Pretzel Dayz

When is bread not a bread . . . when it's a pretzel!

This week I have been on a journey of discovery into the world of pretzels - it all started with himself complaining as to the lack of savoury snacks in the house as I refuse to buy crisps now and so I thought I would have a go at making salty pretzels - the ones I had in mind were those hard stick things you get on airplanes but having wandered in the wilderness of google I discovered that in fact the real Pretzel is a soft dough more a kin to a bread roll than a twig.

So first up I made a batch of savoury ones (got to keep the troops happy) and so the first ones were topped with sea salt

But having tasted them (and flicked off the salt) and looked at the calories I got to thinking - the two things I have REALLY missed since getting on the health kick is white bread rolls and chocolate . . . so if I combined the pretzel dough with some dark chocolate chips I could get a hit of both with out the excess of calories!

Pretzel dough ingredients

1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
packet of dry active yeast - the type you can use in a bread maker (2 tsp if you have it in a tin)
280g Strong plain flour
1 egg
6fl oz of warm water

Toppings

Coarse Sea Salt
50g dark choc chips (refridgerated)
1 tsp brown sugar mixed with 1 tsp cinnamon - you wont use it all so pop the excess in a little pot ready for next time

To Make the dough

In a large bowl place the flour, salt and sugar and mix together - sprinkle the yeast over the top and pour in a third of the water - mix with your hands and keep adding a bit of water and mixing until it is all combined - now you can do all this in a mixer or bread maker but I prefer to do it by hand.

Once you have combined most of the flour into the water tip it out on to a dry board and carry on kneading until your hands are clean and you have a smooth dough - resisiting the urge to add more flour - which when pinched gently returns to its shape - it will take about 10 minutes

Place in a greased bowl with a clean tea towel over the top and leave some where warm for 30 minutes for the dough to proove and double in size (if you dont have a warm place then put your oven on to its lowest setting for 10 minutes switch it off and then place your dough in there.)

Once it has prooved you need to decide what kind of pretzels you want to make

Savoury pretzels

Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a dry board. Divide it into 24 equal pieces. Cover any pieces you are not using to prevent them drying out

Take one piece and roll it into a long sausage. Take the two ends and cross them so you have made a circle with a cross at the top shape. Gently pull the crossed ends over so they overlap the bottom of the circle and form the distinctive bow shape of the traditional prezel. Place your pretzel on to a greased baking tray and repeat until all 24 are made.

Gently brush the top of each pretzel with egg and then sprinkle over some of the rough sea salt

Place in a preheated oven 200 degrees and bake for 10 - 15 minutes (dependant on your oven) until they are golden brown on top and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom - allow to cool and store in an airtight container or freeze in batches

Mine did rise a bit more than anticipated but they are lovely and chewy and more of a mouthful even if they did loose their shape!

Chocolate pretzel balls

Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a dry board. Flatten out the dough and pour over the chocolate chips - fold over and knead to distribute the chips

Divide into 24 equal pieces and shape into balls and place on a greased baking tray

preheat oven to 200 degrees and allow balls to proove for 10 minutes (while the oven heats up) Brush with egg and sprinkle over the brown sugar and cinnamon mix.

Bake for 12 minutes until golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped

Allow to cool

Store in an airtight tin or freeze in batches

You can of course make them into the traditional pretzel shape if you like although the chocolate chips will limit your actvity a bit.

Equally if you want to make them bigger - the balls are a about golf ball sized then simply divide the dough less times - happy baking!