Pretzel Loaf Bread

My family loves bread. I searched for a log time to find a recipe that we loved, but never found just the right one. Some were too sweet, some too bland... And some were just too darn time consuming for this busy Mom. So, I made my own. When my husband tried this, he loved it and said it tasted so much like a pretzel he thought I had looked up a pretzel recipe. But no, it's all me. This is a super easy recipe too that doesn't take a lot of time. A stand mixer works very well for this but you can probably do it without.  I hope you like it!

You need:

1 1/2 cups of really warm water
2 tablespoons of yeast
1 tablespoon of sugar

3 cups of self-rising flour

1 tablespoon of salt

1 egg

Extra flour for kneading

A large cookie sheet coated with baking spray

1. Pre-heat oven to 350
2. Dissolve the sugar in the warm water. (I use a bowl)
3. Add the yeast to the sugar water mixture and let sit until the mixture is very foamy, about 8 minutes.
4. While you're waiting on the yeast, combine the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl.
5. Add the water/yeast mixture and mix very well until thoroughly mixed and a dough has formed.
6. Turn the dough onto a floured surface. Make sure your hands and the top of the dough are floured as well to avoid sticking.
7. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes until smooth.
8. Shape the dough into a long loaf, like french bread.
9. Place dough on the cookie sheet.
10. Let the loaf sit for 5 - 10 minutes
11. In a small bowl, beat the egg thoroughly.
12. Using a pastry brush, brush the beaten egg onto the loaf.
13. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until golden brown.