During quarantine, I have taken advantage of the extra time in the kitchen and have been experimenting with baking sour dough bread and pretzels. The soft pretzels are SO delicious!
For sour dough starter, I used a San Francisco Sour Dough starter kit (click here for example) which is basically flour and live active cultures (probiotics). I picked up at the grocery store, or you can buy the kits on-line as well. It takes about 7 - 10 days to get the starter ready to use! Or you can make your own sour dough-type starter with flour and water, yet it can work to get similar baking results, click here for a recipe from King Arthur to make your own sour dough starter.
Sourdough Soft Pretzel Bites
Yield 4 - 5 dozen
Ingredients:
1 cup active sourdough starter
1 1/4 cups warm water
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon sugar
3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 quarts water
1/3 cup baking soda
1 egg white, beaten
salt for topping
Directions:
1. In a mixing bowl combine the starter, water, salt, and sugar. Stir to combine or use a stand mixer with a dough hook. Then start adding the flour, start with 2 cups and then gradually add the remaining flour. Knead on low speed or by hand for 10 minutes. The dough will pull together, if it seems that the dough isn’t pulling together away from the bowl, add a little more flour 1/4 cup at a time.
2. Transfer the dough to a oiled bowl and then cover and let it sit for 4 - 5 hours. While the dough sits, every hour or so pull the dough into the middle and gently press down and flip over. This will help to soften the dough. If it is sticky, sprinkle lightly with flour.
3. Then refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight. The dough will continue to rise when it is in the refrigerator.
4. Remove the dough and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
5. Turn the cold dough onto a floured surface. Then working in batches, remove a chunk of the dough and using your hands, roll the dough on the counter to form a rope. Then cut the dough into about 1-inch pieces. Place on the prepared baking sheets. Once you are done with all the dough, cover the sheets and let them sit for 1 hour.
6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Meanwhile, fill a large pot with water and the baking soda. Bring to a gentle boil. Then working in batches, add 10 - 12 of the pretzel bites to the boiling water at a time. Let boil for 10 - 15 seconds, stir to flip the bites, and then boil for another 10 - 15 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and return to the baking sheet.
7. Using a brush, lightly coat each bite with the egg white wash. And lightly salt the pretzels. Once a tray is ready to go, bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Store extra pretzels in a container and then re-heat on a baking sheet for best results. Or freeze a bag of the bites too and then heat on a baking sheet until warmed through.
Happy Baking!
