These were pretty damn good.

I’m especially happy with these photos because I got to use my Dad’s larger Canon, and the salt just adds some beautiful visual texture to the brown pretzels!

Fresh from the oven, yum

I made mine plain, with just a bit of salt in the batter mixture and sprinkled them with coarse black pepper and salt.  They were chewier than I expected, and a little bland (like how you want to add vegan cream cheese to a bagel) so I’ve included some garlic powder in the recipe, because garlic makes everything better.  I also actually followed the recipe this time and made them much smaller than my previous pretzels, so boiling was a breeze.  No more huffing and puffing and swearing incessantly over a hot pot of water.

Honestly, watching your made-with-love beautiful pretzels fall apart is just heart-breaking.

These bad boys are great with any strong mustard or balsamic vinegar & oil mixture, btw.  We didn’t actually have mustard for some strange reason, but I can attest to the dipping oil & vinegar – yum.

Also, I mixed a 1:1 ratio of whole wheat bread flour with whole wheat pastry flour – the recipe should be fine with either all-purpose, whole-wheat, whole-wheat bread flour, or whole-wheat pastry flour, just note that the texture will vary.
Yes, these are whole wheat.  Yes they are pretty easy.  Yes, they’re a carb-load (oh-so delicious carb load though).  And yes, they’re vegan.  You’re welcome.

Soft Whole Wheat Pretzels (Vegan):
Adapted from Food Doodle’s
~Yields 8 soft pretzels~

• 4 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or blended WW bread flour & WW pastry flour)
• 2 cups warm water
• 1 packet of instant dry yeast
• 2 Tbsp liquid sweetener, or brown sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 Tbsp baking soda
• Large pot of water for boiling
• Coarse salt & pepper for sprinkling

In a small bowl mix the dry yeast and 1/3 cup of warm water, and let it sit for about 10 minutes.
In a large bowl mix the flour, garlic powder, & salt and incorporate the remaining warm water, liquid sweetener, and yeast mixture.  Mix/knead by hand until it’s no longer sticky (you may need extra flour).  Wash the large bowl, oil it, then place the dough in it and cover with a wet towel.

Allow the dough to rise in a warm area until it’s doubled in size, then take it out and divide it into eighths – I did this by just making a ball, and cutting it in half 4 times.  Take one portion and roll it out, then shape into a pretzel.  This is the super fun part, but make sure that your pretzel is small enough so that it can be easily lifted with a slotted spoon, for when you boil them.  It’d be sad to end up making ‘pretzel bites.’

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

After shaping each of the pretzels, allow them to rise a second time while you prepare a large pot of water for boiling.  Add in the 1 Tbsp of baking soda (this gives it a harder, brown crust).
Once the water is at a rolling boil, drop in one pretzel at a time, using a slotted spoon, and remove after about 30 seconds and place on a cooling rack.  Give them a minute or two to cool, then sprinkle on the coarse salt and black pepper.

Place them evenly spaced on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or one that’s lightly oiled, then bake for 20 minutes until they are browned.  Remove, let cool (or not, who’s gonna know?) and enjoy!