Recipe(tried): Tender, Delicious, Soft Pretzels (ABM)

I have tried several recipes from the Web, but came up with this one myself when the Web versions of the Auntie Anne pretzels were too tough or too hard to make.
I prefer my own recipe because you can make the dough in a bread maker, and start making great soft pretzels within an hour. RECIPE FOLLOWS:

TENDER, DELICIOUS, SOFT PRETZELS
Needed for preparation (not including ingredient list for pretzels, below): Open countertop space, Pizza Cutter, Cookie Sheets, Eggs, Butter, Cinnamon, Sugar, Coarse Salt, Raisins or Jalapenos

2 cups bread flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 Tablespoon Salt
3 Tablespoons Sugar
1 & 1/2 Tablespoons Nonfat Dry Milk
1 & 1/2 Tablespoons Butter or Margarine
2 Teaspoons Dry Granulated Yeast (or 1 packet)
10 oz. warm tap water

(For raisin pretzels only, add 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon to dough)

Preheat oven to 450 when dough is finished kneading
Combine with breadmaker in "dough" mode, till agitation stops, then allow to stand in a greased container for a few minutes, while preparing garnishes, etc.

Coating Egg Mixture: 1 or 2 eggs, with 1 teaspoon of water per egg. Mix with fork till uniform, and set aside for pretzel coating. Keep coarse salt handy for plain pretzels.

To prepare countertop for cutting & forming pretzels, dump dough onto floured countertop. (Lightly dampen counter with a clean, wet-but-wrung-out dishcloth, then sprinkle flour over before it dries. Smooth flour evenly onto countertop. Now it's ready to receive pretzel dough.)

Decide what kind of pretzels you wish to make. If you want plain ones that can be either salted or covered with cinnamon/sugar, just dump the dough onto the counter, and stretch it out into a "log" roughly 15 inches long, and about 3/4 inch to 1 inch thick. This should resemble a large dough "slab" on the countertop, from which you can now use the pizza cutter to shave off pretzels. Starting from one end, cut pretzel strips from the near edge of the dough, with each strip being about 1/2 to 3/4 inch wide. Then carefully dust each strip with flour from the countertop, and stretch each strip evenly till it lengthens to at least 18 inches, then twist into a pretzel shape and place onto lightly greased cookie sheet. When sheet is ready, place in center or a little lower than center of oven.

When pretzel is just beginning to brown on the edges and ends, remove from oven and brush with egg mixture, then if pretzels are intended to be plain, or are filled with japapenos, sprinkle lightly with coarse salt. If you intend to make cinnamon pretzels, do not use the salt, use just the egg mixture. After brushing with egg mixture and applying salt if needed, put on higher rack in oven to finish browning to golden brown.

For cinnamon pretzels, dip into or brush on melted butter or margarine while still warm, allow to drain at least 30 seconds. Then dust thoroughly in cake pan filled with 1 to 2 cups of sugar/cinnamon mixture. Serve warm.

Jalapeno or raisin pretzels: Immediately after removing dough from breadmaker and placing onto floured countertop, fold in jalapenos thoroughly. Then stretch out the dough as before, cutting into strips, stretching out and twisting into pretzel shapes then partial baking, coating and final baking.

Raisin pretzels: Icing can be prepared by mixing powdered sugar, melted butter or shortening, and water. About 1 cup of powdered sugar, 1 to 2 teaspoons butter or margarine, and to 1 teaspoon water thoroughly combined will make icing that can be spread or strung over pretzels after baking. If icing is too thick, add slightly more water. If too thin, add more sugar.
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Since first posting this recipe on the TSR board, I've made a few refinements.
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1.) Mix thoroughly 1/2 quart of water & 3 heaping teaspoons of baking soda & place in shallow pan, to dip pretzel string into before forming and baking. This is what makes them turn brown in color, and enhances the flavor. Dip just before forming pretzel & placing on pan to put in oven.

2.) The key to making good, tender pretzels seems to be the technique of raising, cutting and forming them, as much as using the proper ingredients.

a. Make sure to allow the dough to rest after kneading for at LEAST 1/2 hour. If you won't be needing the dough immediately, you can refrigerate it for use hours later, perhaps even 24 hours later, though I haven't tried it--6 is the maximum I've waited before "pounding down" the dough and cutting pretzels from it.

b. If you intend to make "cinnamon-sugar" pretzels, don't coat with the egg mixture. Use that only for plain or jalapeno pretzels. It keeps the cinnamon-sugar mixture from properly clinging to the pretzel.

c. Carefully (making effort to keep the dough as uniform as possible in thickness) stretch out the cut pretzel to at least 18" in length. Lay the last 4 to 5 inches of the strip onto the floured counter, one end over the other in an "x." Then twist them around as you would splice two wires together, then fold them back over the "O" (the remainder of the pretzel) to form the pretzel shape. Then place onto pan and put into preheated oven and bake till golden, (not dark). The egg-coated pretzels will be darker, more traditional-looking pretzels.

Edward/WV