Sugar Pretzels

Sugar Pretzels

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

¼ cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 egg white, lightly beaten

Coarse sugar, for sprinkling

In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light, about 2 minutes. Mix in the egg and vanilla. Blend in the flour. The dough will be soft.

Gather dough into a ball, flatten slightly, and wrap in plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Lightly grease or spray 2 cookie sheets.

Pull off a heaping 2 tablespoons of dough and roll out under the palms of your hands to a 9-inch-long rope about the thickness of a pencil. Twist the ends of the rope around each other, then bring the ends down to form a pretzel shape. Set on a cookie sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough, spacing the cookies about 1½ inches apart. Refrigerate the shaped cookies for 30 minutes.

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Brush the cookies with the beaten egg white and sprinkle generously with coarse sugar. Bake in the center of the oven 12 minutes, or until firm to the touch and just beginning to color. Let the cookies stand for 2 minutes on the cookie sheets, then remove to wire racks to cook completely.

Makes 18 pretzels.

Nutrition values per serving: 50 calories, 5 g fat (3.5 g saturated), 1 g carbohydrates, 0 fiber, 1 g protein, 25 mg cholesterol, 10 mg sodium.

"The Best Bake Sale Ever Cookbook" by Barbara Grunes, (2007 Chronicle, $19.95)