Procedure (day 1)

Step 3 Later I added two tsp. of salt and mixed in the rest of the 3 ½ cups of flour one at a time. I used an electric mixer to make the dough smooth. Step 4 Then my brother, my friend, and I took turns kneading the dough for ten minutes. Step 5 After ten minutes of massaging the dough I put it into a 1 gallon Ziploc bag removed all the air. Procedure (day 1) continued

Step 1 The next day the bag was so inflated that it was as hard as my soccer ball. I set up the temperature 425 degrees. Step 2 I split the dough into 4 pieces. Once split my Mom and I rolled and folded the dough like shown in this picture. Step 3 When the pretzels were shaped I placed them on a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Next I made egg wash from one egg 1 Tbsp. of milk and 1 Tbsp. of water. I glazed it over the pretzels using a pastry brush and sprinkled it course salt. Procedure (day 2)

Step 4 Finally I baked the pretzels for 11 minutes, when the pretzels finished baking they were golden brown. My friend, and my family enjoyed the crisp, hot, and yummy Soft Pretzels. My Mom enjoyed eating toasted Pretzel with butter and Gouda cheese. Procedure (day 2) continued

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