Dear Gloria, and all interested in authentic German pretzels, here is
the article I posted on the list last year (click on the link):
http://www.bread-bakers.com/archives/digests/v104n040.txt
I think I have tweaked my recipe somewhat since the article, in that
I use a little more butter now, and somewhat less water. I guess I'm
making fewer pretzels now than before, because here's what I did last
time (and the recipe made 16 pretzels - not huge, but about the
normal size in Germany):
1 1/4 cups lukewarm water
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons softened unsalted butter
1 teaspoon lemon juice (the acid makes the dough rise higher)
4 to 4 1/2 cups bread flour
Coarse or kosher salt for sprinkling
Lye dip
Here is the new website for the very helpful, step-by-step
instructions, WITH PICTURES, for the making of the pretzels. The
gentleman also gives you the instructions for making the lye dip.
http://www.cs.uml.edu/~dm/brezla-2/index.htm
Although in the digest article I gave instructions from a German
cookbook also, I have not, nor do I recommend, boiling the pretzels
in the lye dip. It isn't necessary, the bakery I visited in Germany
didn't use hot lye, and I think boiling the pretzels would make them
chewy, not crunchy on the outside, like Gloria wants. If your
pretzels aren't crunchy enough outside, use slightly more water and
less butter, and a higher temperature when you bake them. Watch them
carefully, as they go from golden brown to dark brown rather quickly.
Good luck!