Monday, October 28, 2013

Pretzels

My boys and I made big soft pretzels Sunday.

They turned out awesome. They are a little different than your typical soft pretzel in that they use a significant amount of whole wheat flour and honey.



They are really really tasty in my humble opinion.

They pair really well with SheppyBrew's Weizened Doonkle.





Here is my recipe ....

2 cups water
1 packet dry yeast
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp salt
5 or 6 cups flour (I used half whole wheat and half white flour)
1 or 2 eggs
Mix honey, salt, water.
Add flour a cup or so at a time until consistency is about right to kneed. Kneed in about a cup more.
Let the dough rise.
Break into 8 balls (use your own judgement for the size you want)
Roll into long, thin ropes. Shape into pretzel shapes.
Beat egg and apply to pretzels.
Sprinkle Sea Salt on for taste.
Cook 15 minutes in 425 oven.
Yum


Go Blackhawks.

6 comments:

  1. I tried this once with spent grain... let's just say I need to start over lol they were edible but the husk got stuck in your teeth every bite. I ground up some to use as flour and about a cup of grains... I have been wanting pretzels for a while.

    Cheers!

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  2. Funny you mention the spent grains. I was thinking I would try that next time. We'll see I am sure the wife and kids don't want husks stuck in their teeth.

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    Replies
    1. If you find a good way to incorporate them, please let me know! I always want to use the grains for something after I'm finished brewing.

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    2. Did you look at the May/June issue of Zymurgy (I am assuming you are an AHA member)? There an article called "New Life for Spent Grains" by Amber DeGrace.

      It seems that most of the recipes use a pretty small amount of spent grains ... simply replacing some of the flour. You would have to make a bunch of pizza dough to use up anything close to the grains of a whole beer batch. The Dog Biscuit recipe looks somewhat promising ... if you have a dog (which I don't).

      I will be sure to post results is I ever actually do this.

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    3. Have you tried drying, then grinding, the spent grains into flour? Seems like that would take care of husks. You could compost spent grains, if nothing else.

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  3. I've decided spent grains are just not worth the effort. They go into the garden and buried

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