A soft vegan Whole Wheat Pretzel that can be made in about and hour.
Prep Time45 minutesmins
Cook Time15 minutesmins
Total Time1 hourhr
Course: Breads
Cuisine: Vegan
Keyword: whole wheat
Servings: 6pretzels
Author: Trish Cowper | www.infinebalance.com
Ingredients
to proof the yeast:
½tablespoonactive dry yeastabout half a package
¼cupwarm water
1tablespoonmaple syrup
for the pretzels
1cupbread flour
1cupwhole wheat flour
1teaspoonsalt
2tablespoonsolive oil
½cupwater
for boiling:
about six cups water
2tablespoonsbaking soda
for topping
coarse kosher or sea salt
Instructions
Proof the yeast:
Combine ¼ cup warm water and maple syrup, then gently sprinkle yeast on top. Yeast should foam slightly. Let sit atleast 5 minutes while you get the rest of the ingredients ready.
For the pretzels:
Using a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment, combine flour, salt, oil and yeast mixture. Add ½ cup of water and run mixer on low speed for about 5 minutes. Dough should pull away from the sides of the mixing bowl. If mixing by hand, kneed dough for about 10 minutes by pulling and folding it onto itself.
Remove the dough ball from the mixer bowl and knead a few times by hand. Wipe out the inside of bowl clean, if needed, and add a bit of olive oil to very lightly coat the inside of the bowl. Place the dough back into the bowl and turn it over a few time to get the dough coated with oil. Cover the top of the bowl with plastic wrap and then a kitchen towel.Let the dough sit undistrubed for about 40 minutes. Dough will double in size.
Meanwhile preheat oven to 450 and line a large rimmed cookie sheet with parchment paper.
After 40 minutes or so, punch down the dough. Be firm! Then cut dough into 4-8 equal pieces. I usually divide into 6.
ready water for boiling:
Place 6 cups on to boil. Add 2 tablespoons baking soda to water.
make pretzels:
While you wait for the water to come to a boil: roll each piece of dough into a long rope - about 18 inches long - and form into a pretzel shape (see above) and place on the parchment paper lined baking sheet.
Carefully drop pretzels, one at a time, into the boiling water. They will sink and then quickly start to float. Boil for 30 seconds. Carefully remove from the boiling water with a slotted spoon and set back onto the parchment paper. Sprinkle with coarse salt while still wet. Repeat with each pretzel.
At the fattest part of the pretzel, take a sharp knife and cut a slit. The slit will open further while the preztel bakes. The slit makes them look pretty and also helps release some steam.
Place pretzels in the hot oven for 12-15 minutes. They are ready when they are golden brown. The oven is very hot and they will go from ready to burnt quickly, so watch them carefully! Serve hot with your favourite dipping sauce.