A few months ago, a SERIOUSLY amazing local pretzel shop, Zwicks, opened in our city. To say we are huge fans of the Pretzel is putting it MILDLY! That being said, we are always looking for healthier versions of our favorite eats, so we can keep in line with our health + fitness lifestyle goals! (Not that there is anything wrong with a little cheat every now and again!)

Enter these bad boys… warm, melt- in-your mouth tasty, Gluten free, with the option of making them dairy free/ Vegan.. what’s not to LOVE!?!

Gluten-free Soft Pretzel Bites

• 1 1/4 cups lukewarm water, 100º-110ºF (you may need just a tad bit more)
• 2 1/4 tsp quick acting yeast
• 1 tablespoon stevia or honey ( I used Manuka Honey but you can use any kind!)
• 1 Tbs whole psyllium husk
• 1 Tsp salt
• 1 teaspoon gluten-free baking powder
• 1/4 cup olive oil (or softened butter if you don’t want them Vegan)
• 3 1/2 cups of your favorite gluten-free all-purpose flour blend (homemade or store-bought, I used a gluten free multi blend)
• Coarse pink Himalayan sea salt or kosher salt
• 1 egg yolk (skip and just use honey if you want to make vegan)
• 1 teaspoon honey (see above)
• splash of water

Baking Soda Bath:

• 8-10 cups water
• 1/2 cup baking soda
• pinch of salt

Instructions:

1. Line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper and set them aside.
2. Combine water, yeast and stevia/honey in a bowl; allow to sit for 5 -10 minutes until the yeast “blooms” (aka foams).
3. Put the flour, psyllium husk, salt and baking powder in the bowl of your stand up mixer . Whisk together until well blended.
4. Add the olive oil (or butter) and yeast mixture. With the dough hook, mix until it comes together, pulling away from the sides of the bowl.
5. You may need to Stop the mixture a couple of times and use your spatula to incorporate all of the flour.
6. Once combined fully, continue mixing an additional minute to knead dough. It should be just a tad bit wet, but not too wet where it doesn’t come together and hold. If it’s too dry add a teeny splash more water, if it’s too wet, add a teeny more flour. Don’t stress if it doesn’t look like regular dough.. after all it is gluten free!

7. Remove dough from the bowl and place in a oiled mixing bowl.

8. Brush the top of the dough lightly with olive oil,Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for 30 min to an hour. This will vary based on the temperature. Dough is done rising when it has doubled in size. Dough should be tacky feeling, thick and stretchy.

9. Preheat the oven to 450ºF.

10.Add the water and baking soda to a large pot over a medium-high heat, whisk it quickly to dissolve the baking soda.

11. While you are waiting for the baking soda bath to come to a boil, you will shape the dough.Turn the dough out on your lightly floured surface or use a bit of parchment paper.

12. With a  sharp knife, divide dough into 4 equal parts.

 

13. With wet your fingertips, roll each piece of dough on the floured surface into a long cylinder about 1-inch in diameter, you will  need to use a bit of elbow grease here!

14. Use knife to slice each cylinder into 4  pieces and then again in 4 pieces until bite sized.

 

 

15.  Once your water is boiling, reduce heat to medium high..you want it barely boiling.

16. Place about 10 pieces into bath. Let cook for 30-40 seconds.

17. Remove the bites with a strainer or slotted spoon and place them on baking sheets with parchment paper.

 

18. Brush Egg/honey mixture (or just honey) on to each bite. Sprinkle each with a little coarse/Himalayan salt, to taste.

19. Place the pretzels in oven and bake until golden brown all over, about 10-15 minutes.

20. Enjoy with your favorite Mustard or dipping sauce!

Note: If you’re not planning on eating them all at once, you can leave unbaked after cooking in the baking soda bath, in fridge in an airtight zip lock bag or container. When you’re ready to eat them, just bake them. You can also freeze the cooked (but unbaked) pretzels and pull them out whenever you want them!

You will notice that if you use a gluten free multi-grain blend like I did, they don’t look exactly like a normal white- flour pretzel bite. They are a little more dense and filling. That said, they still have that yummy pretzel goodness and the Himalayan salt is absolute perfection on these. Bonus- you wont be feeling that post- carb- binge-ing guilt!

Happy Baking!

 

Did you make these delectable Healthy Preztel bites? We want to hear from you! Tag us on Instagram or send us and email at rivercitysisters@gmail.com