Instructions: Method:
POUR half the lukewarm milk in a small bowl and stir in instant dried yeast and sprinkle with sugar and flour. Leave aside for 10 minutes to froth. Combine melted butter, egg and salt in a small bowl.

Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and pour in yeast mixture, combined butter egg mixture, raisins and remaining milk. Mix to form a soft dough then turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes or until texture is springy and smooth. (Weight of dough should be 600g.) Put dough into a lightly floured bowl and cover with a clean, damp tea-towel and leave aside for 1 hour or until it grows double in size.

Turn dough onto a floured surface and knock out the air, then knead for 2 minutes.

Cut out a piece of dough for shaping, keeping the rest covered to prevent it from drying out.

To shape the pretzel, roll the dough under your palms into a sausage shape then keep rolling into a long strip of about 65cm long. Bring the ends round; give a twist in the centre and cross over and then take them up to the top of the circle. Give a spacing of about 4cm apart, then press it in position.

Place on a piece of clean tea towel. Shape the rest of the dough into pretzels similarly. Hold the pretzels with both hands and dip right into a basin of water. (It is done to moisten the pretzels.) Take out immediately and place on a tea towel. Place the damp pretzels on greased trays. Brush with egg glaze and bake in a preheated oven at 230 C for 4 to 5 minutes or until golden in colour.

Finish up baking the rest of the pretzels. Turn pretzels out onto a wire rack immediately after baking and dip into sugar syrup, then coat with cinnamon sugar. Pretzels are ready for serving.

If you would like to email yourself the recipe for later use, or share the recipe with your friends or family, enter the email addresses below and this recipe will be emailed to you and others as well.