Sourdough Soft Pretzels

Last spring, when the “New York Pause” of self-isolation began, our family enjoyed many special Happy Hours. My son tried every flavor of San Pellegrino soda and my daughter’s beverage alternated between lemonade and Arnold Palmer. We have limited these indulgences to once a week (if at all) at this point. 😉

The kids and I made these soft pretzels on a couple of these occasions. I loved that we all shaped them differently! We ate them with a variety of mustards and with warm queso (from Trader Joe’s) on another occasion. The melted butter was essential.

This recipe was adapted from King Arthur flour. I used active dry yeast and omitted the malt. Great.

For the Dough:

• 3/4 cup (170g) water
• 1 cup (227g) sourdough starter, unfed/discard
• 3 cups (361g) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup (35g) nonfat dry milk
• 2 tablespoons (14g) non-diastatic malt powder or 1 tablespoon (14g) sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter or vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 2 teaspoons instant or active dry yeast

To Garnish & To Serve:

• 2 tablespoons (28g) water
• pretzel salt
• 2 tablespoons (28g) melted butter
• yellow, deli, and coarse mustards, for serving, optional
• warm queso, for serving, optional

1. Prepare a rimmed baking sheet by spraying it with vegetable oil spray, or lining it with parchment paper.
2. Mix and knead the dough ingredients — by hand, mixer, or bread machine — to make a cohesive, fairly smooth dough. It should be slightly sticky; if it seems dry, knead in an additional tablespoon or two of water.
3. Cover the dough and let it rest for 45 minutes. It will rise minimally. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F, preferably on convection.
4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly greased work surface, fold it over a few times to gently deflate it, then divide it into 12 pieces, each weighing about 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 ounces.
   
5. Roll each piece of dough into an 18″ rope. Shape each rope into a pretzel.
6. Brush the pretzels with water and sprinkle lightly with coarse pretzel salt.
7. Bake the pretzels for 25 to 30 minutes, until they’re a light golden brown. Note: This is correct; there’s no need to let the shaped pretzels rise before baking.
8. Remove the pretzels from the oven, and brush with melted butter, if desired. (We thought it was essential!)
9. Serve with a variety of mustards and/or queso, as desired.

Sourdough Muffins: Oatmeal Raisin & Whole Wheat Apple Cinnamon

I love making muffins with my sourdough starter discard. Both of these muffins were very wholesome, minimally sweet, and had a wonderful crumb/texture. I incorporated whole wheat flour into both varieties and also sprinkled the top with cinnamon sugar prior to baking. I think that the sweetness on top was an essential addition.

The Oatmeal Raisin Muffin recipe was adapted from Food.com, contributed by Yankiwi. I weighed the ingredients, incorporated whole wheat flour and cinnamon in the batter, and sprinkled the tops with cinnamon sugar prior to baking. I also reduced the baking time for a convection oven.

Sourdough Oatmeal Raisin Muffins

Yield: 12 muffins

• 90 g (1 cup) rolled oats
• 1 cup milk (I used whole milk)
• 113 g (1/2 cup) sourdough starter, unfed
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 120 g (1 cup) all-purpose flour
• 57 g (1/2 cup) whole wheat or white whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp coarse salt
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• cinnamon sugar or turbinado sugar, for sprinkling (see Note)

1. Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C), preferably on convection.
2. In a medium bowl, combine rolled oats and milk. Set aside to soak.
3. Grease 12 muffin cups; set aside. (I used cooking oil spray.)
4. Stir sourdough starter, oil, egg and raisins into soaked oats; set aside.
5. In a large bowl mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and brown sugar.
6. Add oats mixture. Stir until dry ingredients are just moistened; don’t over mix.
7. Divide batter among the 12 cups. (I used a cookie scoop.)
8. Sprinkle the tops with cinnamon sugar or turbinado sugar.
9. Bake in preheated oven 15 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove promptly from muffin cups.
10. Can be served hot or cold.

Whole Wheat Sourdough Apple Cinnamon Muffins

The Whole Wheat Sourdough Apple Cinnamon Muffin recipe was adapted from tastykitchen.com, contributed by baking barrister. I weighed the ingredients, added salt, incorporated brown sugar and reduced the total amount of sugar by half, modified the proportions and baking time, and used a Pink Lady apple. They were very moist and tasty.

Yield: 12 muffins

• 170 g (3/4 cup) sourdough starter, unfed
• 113 g (1 cup) whole wheat flour or white whole wheat flour
• 50 g (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
• 100 g (1/2 cup) light brown sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp coarse salt
• 1 T ground cinnamon
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 4 T (1/4 cup) canola or vegetable oil
• 1 large apple, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4-inch chunks (I used a Pink Lady apple)
• cinnamon sugar, for sprinkling (see Note)

1. Preheat your oven to 350F, preferably on convection.
2. Thoroughly mix the starter, flour, sugars, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, egg, vanilla extract, and oil.
3. Fold in the apple chunks.
4. Using cooking oil spray, generously grease a muffin tin.
5. Divide batter among the 12 cups. (I used a cookie scoop.)
6. Sprinkle the tops with cinnamon sugar or turbinado sugar.
7. Bake for 17 to 24 minutes, until they pass the toothpick test. Promptly remove from muffin cups.
8. Serve warm or at room temperature. Let cool completely before storing.

Note: I usually have leftover cinnamon sugar in my kitchen. Proportions vary, but 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar mixed with 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon is a nice start. More sugar can be added to taste.