Pretzels

Original German recipe from Aunt Dorothy Koch

I made these with Aunt Dorothy on several occassions - usually the holiday time. This recipe was translated for her by her first husband, Gus Dettinger - who was from Germany. Be careful! This recipe uses lye - which will ruin any good clothes, spoons, etc.

I'm not even sure if you can buy "lye" anymore. I remember that Aunt Dorothy brought hers back in cake-form from her trips to Germany - and it was quite a procedure to dilute it to the proper strength. I think she got it from a German bakery while she was overseas. So - this recipe might be more of "interest" than practicality!

Dissolve 1 ounce cake yeast in 1/2 cup warm water.
Add 4 cups flour to the yeast/water mixture and mix.
Add pinch of salt to the flour mixture.
Add lukewarm water - a little at a time until dough is stiff.
Cover and let rise in warm place for 1/2 hour.

Form pretzels and let rise another 20 minutes.
Cut on the back of the pretzels with a sharp knife 1/2" deep by 2" long.

Put lye in a ceramic bowl and (use slotted spoon) quickly dip each pretzel.
Place pretzels on floured cookie pan, salt and bake at 375 degrees until brown.