Mustard Garlic Pretzels

My most recent adventure in the kitchen was by far one of the hardest and most time consuming of them all. I was always told that pretzels take a very long time to make and are tricky to make them look just right but when has that ever stopped me before. I started off by doing an overall search on the internet for one that looked the best and then planned accordingly.

Serves/ Makes: 8

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Milk PLUS
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons spicy dijon style mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups bread flour PLUS
2 tablespoon bread flour
1 tablespoon of granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon yeast
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
3 quarts water
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 egg white
1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

***Garlic Cheese Topping ***
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions:

In the bread machine add ingredients in this order. Add milk, water, oil, mustard, salt, flour sugar, yeast and thyme. Select dough/ manual cycle on machine. When the cycle is complete, transfer dough from machine to a lighting floured surface. Divide dough into 8 equal pieces; roll each piece into a 18 inch long rope. Curve the ends of each rope to make a circle ; cross ends at top. (make sure you make these bigger then you would expect or they will look like a ball) Twist ends once and place over bottom of circle. Place pretzels on greased baking sheets. Let rise for 15 minutes. Bake in a preheated 450F over for 5 minutes; remove from oven. Reduce over temperature to 350F. Bring 3 quarts water to a boil in a deep pan or pot. Dissolve baking soda in boiling water. Reduce heat to a simmer. Add pretzels to water, one at a time. Do not crowd the pan. Simmer for 1 minute on both sides. Remove with slotted spoon; place on paper towels to absorb excess moisture. ( Make sure they are good paper towels, the cheep ones will stick right to your pretzels) Place on greased baking sheets and brush with egg wash. Bake in preheated 350F oven for 10 minutes. Prepare garlic cheese topping by mixing the Parmesan cheese and garlic powder together. Remove pretzels from oven and sprinkle with garlic cheese topping. Return pretzels to over and bake for 5 minutes, or until done. Serve warm!!