How about a little change of pace. A recent episode of Throwdown on the Food Network pitted Bobby Flay against the pretzel king of Philadelphia. I forget who won, but that part doesn’t matter. Seeing tray after tray of hot, soft pretzels was all the motivation Elisabeth and I needed, the next morning we were in the kitchen whipping up a batch of doughy goodness. She used to bake them with her mom but it was a foreign affair to me, so I searched for a recipe and chose one from Baking Bites that incorporated whole wheat flour. Finally a way to use up my oversized bag of whole wheat pastry flour!
Soft pretzels are a big part of life growing up in New York. We’d get them all the time at baseball games, carnivals and on every corner in NYC. Anyone else have SuperPretzels as a kid? A few minutes in the microwave and bam! you had a hot pretzel in no time. You can do the same with these pretzels. Simply freeze them after baking and microwave or bake in the oven to bring them back to life.
The girlfriend was quite impressed that I had all the ingredients on hand, although I surprised myself too given how seldom I bake. Several times I was tempted to add peanut butter to the batter, but being that it was my first attempt at pretzels (and whole wheat ones at that) I didn’t want to chance it. However, these pretzels turned out divine! Be sure to whip up a batch of Cinnamon Currant Peanut Butter to spread on top, you won’t be sorry!
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6 cups warm water, divided
4 cups whole wheat pastry flour, divided
2T vital wheat gluten
1T active dry yeast
1T sugar
1/4 cup honey
2 1/2t salt
3T baking soda
coarse salt or cinnamon and sugar, for topping
Instructions:
1. Combine 2 cups warm water, 2 cups flour, vital wheat gluten, yeast and sugar in a large bowl. Mix well, cover bowl with plastic wrap and let sit for 45 minutes.
2. Stir in the honey, salt and 1 1/2 cups flour and mix well. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and work in the remaining dough, 2 spoonfuls at a time, until the dough comes together and is elastic but not sticky: I used about another 1/2 cup flour. Lightly grease the large bowl and place the dough back in. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface again and divide into four equal chunks. Work with one chunk at a time (place the other chunks back in the bowl and covered) and divide into 3 pieces. Roll each piece to about 24-30 inches in length, cross the ends and place down in the middle, forming a pretzel shape.
4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray. Place about 4 cups of warm water in a medium-sized pot and stir in 3T baking soda. Dip each formed pretzel into the baking soda and water solution and place on the tray, leaving an inch of space on each side of the pretzel. Sprinkle pretzels with salt or cinnamon and sugar (2 parts sugar to 1 part cinnamon) and bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown and crispy. Should make 12 good-sized pretzels.
5. Serve with Cinnamon Raisin Peanut Butter, Cream Cheese, butter or ketchup and mustard:
Freezing Tip – Wrap each pretzel in tinfoil and place them in a large sealed bag in the freezer. To resurrect, defrost the pretzel in a smaller sealed bag at room temperature (~2 hours or overnight). Then, preheat the oven to 375 degrees and bake it in the foil wrapping for 10-12 minutes. For a quicker pretzel, take a frozen pretzel, remove the foil and microwave on high for exactly 1 minute.
Additional Info:
Thanks to Reeni from Cinnamon Spice & Everything Nice for awarding me with the following award. It’s actually the second time I’ve received it, the first time being when I posted the Chocolate Filled Peanut Butter Scones. But thanks again Reeni!
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Good try Nick. Got something for you to do…
I have tagged you for a meme on my blog on today’s post. Have fun!
I would love to have one of your pretzels topped with cinnamon raisin PB. Great pics!
Your welcome and you deserve two of them for great recipes like this! These look a hundred times yummier than super pretzels. I bet you would beat Bobby Flay in a showdown!
Oh yeah PB totally goes on those bad boys!! Love it!
Thanks so much; you are now on my blogroll, so I can keep up with all the amazing pb recipes you post in the future.
And congrats on the award. I love your site :o)
These look fantastic, and I was a fan of superpretzels as a kid too! I like you you “resurrect” them from the freezer!!
Divya, Oooh thanks. I actually did a similar one recently: 5 random facts about yourself. Thanks!
Meg, They are scrumptious! I actually surprised myself how good they were. I knew cinnamon raisin peanut butter would go well on them I just didn’t realize how well.
Reeni, Haha they are better! I’d like to take on Bobby Flay for peanut butter dish…
Dawn, You know it!
ChocVeg, Haha thanks! Enjoy!
ttfn300, Those pretzels were great but these are even better. I want to get a more precise microwave timing so the “resurrection” process is exact =).
