Back into the kitchen today! Chris is off doing guy things with his friends all day today so I decided to use this day as a test kitchen day 
I have been craving a certain food recently and have been dying to try a recipe I found on Mama Pea’s blog. Yup, I decided to try to make homemade soft pretzels. I love, love, love soft pretzels. They remind me of going to football or baseball games or trips to the mall when you could smell the buttery, salty dough being twisted to perfection and ready to be dipped into gooey cheese. As Rachael Ray would say, “YUM-O”.
However, in an attempt to keep things a little healthier, I opted out of the previously mentioned greasy, buttery, cheesy pretzels and decided to health up the recipe at home. If you haven’t checked out Mama Pea’s blog yet I would do so. She and her little girls are hilarious and her recipes are amazing. So thanks to her I had a vegan soft pretzel recipe to try:)
I did make a few changes, based on having whole wheat flour on hand, and no all-purpose white flour. These make for great snacks and if you use the whole wheat flour, they are nutritious as well! Who knew a soft pretzel could be so healthy? Hello fiber and whole grains
They can be a little time consuming due to having to wait for the dough to sit for an hour, but I used this down time to do a little yoga. So after I was finished twisting myself into a pretzel, my dough was ready to be twisted into a delicious snack!
Vegan Soft Pretzels
Ingredients:
3/4 cup warm water
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp active dry yeast
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 Tbsp Earth Balance vegan margarine, melted
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
coarse kosher or sea salt
Directions:
1. Combine warm water, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle the yeast on top and let sit for 5 minutes.
2. Add the melted Earth Balance and flour and mix with a dough hook or knead with your hands for at least 5 minutes. Add more flour if necessary so it is not sticky.
3. Form dough into a ball and let sit, covered in an oiled bowl, for 1 hour.
4. Cut dough into 4 sections (or 6 for mini pretzels) and roll dough into long strands and twist into a pretzel knots.
5. Boil water and baking soda and one at a time, gently place a pretzel into the boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove with slotted spoon and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with coarse salt. Repeat with remaining pretzels.
6. Bake in 450F oven for 12-14 minutes. Enjoy on its own or with whatever topping you prefer!
letting my dough, and arms, rest after all that kneading
Still 46 minutes left.....(Jeopardy song playing over and over in my head)
Even Cooper was sitting and patiently waiting for the dough to do it's magic
Finally twisted, boiled, salted and ready to be baked!
Baked to perfection
Mmmm.....golden brown crispy outside and soft doughy inside
Look at that salty pretzel goodness!
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post to see what else I have cooking today! It will, hopefully, be a perfect cold and rainy day meal. See you tomorrow!
Your pretzels look perfect, I wish I had the patience to do that kind of thing from scratch!
Thanks! Yeah it does take a little patience, but it is totally worth it!