Did you ever bring home soft pretzels from somewhere and they just got dry overnight?

Soft pretzels are delicious made at home.

Kids love helping with homemade pretzels.

With your favorite dipping sauces, soft pretzels made at home are fun to make and great reheated, if you happen to have any left.

Delicious for the big game day or any day, try making soft pretzels at home. Not frozen. Not a pretzel store-bought that has sat in the shop for hours.

From my cookbook to yours, I present for you my homemade soft pretzel recipe and enjoy the big game.

Makes approximately 6-10 pretzels.

Soft Pretzels

1 package of active dry yeast (2 ¼ teaspoons)

3 ½ cups of all-purpose flour

3/4 cup of whole milk at room temperature

1/2 cup of water at room temperature

2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted

1 tablespoon of light brown sugar packed

1 teaspoon of kosher salt

2 tablespoons baking soda

2 cups of simmering water

In the bowl of your stand-up mixer, add everything except the baking soda and simmering water. Mix on medium speed for about 6-8 minutes, turning off the mixer to scrape the bowl with a spatula. The dough should be smooth when done mixing. Place your pretzel dough in a lightly-oiled large bowl. Let this dough rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. This is a fast dough, not an overnight dough.

When the dough is almost done rising, preheat your oven to 475 degrees Fahrenheit. Take your scraper and cut your dough into 6 large pretzel dough strips (or 8 depending on the size you wish for your pretzels). Lightly flour your work surface, so that the dough will not stick.

Take each piece of dough and roll it to a long ropelike shape, approximately 12 to 15 inches depending on the thickness you would like for each pretzel. Take both ends of the dough and twist them around each other. Next, take each end of the pretzel and pinch the ends in the center of the dough, to make your pretzel shape. Place each pretzel on an oiled baking sheet until you are done braiding all of your pretzels.

Mix the baking soda and simmering water together in a pan or dish to make a pretzel bath. Lift each pretzel braid, placing each pretzel into the bath for 30 seconds on each side. Place the pretzel on a clean towel, to take away any excess pretzel bath water. Dry-side down, place each pretzel on to your baking sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes or until desired caramel-brown color. Brush on melted butter to your liking. Enjoy hot out of the oven, dressed with your favorite mustard, cheese, dips or spreads.

Sarah Schweitzer is dual-certified in Culinary Arts and Baking & Pastry from the Escoffier School of Culinary Arts (www.escoffier.edu). She can be reached at sarah.schweitzer18@gmail.com.