I've been experimenting with Myra Lewin's pretzels recipe for Hale Pule's website.
After 7 occasions of this fun bread, the whole family is hooked.
Did you know that traditionally pretzels are boiled for 30 seconds to create a shiny crust during baking? That was news to me. The same applies to bagels.
Seeded Soft Rye Pretzels
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 1 ½ cup rye flour - freshly milled is best
- 1 ½ cup spelt flour - freshly milled is best
- 3 tbsp raw carob powder
- 1 tsp mineral salt
- 2 tbsp ghee
Seeds and spices:
- 1 tbsp caraway seeds
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- 1 tbsp fennel or coriander seeds
- 1 tbsp ghee
Instructions
- Mix all of the dough ingredients with your hand or a fork.
- To prepare the seeds, melt the ghee in a small saucepan and add the caraway, sesame and fennel seeds. Toast them gently on low heat until the aroma comes up and the sesame seeds are slightly golden. Stir continuously to prevent burning. Add them to the bowl with the flour and combine.
- Gradually add boiling water, using a fork, until the mixture becomes wet crumbs.
- Cover and let rest for 10-15 minutes.
- Now, using your hands, combine the crumbs into a soft ball. If the mixture is a bit dry and crumbly, add a little water to bind it into soft dough. If it sticks to your hands, add a little more flour.
- Divide the dough into 6 balls. Roll each one into about 40 cm/16inches long tube shape, about 2.5cm or one inch thick.
- Form the pretzels as shown in the pictures:
- Optionally, if you want to achieve a shiny crust, boil each pretzel for 30 seconds in a saucepan of hot water. Use a straining spoon to lift the bread out of the pan.
- Place each pretzel in a baking dish or a preheated baking stone with a little ghee.
- Bake in a preheated 220 C / 425 F oven (subtract 20 degrees for a convection oven) for about 15 minutes.
- Enjoy with a soup or a dip (hummus, pesto, guacamole are great options).
- Alternatively, use a preheated cast iron pan, coated with 2 tsp ghee to cook the pretzels on the stove with a lid. They take about 7-8 minutes on each side.
Notes
Experiment with other spices for variety: kalonji (AKA nigella), poppy seeds and aniseed are particularly good.
Before placing the baking dish in the oven, you might want to brush the pretzels with a little melted ghee and sprinkle each with more seeds.
