Soft Pretzels

You no longer need to hang around street corners waiting for dubiously sanitary vendors to fill any pretzel yens you may harbor. Thanks to the magic of gluten flour, you can make these blown-up chewy (not crunchy) versions of the familiar hard pretzel. They are a wonderfully satisfying, salty, yeasty, wheaty snack all alone. Or you can serve them with a pea soup or other thick vegetable pottage for an amiable winter one-dish meal.