Bagels and pretzels are boiled before baking. The boiling liquid sometimes includes malt, baking soda, or lye to make it alkali. No brushing involved. Brighid ni Chiarain On Wed, Sep 25, 2013 at 6:40 AM, Laura C. Minnick <lcm at jeffnet.org> wrote: > > Pretzels and bagels are shiny. What are they brushed with? > > Liutgard >