Making the ballpark favorite at home is easier than you’d think, as long as you follow some tricks that we discovered. First, using bread flour helped achieve a proper soft yet chewy pretzel. To get the deep mahogany color we were looking for, we added brown sugar to the dough and then gave the pretzels a quick dip in an alkaline boiling water and baking soda mixture. After letting the pretzels dry, we baked them to a tender, chewy crumb.

MAKES 12 PRETZELS

We use kosher salt on the exterior of our pretzels, but coarse pretzel salt may be substituted. However, be sure to still use kosher salt in the dough. Keep in mind that the dough needs to rise for 60 minutes, and then the shaped pretzels require a 20-minute rise before boiling and baking. These pretzels are best served warm, with mustard.