When I was little, my parents took me to the mall a lot.  It was like my version of an amusement park, with brightly lit stores and booths for me to curiously wander through, a giant food court where I could count on getting cheese and orange chicken samples, and escalators to ride like smooth, easy-going roller coasters (or maybe not so much, because I remember being freaked out by escalators).  Much like a visit to the fair is incomplete without cotton candy or funnel cakes, a visit to the mall was never complete without a pretzel.  For my brother it was usually a classic salt-topped pretzel with a cheese dip on the side, but for me, the biggest sweet tooth in the family, it was always the sweet, cinnamon-sugar-dipped pretzel bites.
But the fun in buying pretzels wasn’t only in eating them; it was also in watching the tall men with white aprons who stood behind a glass wall making them, pulling the dough into long, even ropes and twisting and folding them into perfect pretzel shapes all in one fluid motion.

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Now I’m reliving those fun days in my kitchen, making some pretzels of my own.  Except these pretzels aren’t ordinary sea salt or cinnamon sugar pretzels, because I’ve gotten fancy and made an extraordinary rosemary-infused orange honey glaze to go on top.  This glaze is essentially orange juice and honey boiled down into something almost like a caramel.  It’s sweet, sticky, and absolutely gorgeous, with a deep, tangy, citrusy flavor and light hint of rosemary aroma.

I brushed it all over the tops of my pretzels, which were deliciously soft and chewy, just like the kind you would buy at the mall.

As with any bread, these pretzels taste best right after they’re made.  But if you do happen to have them out for a little longer, the surface of the pretzels will actually soak in most of the glaze, taking in its rich flavor, after which you can briefly reheat them in a toaster oven and they’ll be just as good as fresh.

Orange Rosemary Honey Glazed Soft Pretzels     –     makes 4 medium-sized pretzels

– 2 cups all-purpose flour
– 1/2 tsp. salt
– 1  1/2 tsp. sugar
– 2 tsp. active dry yeast
– 3/4 cup warm water
– 2 tsp. vegetable oil
Baking Soda Bath:
– 1 cup boiling water
– 2 tbsp. baking soda

In a medium bowl, combine the flour and salt.  In a separate bowl or cup, stir together the sugar, yeast, and warm water and let it sit for five minutes until foam appears on the surface.  Add in the vegetable oil, then mix the wet ingredient mixture into the flour until a dough forms.  Transfer it onto a lightly floured surface and knead it for 5 to 10 minutes until smooth and elastic.  Form the dough into a ball, cover it, and allow it to rest and rise for 30 minutes.  Divide the rested dough into fourths and roll and stretch each piece into a thin, long snake with about a 3/4-inch-diameter thickness.  Form it into a pretzel shape: cross the two ends of the snake over each other to create a loop, twist them over each other once, and bring them down across to the other side of the loop, gently pressing the ends down to secure them in place.  In a shallow dish wide enough to hold one of your pretzels, stir together the boiling water and baking soda.  Place each pretzel into the bath for 1 minute, then carefully flip and let it soak for 1 minute on the other side. (It is important that your baking soda bath is hot – if it cools down between pretzels, reheat it to a boil.)  Quickly and carefully remove and transfer it onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, positioning the pretzels about 2 inches apart.  Bake in a preheated oven at 450°F for 8-10 minutes, or until the outside is a deep brown color.

Orange Rosemary Honey Glaze:
– 1/4 cup honey
– 3/4 cup orange juice
– 1 tsp. orange zest
– 1/2 tsp. fresh rosemary leaves
– pinch salt

Combine the honey, orange juice, and orange zest in a saucepan over medium heat, and bring it to a steady boil while stirring constantly.  Add in the rosemary leaves, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for around 10 minutes, stirring constantly, until the mixture is reduced and thickened.  The glaze should become a deep, dark golden color, and bubbles on the surface should become larger and hold their shape for longer.  It will not appear noticeably thickened while it is hot, so test by dripping a little bit onto a cool surface- it should cool with the consistency of pancake syrup or a thin caramel sauce.  When it is ready, remove the glaze from the heat, mix in the salt, and immediately brush it generously onto the baked pretzels.