Grass Fed: Vegan Soft Pretzels

I don’t know much about my family history other than the fact that I’m German. You know what else is German? Pretzels. Therefore, in order to fulfill my duty as a vegan food blogger and better understand my German heritage, I have deemed it necessary that I make these pretzels.

Solely educational, really.

 In reality, it snowed all day, which created the perfect conditions for stalking my favorite bloggers for some recipe inspiration. When I came across this recipe from Love and Lemons, my childhood memories of buying SuperPretzels from the neighborhood pool snack bar came flooding back to me.

How long has it been since I’ve last had one? Five years? Ten years?

Who knows, but it’s been too long.

 So with snow on the ground and a lazy Saturday before me, these childhood treats got a makeover.

 The result was a salty, doughy, delicious pretzel that exceeded all of my childhood expectations.

 The recipe looks complicated, but don’t let that scare you. It’s surprisingly simple once you get the hang of it, and the end result is most definitely worth it.

Ingredients

(makes 6 pretzels)

1 Tbsp maple syrup

½ package (1/2 Tbsp) active dry yeast

¾ cup water (1/4 cup for preparing the yeast , ½ cup for dough)

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour

1 tsp salt

2 Tbsp baking soda

6 cups water, in a pot (for boiling)

Coarse sea salt (for sprinkling)

For other flavor varieties:

Cinnamon and Sugar Mixture

Rosemary or other herbs

Vegan cheese (or regular cheese if you don’t want them to be vegan)

Instructions:

1. Put ¼ cup warm water, maple syrup, and yeast into a small cup and stir until yeast dissolves. There should be bubbles forming at the top of the mixture. If there isn’t, try again with a different yeast packet.
2. Make the dough: Put the flour, salt, oil, yeast mixture, and an additional ½ cup of water (for a total of ¾ cups water) into the bowl. If making the rosemary flavor, add the herbs in at this step.
3. Mix and knead dough ingredients for about 8-10 minutes (until the dough pulls away from the bowl).
4. Brush the inside of a large glass bowl with a little bit of olive oil. Form the dough into a ball and put it in the bowl. Cover and allow the dough to rise for about 40 minutes. The dough should have about doubled in size.
5. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F.
6. Uncover your dough and punch it down a couple of times.
7. On an oiled work surface, cut the dough into 6 equal sections, and roll each out to an approx. 24 inches long rope.
8. Grab the ends of each dough rope to make a U shape, then form into a pretzel shape.
9. Put 6 cups of water into a pot and dissolve the 2 tablespoons of baking soda into the water and bring to a rolling boil.
10. Drop pretzels, one at a time, into the pot (get close so it doesn’t splatter!). Each pretzel should sink a little then rise up. Wait 30 seconds, then lift out using a slotted spoon or spatula and place each onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
11. While they’re still wet, sprinkle them with the coarse salt. If making the Cinnamon Sugar Variety, replace the salt with the cinnamon sugar mixture in this step.
12. Take a sharp knife and cut a 4-6 inch slit along the bottom of each pretzel. (This slit will open up during baking).
13. Bake for about 14 minutes or until golden brown. Watch them carefully! If you’re making the cheese flavor, sprinkle the cheese on top of the pretzels when they have about 5 minutes left in the oven.