Many thanks to Sande Guetthoff for inspiring this recipe. These taste almost
2 Tbsp active dry yeast
4 c warm water
6 c ;Better Batter Gluten Free Flour
1/2 c light corn syrup or agave nectar
1/4 c butter
2 tsp salt
Flour, for rolling
Beaten egg whites (about 3)
10 c cold water
2/3 c baking soda
coarse pretzel salt, if desired.
Melted Butter
pret
Line three or four baking sheets with
parchment paper.
Put the yeast in the warm water and let sit for five minutes. Add 4 cups of the flour, corn syrup or agave, butter/margarine/shortening, and salt to the yeast mixture and beat well, on high speed, for three minutes. The mixture should resemble very, very sticky cookie dough (or even a bit wetter
Put a cup of flour thickly over a Silpat or
plastic wrap and place
the dough mixture on this. Sprinkle with
another cup of the flour. Now
very carefully incorporate the flour (knead
it by folding the batter in
half, patting it out, and folding gently
again) until all the flour is
absorbed. This should feel like sticky
play-doh.
Separate the dough; into balls slightly
larger than
baseballs but slightly smaller than tennis
balls.
The outside of the ball will get slightly
dry to the touch, but the
inside will be really tacky and sticky
(click pic for a closer look).
Very, very lightly flour your rolling
surface. Taking one ball at a
time, with floured hands, roll the ball
between your hands until it is
about four inches long. Lay onto the
rolling surface.
Roll the dough very gently until it is
about 9 inches long.;
Take the rope and quickly form it, on the parchment
sheets, into a very
tight pretzel shape, about 4 inches in
diameter.. Brush a little egg white or
water onto the surface of each 'foot' and
onto the base of the pretzel to adhere the 'arms' to
the 'body'.
Let rise for 30-45 minutes.
Prepare the soda bath:
Mix the 10 cups of water with the baking soda (10 minutes before you're ready to dip the pretzels) heat to a boil. This will be cloudy in appearance. This should be ready just as the pretzels are done rising
VERY CAREFULLY, using as wide a spatula as
you can (use two-- one to
life and one to slide under and support!)
lift the pretzel from the
parchment paper into the boiling soda bath.
This will boil up into
froth, so it's really important not to do
more than two pretzels at a
time at most! Cover with a lid and time for
1 minute.
This solution will get stronger smelling
with each pretzel and may even
turn a weird bright golden yellow as the
batches progress. That's okay!!
VERY carefully remove the pretzel(s) from
the water and
place back on the parchment paper. Continue
to do this with the rest of the
pretzels.
Meanwhile heat the oven to 350 degrees.
Brush beaten egg white over ;the pretzels
and
bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until deep
golden brown. ;If you are
going to eat them hot, sprinkle the salt on
before baking. If you are going to
freeze them, wait until you are ready to
heat them to put the salt on.
Brush melted butter generously over the
surface of the entire
pretzel, let cool. Slice and serve or slice
and freeze for later. To
reheat, put in the oven for 5 minutes or
so, or pop in the microwave
