Pretzel / Laugenbrezen

Had I known that it would be soo easy... really, they're incredibly easy, just mix the dough (with fresh yeast - not necessary to let it rise), parboil in a brine of baking soda and then bake. Just be careful that you add the baking soda to the water before it's boiling hot, because it will react otherwise and boil over. I noticed that the small, fat pretzels ended up looking a lot nicer than the long, thin ones.

The only thing I'm not entirely happy with is that they ended up being golden brown and crisp, while they are supposed to be dark brown and soft. I suspect that food coloring might be partly responsible for that, and I will still have to learn how to tweak the baking temperature and time to make them done but not crisp. Or perhaps I should place a bowl of water in the oven?