100% Whole Wheat Pretzels

The following recipe was submitted by Erin, from Growing with my Girls. Thank you Erin!

This is our favorite whole grain pretzel recipe, so I thought I would share them this Lent. We have tried a few different pretzel recipes now, and some of them had a much more elastic dough, making it difficult to roll them out long enough. This dough is very kid-friendly and rolls with little difficulty! We like them for lunch on Fridays with cheddar cheese and apple slices!

Whole Grain Soft Pretzels

from Whole Foods for the Whole Family cookbook

1 T yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 T honey
1 tsp salt
3 T oil
3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup wheat germ
1 egg beaten w/ 1 T water for glaze

Dissolve yeast in water with honey in a bowl until bubbly. Stir in salt and oil and 2 cups of flour. Beat until smooth, then add wheat germ and remaining flour to make soft dough. Knead until smooth and elastic. Let rise for 45-60 minutes or until doubled. Punch down and divide into 16 equal pieces. Roll into 16-inch long ropes and form into pretzel shapes. Place pretzels on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and let rise 20 minutes, then lower them gently into a pot of boiling water and baking soda (8 cups water and 2 T baking soda) and allow to boil about a minute, 3 pretzels at a time, if you want them to have the characteristic chewy texture. Otherwise, just glaze and bake them without boiling. Brush the glaze onto each pretzel and sprinkle with coarse salt, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, whatever. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Using the parchment paper has worked perfectly for us... no sticking, and easy clean-up!

My kids also like to form them into other shapes, like crosses, during Lent.