Soft Spelt Pretzels

The Back to the Future, Buddies traveled way back this month to make soft pretzels. I missed these pretzels when the Bread Baking Babes (BBBs) made them in 2011 so I was glad Carola chose them this month.

Pretzels have a unique history. Also known as Pretiola (little reward) in Latin, they are said to have been invented by monks around 610 AD to reward their students for memorizing bible verses.

Pretiola’s were made out of bread dough scraps and shaped to represent a child’s folded arms in prayer. Supposedly, the three holes represented the Christian Trinity. Some sources claim that pretzels originated in a monastery near Northern Italy or Southern France, but other sources say they were invented by a German Monk.

Whether it’s Pretiola (Latin), Brachiola (Italian), or Bretzel (German), a pretzel by any other name still smells as sweet (or doughy, rather) and tastes as good.

I’m not certain what type of flour would’ve been used in 610 AD to make pretzels, but I’m guessing it wouldn’t have been the commercial white flour we have today.

These days, pretzels can be made with many different types of flour so I decided to use a mixture of all-purpose and whole grain spelt flours. I also tried Carola’s suggestion and added ground flax seed meal. To top things off, I sprinkled the tops with black sesame seeds and a little bit of kosher salt.

 

Soft Spelt Pretzels

Original recipe from MyRecipes: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/soft-pretzels
My version is adapted from: http://sweetandthatsit.blogspot.ch/2013/12/soft-pretzels-laugen-bretzel.html

 

YIELD: 12 servings (serving size: 1 pretzel)

 

Ingredients:

Pretzel Dough:

• 300 g all-purpose spelt flour (I used VitaSpelt)
• 120 g whole grain spelt flour (VitaSpelt)
• 40 g ground flaxseed meal
• 1 1/2 tsp. instant yeast
• 1 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1 cup warm water (100° to 110°)
• 1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt

Pretzel Bath:

• 6 cups water
• 1 1/2 to 2 T baking soda

Glaze and Toppings:

• Cooking spray
• 1 tsp. water
• 1 large egg
• 2 tsp. kosher salt, optional for sprinkling
• Black sesame or poppy seeds for sprinkling
  

Directions:

1) Add the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir with a wire whisk to incorporate.  Gradually add in the water until it forms a soft dough.

2) Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Gently knead until it is smooth and elastic. The dough will feel slightly sticky. Don’t over knead it if you are using spelt.

3) Place dough in a clean bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top.

4) Cover and let the dough rise in a warm place (85° F.), free from drafts, 40 minutes or until doubled in size. (Gently press two fingers into dough. If indentation remains, the dough has risen enough.) Punch dough down; cover and let rest 5 minutes.

5) Divide dough into 12 equal portions. Cover the dough prevent drying. Working with one portion at a time, roll each portion into an 18-inch-long rope with tapered ends. Cross one end of rope over the other to form a circle, leaving about 4 inches at end of each rope. Twist the rope at the base of the circle. Fold the ends over the circle and into a traditional pretzel shape, pinching gently to seal.

 

6) Place pretzels on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (or sprayed lightly with cooking spray). Cover and let rise 10 minutes (pretzels will rise slightly).

 

7) Preheat oven to 425° F.

8) Combine 6 cups water and baking soda in a non-aluminum Dutch oven or pot. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer.

9) Gently lower 1 pretzel (or more if the pot is larger) into simmering water mixture; cook 15 seconds. Turn pretzel with a slotted spatula; cook an additional 15 seconds. Transfer pretzel to a wire rack coated with cooking spray. Repeat procedure with remaining pretzels.

 

10) Place pretzels back on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Combine 1 teaspoon water and egg in a small bowl, stirring with a fork until smooth. Brush a thin layer of egg mixture over pretzels; sprinkle with kosher salt and/or seeds. I sprinkled mine with kosher salt and black sesame seeds.

11) Bake at 425° for 10 to 12 minutes or until pretzels are deep golden brown.

 

12) Transfer to a wire rack to cool.  

 

These pretzels have a slightly earthy flavor due to the ground flaxseed and spelt.  They tasted good warm with butter.  They would probably taste really good with spicy brown mustard but I didn’t have any.  They could also use more kosher salt. I sprinkled it lightly, but if I make these again, I will add more.

 

Happy Baking!

Cathy

 

 

Sources: 

• http://www.essortment.com/pretzel-history-little-known-facts-21126.html
• http://foodimentary.com/2012/04/26/origins-of-the-pretzel/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretzel

Sourdough Pretzels

I just love pretzels, especially the soft and chewy ones you get from the mall or a street vendor.  I’ve made soft pretzels a few times, and I always enjoy them. I also enjoy working with sourdough.  So when I saw this recipe for Sourdough Pretzels in a recent email from King Arthur Flour, I thought it was the perfect combination: soft pretzels made with sourdough.  What’s not to love about that?

If you’re like me and have a hard time discarding a cup of sourdough starter every time you feed your starter, this is a great way to put it to use.  This recipe calls for unfed sourdough starter straight from the refrigerator.  So instead of discarding the cup of sourdough, use it in this recipe, then feed your starter as you normally would.  I used my apple starter for this recipe.  It’s become my favorite starter simply because it’s so cool.

