Pretzels for Lent

Did you know that the pretzel is a traditional food for lent? 


When early Christians would pray, they would cross their arms and touch each shoulder with the opposite hand. They also fasted very strictly during lent, making their bread with only water, flour, and salt. A monk shaped this in the form of praying arms for children, and the pretzel was born! To read more about the religious history of the pretzel and for the pretzel prayer, check out Catholic Culture's pretzel page.

Soft Pretzel Recipe~ What you need:
  • 1 package yeast
  • 1 1/2 cups warm water
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 4 cups flour
  • 1 egg
Mix your yeast, water, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in the flour, and knead until the dough is smooth. Shape into the form of arms crossed in prayer and place it on a baking sheet. Brush the dough with a beaten egg to give it a shiny finish (I skipped the egg on mine). Sprinkle the top with salt, and bake in an oven preheated to 425 degrees for 15 minutes. 



For fun, I drew out this Lenten Pretzel Card that reads "A pretzel to remind us of arms crossed in prayer is a Lenten treat for us to share!". I uploaded it to share with all of you, so you can print it for free below! :-)

All printable pages are my own artwork and are free for any not-for-profit use by individuals, families, or educational organizations. Copies may not be sold or reproduced for profit. If you'd like to post this project for others to find, I would ask that you link to my post and rather than my individual downloads. When printing or running copies, please do not remove my website from the bottom of the page. Thanks!
If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email or RSS. Photobucket

18 comments:

  1. Great activity and I just LOVE the Lenten Pretzel Card! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. wow! I just found your blog and I love it! I will probably be using these little cards for my Women's Group Meeting I am hosting in March! Also, my children and I were planning to make pretzels and these will be perfect to reinforce the activity!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Make sure you grease the cookie sheet! I found out the hard way, but they sure were yummy!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I baked whole wheat pretzels on parchment paper last year for the first time ever. I also caught my oven on fire... not because of the parchment paper, though!

    I love the little pretzel cards to go w/ them - fun!

    ReplyDelete
  5. How many pretzels does this make?

    ReplyDelete
  6. So Cute! I love the card!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I would love to do this for my boys' classes at Catholic school. Thanks for the great idea. So glad I found this blog.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm a little curious why the recipe includes yeast if the idea was that pretzels were something that could be made within the fasting restrictions of the Lenten season (aka. no leavened bread). Do you have a recipe without yeast?

    ReplyDelete
  9. I don't have a pretzel recipe without yeast. Maybe you could google it.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I am not sure where you are getting your information, but good topic.
    I needs to spend some time learning more or understanding more.
    Thanks for magnificent information I was looking
    for this info for my mission.

    Feel free to visit my homepage - akribos xxiv watches for women

    ReplyDelete
  11. I am really pleased to read this website posts which contains plenty of valuable facts, thanks for providing these
    kinds of data.

    Here is my web site; http://www.spirit-of-rock.com/wiki/index.php?title=Utilisateur:SamsguyoK

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi there friends, its enormous post regarding tutoringand
    fully explained, keep it up all the time.


    my weblog: remote control monster truck

    ReplyDelete
  13. I like the helpful information you provide in your articles.
    I will bookmark your weblog and check again here frequently.

    I am quite sure I'll learn many new stuff right here! Best of luck for the next!

    Also visit my web blog :: men's relic watches

    ReplyDelete
  14. I like the valuable info you provide in your articles. I
    will bookmark your weblog and check again here
    regularly. I'm quite sure I will learn a lot of new stuff right here! Good luck for the next!

    Here is my web blog - Evgeni Malkin Black Jersey

    ReplyDelete
  15. I feel this is one of the so much important info for me.
    And i am glad reading your article. However want to remark on some common issues, The site style
    is ideal, the articles is actually excellent : D.
    Excellent task, cheers

    Feel free to visit my webpage - Michael Kors Canada (explorethecapabilities.com)

    ReplyDelete
  16. I think that what you published was very reasonable.
    However, think about this, what if you added a little information?
    I mean, I don't wish to tell you how to run your blog, but what if you added a title that grabbed a person's attention?
    I mean "Pretzels for Lent" is kinda plain. You might peek at Yahoo's front page and note how they create article titles to get viewers interested. You might add a related video or a related pic or two to get readers interested about what you've got to say.
    In my opinion, it would make your blog a little livelier.


    Also visit my blog post - Boutique Guess

    ReplyDelete
  17. Heya just wanted to give you a brief heads up and let you
    know a few of the pictures aren't loading properly. I'm
    not sure why but I think its a linking issue. I've tried it in two different browsers and both show the same outcome.

    Here is my web site Beats Pas Cher ()

    ReplyDelete
  18. Asking questions are genuinely nice thing if you
    are not understanding anything entirely, but this piece of writing gives good understanding even.


    Also visit my page Soldes Air Jordan

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for your comments! They're the icing on my cake ;-)