
"There's clearly something healthy about these," my 12-year-old son said suspiciously when he saw the brownish interior of these pretzels. Then he tasted one and, sounding surprised, said, "It's good, though" — a preteen's highest possible praise. My husband has been making soft pretzels from a family recipe for years, but he wanted a healthier version, so he came up with this. It requires some advance rising time. The flours and flaxseed meal are available at specialty grocery stores.
Makes 8 pretzels
1 cookie sheet covered with parchment paper
1 package yeast (2 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon honey
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups white flour
1 1/2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup barley flour
1/4 cup coarse oat bran
1/4 cup flaxseed meal
Stir together the yeast, honey and warm water and let sit for 5 minutes.
Stir in the salt, flours, oat bran and flaxseed meal. The dough should be stiff. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth, about 5 minutes. (If it's a humid day, you might need a little extra flour.)
Cut dough into 8 equal pieces, roll into 15-by-20-inch ropes, twist into pretzel shapes and gently place on the parchment-covered cookie sheet. Cover with a towel and let rise for about 45 minutes.
Preheat oven to 475 degrees.
Next, you can take one of two steps:
1.) Brush with a whisked egg. These pretzels will be good, but their crusts will not be as crispy and brown as if you:
2.) Bring 2 quarts of water and 2 tablespoons of baking soda to a boil. Submerge the pretzels one at a time in this solution for 5 to 10 seconds, pushing them under the water with a slotted spoon, then take them out. This will make them puff up. These pretzels will be a lustrous golden brown when they come out of the oven.
Sprinkle with kosher salt if desired and bake at 475 degrees on the middle rack of the oven for 10 to 15 minutes.
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