Sunday, January 12, 2014

Bavarian Pretzels Veganized

We're huge fans of soft pretzels.  The last go around we tried making them with pizza dough and even did the baking soda dip before cooking to create the brown crunchy crust.  The results were quite good.  

Last week, I was really excited to see an article on Tasting Table for Bavarian pretzels with a recipe.  It isn't tough to veganize at all.  Just use vegan butter and skip the egg wash. Oh and, of course, find a vegan Pilsner. 

We wandered around the liquor store with the Barnivore site loaded on our phones.  Our choice was Mama's Little Yella Pils from Oskar Blue's Brewery.  Hopefully no one will judge us too harshly for picking a Czech Pilsner instead of a German one.  Maybe we'll try Pilsner Urquell next time.

The dough is definitely stiff, so I was glad to have a mixer that could handle it and save my muscles for making the pretzels.  Other than that, the instructions were a dream to follow and there was even a video to show how to roll them out properly.

We tried a couple of different toppings including plain kosher salt, sesame seeds, and za'atar.  Anyone who knows me is quite aware of my mustard addiction.  On the side of the plate you see 4 mustards we tried with the pretzels: Raye's Winter Garden, Trader Joe's Provencal, Trader Joe's Black Currant, and plain store brand dijon.  Neither of us cared for the black currant.  Raye's Winter Garden is one of our favorites, if you can find it.  They are located in Maine!

These pretzels are by far, the best we have ever had.  We can't wait to make them again.  Sorry SuperPretzels, you are no match. 

See the pretzels below and check out the recipe on Tasting Table to make your own.  Thanks Andrea Slonecker for sharing, your pretzel cookbook is on my wish list.