This past weekend my husband suggested that I use my sourdough starter to make something new: pretzels. I’m sure he had intentions to encourage me to broaden my knowledge but I’m also sure that he was probably craving pretzels as well. Either way, we both benefited this weekend.
I actually wanted to bake another round of bread this weekend but I’ve had such a hard time lately that I decided to just skip it. The morning of my levain hadn’t risen as much as I would have liked it to anyway. And just when I decided to discard the whole thing, I decided to use it for the pretzels. After limited searching, I came across a recipe on the King Arthur Flour website and it seemed to fit what I was looking for. Luckily, I had everything on hand. I usually don’t have dry milk on hand but I had to use it for something else earlier in the year (SCORE!).
The recipe I used was this one. I pretty much followed everything listed except the last part when they brushed sugar(?) on the pretzels to achieve the brownish color. I read a lot of the reviews and other pretzel recipes and they all pretty much mentioned the baking soda bath that this recipe lacked. I agree with most of the commentators, how can it be a pretzel if it doesn’t look/taste like one? Then it would just be… bread right?
Starting out was pretty simple. Mix everything and let it rise:
Then it was forming and making sure it didn’t dry out:
I thought I did pretty decent with the twist!! Especially for it being my first time. The only thing I wish I had was pretzel salt. My husband LOVES that! But he’s trying to cut back on salt, so it really didn’t matter that I didn’t have it. Kosher salt it is!
At first, I had taken it out too early. My husband took a bite and we can clearly see that it was still a little under cooked and so back into the oven it went. It looked nicer with a deeper brown color. They were good. I could definitely improve but it was a good first try and it fulfilled a craving. They were chewy and salty. My husband said it was a little sour from the starter but not overwhelming. I wish they were a little bigger like at Wetzel’s Pretzels! I should try making pizza pretzels…
Process: 10/10
Taste: 6/10
Cece
Food With Cece 