I love watching Throwdown with Bobby Flay :0)
Oooh, great pretzels!! Looove your idea of spreading the cinnamon-raisin pb on top! Yum!
Oh my that a hearty big pretzel! I used to live in Philadelphia and I don’t know who the king of pretzels is, but I ate toons of them whiel I was there! Yours look divine, I think it’s the first time I see whole wheat ones. Cool! I would love if you haved put some pb in the batter!
Those look like heaven. So big and chewy. YUM. I love carbs. Almost as much as PB!
YAY! Nice job on the award! You definitely earned it. We love your blog mucho.
very impressive pretzel-making debut! i enjoy my pretzels with copious amounts of mustard, but a dollop of peanut butter sounds like a great alternative. really, nice job. :)
something must be severely wrong when peanut butter is NOT in the title!! Love the Flay… he’s so cool…
Congrats on your award! You’re really collecting those things, aren’t you? :)
How good are chocolate covered pretzels! They must be just as good dipped in PB.
I think I might have to try this recipe out some time. Never made soft pretzels before!
I think i am going to be making the banana PB cupcakes for my boyfriends birthday this weekend… he loves banana and PB and they look pretty easy to make. I think your recipe made 6 so i might try to make about 12-18… they look so good!
I LOVE soft pretzels, I’ve never made them at home before. I will give this a try!
Thank you so so much for the link to the pb-cookie homemade larabars. I should really make some, since I still haven’t seen that flavor for sale over here!
Congrats on the well deserved award, Nick!
I haven’t had soft pretzels, I don’t think. But they sound like a must try – with the cinnamon raisin pb, of course :)
Yum! I’ve always wanted to make homemeade soft pretzels. I bet you could stuff them with peanut butter…
Heather
Veggiegirl, Thanks =) and yes these are awesome with that pb on top.
Clumbsy Cookie, I know I miss those hot pretzels on the side of the street. These are well worth the effort, which was surprisingly less than I envisioned. Next batch will certainly have pb in it!
Erin, Thanks! I love carbs too, in fact, right now I’m wearing a Simpsons shirt that has homer lying on the word “carbs” which is spelled with donuts, eclairs and pretzels. He’s also in his underwear, drooling and has a beer on his stomach.
Grace, I’m new to the pretzel scene but these turned out quite well. I love mustard on them too, I usually have half with pb and the other half with either yellow, dijon or honey mustard.
Bren, Haha, sometimes I like to put the pb ON things instead of in. Although next time they’ll certainly be in the pretzels. Did you meet Bobby??
Sagan, Oooh that gives me an idea, what about drizzling some chocolate over these pretzels then dipping them in pb…that might be outstanding!
Sportslivingnutrition, Give them a try, they turned out really well and they are surprisingly healthy. Let me know how it works out!
Sara, Let me know what you think!
ChocolateCoveredVegan, If you like Larabar’s you should definitely try them, they’re quick and taste just like them. Plus they’re a lot cheaper.
Dee, If you’ve never had one before then you HAVE to make these. Seriously…
Heather, That’s not a bad idea, but it might prove quite difficult! I always wanted to make soft pretzels too and now I have! I suggest you do the same.
Yum! I adore soft pretzels and would adore them more in a Whole Wheat version.
I would only need a tub of mustard, and I would be happy happy happy.
You have vital wheat gluten in your pantry? Dang, I’m impressed. I don’t even know what it is let alone have it in my pantry. But, having said that, I’m glad you did cuz the pretzels look like fun to make. Make sure you play twister when you eat them.
Yum! Sounds so good. I’ll have to make these sometime. My boys would love them. Can’t go wrong with PB on them!
I saw that same episode and my husband said “those look amazing!”
I had made them before we got married, but they were just off my radar. I prefer to make ones about the size of a fist.
So I went in the kitchen, made the dough, we watched t.v. while the dough rised.
Then I left to boil the water, came back to watch t.v.
Boiled and baked the pretzels and brought him a steaming plate of fresh out of the oven pretzels and he was like “where the hell did these come from!” He was surprised at just how easy they were to make.
And from the freezer, 350 degrees for 5 minutes in a toaster oven brings them back to “fresh out of the oven.”
Oh yes, superpretzels bring back memories! Thanks for the nostalgia!
I need to try making my own pretzels. You’ve definitely inspired me to get off my toosh and start making some. Thanks for the great use of whole wheat too!
YES YES YES! Dipping Pretzels in Ketchup — THAT IS RULL, PB boy. Way to be :)
I made these way too late last night, but still couldn’t resist as they came out of the oven! Fabulous :)
Excellent! So glad you like them. ~ Nick