Sunday, February 8, 2009

Alton Brown's Soft Pretzels

gluten free pretzelsOh, Alton Brown. You have been the muse for many of my snacks.

After watching his Pretzel Logic episode the other night, I knew this weekend would involve pretzels. (He also has recipes for hard pretzels and mustard.)

So, last night, after seeing He's Just Not That Into You (great chick flick btw), I came home and started making pretzels.

Yes, it is more labor-intensive than most things, as are bagels and other "necessities" that I make every few weeks. But, they're GOOD! After a few mishaps, the pretzels turned out GOOD! Just like "real" soft pretzels. Chewy, with that outside "crust." My sister and her friend were walking by just as they came out of the oven, so they were the first taste-testers. They both wanted a second piece.

I followed Alton's recipe, with a few variations.

Notes:

-I used 1 1/2 c. teff flour, 2/3 c. brown rice flour, 1/3 c. potato starch, and 2 c. of a flour mix.

-I added 1 T. xanthan gum

-I don't have a stand mixer, so I deviated from the instructions a bit:
-I mixed the water, sugar and yeast and waited to make sure the yeast was active.
-Meanwhile, I mixed the flours, xanthan gum and salt in a bowl.
-I added the yeast water and butter to the dry ingredients and mixed with my hand mixer.
-Instead of mixing it for 4-5 minutes, I mushed it up into a ball with my hands.

-I used quick-rise yeast, and I was worried because it didn't seem like the dough rose very much. It was fine.

-When I placed the first pretzel in the water, it fell apart and became little pretzel turds. So for the other ones, I really pinched the ends together and kept the dough on a slotted spoon instead of letting it go in the water. That helped a lot.

-I greased my pans, but they still kinda stuck. Use lots of grease.

-To make "pretzel salt" I just placed some ice cream rock salt in a bag and pounded it with a hammer.

-The next day, they get soft- but to get the texture back, heat them up or toast them.

There you have it- Pretzels.

gluten free soft pretzelsApologies for the picture quality. I was on the tail end of a second large glass of wine.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

This looks great. I'm going to try it for my kids. Instead of hammering rock salt, you could use kosher salt. You can find it in the supermarket.

Anonymous said...

That. Is. Fantastic.

I really never thought I'd be able to have a soft pretzel again...really, very exciting.

This really is going to be added to my (ever growing list) of things I NEED to bake

Lauren said...

Mmm, those look awesome! I haven't had pretzels in the longest time!

Maureen "Hold The Gluten" said...

LOL - what else goes best with homemade gluten free pretzels besides wine?!? Love it!!! I MUST try this recipe -- I miss soft pretzels soooo much. Great post :)

Anonymous said...

I make mine in different variations, some with coarse salt, some with sesame seeds, some with poppy seeds.

Tawn said...

I was glad to find this recipe and look forward to trying it. The last one I tried had an "off" flavor - ick. What is the "flour blend" you listed in the ingredients? Thank you!

Jennifer said...

gekke mum- I hope it works for you! The flour blend was kind of a bunch of leftover flours that I threw together in a container. Probably just more rice flour, corn starch, and/or potato starch.