Homemade Pretzels

One of my favorite recipes for pretzels originally appeared at King Arthur Flour. The recipe is not currently available from King Arthur's website, but I am posting it here. I like this recipe because it is so tasty I always have all the ingredients in my cupboard. You can use all white flour or substitute whole wheat flour for half of the white.  This recipe is one of my grandkids' favorite recipes to "help" with and they frequently ask to make pretzels when they are here.  This recipe makes 8 pretzels, but I think you could also make this recipe into more, smaller pretzels or into pretzel bites.

Dough:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
1 cup very warm water

Topping:

1/2 cup warm water
2 tablespoons baking soda
Coarse salt, poppy seeds, sesame seeds (optional)
3 tablespoons butter, melted

In a large bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer, place the flour, salt, sugar and yeast. Mix to just combine. Add the water and mix well, adding more flour, as needed, a bit at a time to form a soft, smooth dough that clears the sides and bottom of the bowl. Knead the dough, by hand or machine, for about 5 minutes, until it is soft, smooth and quite slack. You want a really soft dough that isn’t overly sticky. Lightly flour the dough and place it in a plastic bag; close the bag, leaving room for the dough to expand, and let it rest for 30 minutes or up to 60 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 500°F (Yes, it really says 500!). Prepare two baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper.

Transfer the dough to a lightly greased work surface, and divide it into eight equal pieces. Allow the pieces to rest, uncovered, for 5 minutes. While the dough is resting, combine the 1/2 cup warm water and the baking soda, and place it in a shallow bowl or pie plate. Make sure the baking soda is thoroughly dissolved; if it isn’t, it will make your pretzels splotchy.  (I stir it a bit just before I brush a new pretzel)

Roll each piece of dough into a long, thin rope (14 to 22 inches long), and twist each rope into a pretzel.

Dip each pretzel in the baking soda wash (this is what gives the pretzels a nice, golden-brown color). I prefer to brush mine with a silicon brush--it's easier for children to brush than dip.

Place them on the prepared baking sheets.

Sprinkle them lightly with coarse, kosher, or pretzel salt. Allow them to rest, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

Bake until golden brown, 7-9 minutes.

Remove the pretzels from the oven, and brush them thoroughly with the melted butter. Keep brushing the butter on until you’ve used it all up. The butter gives them a wonderful flavor, do not skip or use less butter.

You can also top with sesame or poppy seeds or sugar/cinnamon.

How to Sprout Wheat

The information and pictures in this post were provided by a sister in our stake.
Sprouted wheat is a tasty way to eat wheat. You can add it to all sorts of things: salads, stir fry, casseroles, sandwiches, soups, or eat them just plain.

Day 1 - 8amThis is 1/4 cup rinsed wheat covered in water (rinsing is just to clean it). Use any quantity you desire.

Day 1- 8pmAfter 12 hours in water, kernels are plump. They are rinsed, drained well (this is very important), put back in the jar (also drained of any sitting water) and will sit overnight.

Day 2 - 7amSome are beginning to show a little white root coming out on one end. Again, the seeds are rinsed, drained well and put back in the jar for the day.


Day 2 - 6 pmYou can now see a hair-like root coming out of the white root. And once again, rinse, drain well and leave in jar overnight.

Day 3 - 7am We have more than one hair-like root coming out but notice the sprout that is now just beginning. Eating sometimes begins now. Rinse, drain well and let sit in jar.
Day 3 - 6pmThe sprout is almost the length of the kernel of wheat and that's when it's the best. Notice the jar and how the seeds have expanded in the room they take in the jar. You can rinse, drain well, cover and put in the refrigerator. They continue to grow and will keep for several days, rinsing every 2-3 days. Rinse before using.

Day 4

6am

READY TO EAT!!

There are many instructions out there,but if you think about the natural growing process, it really doesn't matter if the water is cold or warm. What if you forget to rinse? Just do the next step when you remember (just like waiting for rain). It'll just be a little slower accomplishing what you're doing. What if you forget and the soak process was 24 hours? Just drain, rinse and continue the process. Tap water works just fine. Some say to put the container in the dark - on the counter is fine. The only thing you do NOT want to do is let the container come into direct sunlight and this applies throughout the whole process. Most instructions tell you to rinse and drain three times a day - simplify and twice is nice! There are always the faster ones and the slower ones - it all works out. If you are using a sprout bag or a container that the hair-like roots start entwining, just massage them a little to separate them when rinsing. The wheat sprouts are sweetest at the beginning stage. The longer the sprout, the less sweet they become. Some say even sprouting to the length of the kernel is too long.

Crock Pot Whole Wheat Cereal

Thanks to Sidney Pitt of the Colstrip Ward for these pictures and recipe!

We try hard at our home to eat natural foods. That is one of the reasons we have wheat in our food storage. I finally developed a breakfast cereal that my husband likes and it doesn't take much work. A PERFECT combination!

Crock Pot Whole Wheat Cereal

1 serving

¼ C. rinsed whole wheat (white or red)

1 C. water

Honey

Fresh or dried fruits (optional)

Milk

Into a small crock pot (mine holds 2 cups), place the whole wheat, water and dried fruit. Plug it in with the lid on and let it cook all night (on low temperature). In the morning you will have whole wheat cereal all ready to go. Now all you have to do is add honey to taste, fresh fruits if desired, and milk. You are ready to go with a nutritious breakfast for the family. This can be increased as needed for your family size (1 part wheat to 4 parts water). This way we are getting the nutrients and the fiber from our breakfast cereal.