Another thing I like about this recipe is that it doesn’t require any lye.  I’ve looked at a few authentic soft pretzel recipes and they require the use of food grade rye to achieve the shiny effect on the crust.  At the same time, they include a disclaimer that you should wear long gloves and protective eye wear when working with the lye.  I don’t know about you, but the thought of using lye (even food grade lye) doesn’t particularly appeal to me. Plus, that sounds like a lot of trouble just to make a snack, even pretzels.  Well, no worries, this recipe uses a solution of malt powder and water to achieve the same effect. 

 

Sourdough Pretzels

Makes: 12 Pretzels

Adapted from: King Arthur Flour Sourdough Pretzel Recipe

These pretzels are really easy to make.  You don’t even have to boil them in a pot before baking them.

Ingredients:

• 170g lukewarm water
• 227g unfed sourdough starter
• 361g High Gluten Flour
• 35g nonfat dry milk
• 14g diastatic malt powder (the original recipe called for non-diastatic malt powder, but I didn’t have any so I substituted diastatic malt powder and it seemed to do okay.)
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast

 

Glaze

• 1 tablespoon diastatic malt powder
• 28g water
• kosher salt
• 28g melted butter, optional

 

Directions:

Mix and knead the dough ingredients to make a cohesive, fairly smooth dough. It should be slightly sticky; if it seems dry, knead in an additional tablespoon or two of water.

 

Cover the dough and let it rest for 45 minutes. It will rise minimally. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F.

 

Turn the dough out onto a lightly greased work surface, fold it over a few times to gently deflate it.

 

Divide it into 12 pieces, each weighing about 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 ounces. I divided mine into 13 pieces, about 2 1/4 ounces each.

 

Roll each piece of dough into an 18" rope.

 

Shape each rope into a pretzel.

 

 

Place the pretzels on a baking sheet.

 

Dissolve the malt in the water.

 

Brush the pretzels with the solution, and sprinkle lightly with coarse pretzel salt.

 

Bake the pretzels for 25 to 30 minutes, until they're a light golden brown.

 

Remove the pretzels from the oven, and brush with melted butter, if desired.

 

These pretzels tasted good.  They made a great New Year’s Eve snack. 

 

Happy Baking!

Cathy

Soft Pretzels: BBB (Bread Baking Babes)

I’m baking along with the Bread Baking Babes and Friends this month. Elle is the hostess and she chose Soft Pretzels.  I love pretzels, especially the soft ones so I’m delighted to be baking along with this talented group of bakers.  Elle gives an interesting account of the history behind pretzels on her blog. You might want to check it out.

These pretzels are really easy to make and the dough is great to work with. I’ve been eating them for snacks. I topped some of them with kosher salt and some with cinnamon sugar.  Delicious!

 

Soft Pretzels

Yield: 12 Pretzels (serving size: 1 pretzel)

Source: Cooking Light OCTOBER 2005: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/soft-pretzels

Ingredients:

• 1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 cup warm water (100° to 110°)
• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided (about 14 1/2 ounces)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Cooking spray
• 6 cups water
• 2 tablespoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cornmeal
• 1 teaspoon water
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  

Preparation:

1. Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water in a large bowl, and let stand for 5 minutes. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add 3 cups flour and 1 teaspoon salt to yeast mixture; stir until a soft dough forms.

   

2. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic (about 8 minutes). Add enough of remaining flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel slightly sticky). Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top.

   

3. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 40 minutes or until doubled in size. (Gently press two fingers into dough. If indentation remains, the dough has risen enough.) Punch dough down; cover and let rest 5 minutes. Preheat oven to 425°.

   
   

4. Divide dough into 12 equal portions. Working with one portion at a time (cover remaining dough to prevent drying), roll each portion into an 18-inch-long rope with tapered ends.

    

5. Cross one end of rope over the other to form a circle, leaving about 4 inches at end of each rope. Twist the rope at the base of the circle.

   

    

   

    

   

6. Place pretzels on a baking sheet lightly coated with cooking spray. Cover and let rise 10 minutes (pretzels will rise only slightly).

   

7. Combine 6 cups water and baking soda in a nonaluminum Dutch oven. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer. Gently lower 1 pretzel into simmering water mixture; cook 15 seconds.

   

8. Turn pretzel with a slotted spatula; cook an additional 15 seconds. Transfer pretzel to a wire rack coated with cooking spray. Repeat procedure with remaining pretzels.

   
   

9. Place pretzels on a baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Combine 1 teaspoon water and egg in a small bowl, stirring with a fork until smooth. Brush a thin layer of egg mixture over pretzels; sprinkle with kosher salt.

   

10. Bake at 425° for 12 minutes or until pretzels are deep golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
    

    

     

11. To make Cinnamon Sugar Soft Pretzels: When you put on the egg glaze in the above recipe, don't add any toppings. As you can see in the photo above, six of the pretzels are plain. When the pretzels are baked and still a little warm, dip them in melted butter and then into a cinnamon-sugar mixture.

    I made six cinnamon sugar pretzels.

    

     

    And six pretzels topped with kosher salt.

    

 

Thanks for joining me in the bread-baking blog. 

Happy Baking!

Cathy