Dan and Frances made these pretzel knots yesterday and sent me the recipe. They are every bit as good as they said. Great texture and perfect soft pretzel taste.

This recipe avoids the nuisance of placing the pretzels in a an alkaline and malt bath but doing that may make the nice pretzel color. Maybe next time. This is much easier and makes clean-up a snap.

Jack’s Garlic Pretzel Knots

• ¾ cup warm water (105°F to 115°F)
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 (¼-ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
• ½ cup whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• ¼ teaspoon lemon zest
• Coarse salt, for sprinkling

Prep and Cook

1. In a small bowl, stir together ¼ cup of the water, maple syrup, and the yeast. Set aside for 5 minutes, until the yeast is foamy
2. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook, place the flours and salt. Add the yeast mixture, 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, and the remaining ½ cup of water. Mix on medium speed until the dough forms a ball around the hook, 5 to 6 minutes.
3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead several times, sprinkling with more flour, as needed, and form into a ball. Brush a large bowl with olive oil, and place the dough inside. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside to rise until doubled in size, 40 to 60 minutes.
4. Preheat the oven to 450°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Uncover the dough, punch it down and transfer to a lightly floured surface. Cut the dough into 8 equal sections, and roll each section into a 9-inch-long rope. Grab the ends of each dough rope, tie into a knot, and tuck in the ends.
5. In a small bowl, combine the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, the garlic, and lemon zest. Set aside.
6. Bake the pretzel knots for 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden brown. Brush the garlic oil onto the hot pretzel knots and sprinkle each with coarse salt.