Pretzels?!

Indeed, pretzels.

I don't know why, but I have been absolutely craving soft pretzels. I found this recipe, it's "vegan" but generally, pretzels are vegan anyways. So don't be alarmed! I took the dough recipe from Dizzy's blog (Experimental Vegan Daze") and tweaked the process thanks to what I gathered from a recipe posted at cdkitchen. You'll never want a processed, store bought one again, I swear. Check it!

Pretzel Dough:

3/4 c. warm water
3/4 t. active dry yeast
1 T. brown sugar
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. bread flour
1 1/2 c. flour

4 c. warm water
3 T. baking soda
1-2 T. margarine (Earth Balance), melted

Place the first 3 ingredients together in a large bowl. After the yeast has gotten puffy looking, add the salt and flours. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. Let the dough rise for at least a 1/2 hour covered and in a warm place (like the oven, set to warm).

While the dough is rising, prepare a soda water bath. Combine 4 cups water and 3 tablespoons water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Pinch 1-2 inch sized blobs of dough and form into short ropes. You can twist into a long rod or attempt the tricky pretzel twist. Drop one-two at a time into the boiling water/baking soda bath. Using a spatula or a large, holed spoon, make sure they aren't sticking to the bottom. They will float!



Let boil for about a minute on each side before taking out and placing on pan. Once all these are done, sprinkle with course salt and place in your oven, heated to 450 degrees for about 10-15 minutes.


ENJOY the warm, doughy goodness.
:]

Y'know, someday, when I own a moderately successful bakery in Portsmouth or Boston, I will look back on all these Saturday afternoons & Sunday mornings that I spent baking for no one in particular, and call it practice.




<3 Leigh