Soft and Chunky Gluten Free Pretzels

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This recipe came about after studying... this recipe:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Mall-Pretzels/Detail.aspx

Making gluten-free pretzels is kind of a pain, I'm not gonna lie. There's just something to glutiny bread flour in traditional pretzel recipes that makes working with "regular" pretzel dough a whole lot easier (more elastic dough, for one).

This dough is a bit sticky (I added more "wet ingredients" because gf stuff tends to be dry), but you can sprinkle the dough with white rice flour to make it easier to work with... and, the best part?

All the work and dirty dishes will be worth it in the end! Yeah! These are super good, my husband even said he likes them better than other glutinous ones he tried! Woohoo!

Oh yeah... and I strongly recommend not substituting the teff flour or almond meal, unless you can get another high protein flour--because it's the high protein in the regular bread flour that helps give pretzels their texture and flavor, so those two flours were my alternatives.

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  • 5

Ingredients

  • Small Bowl 1:
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons yeast
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup warm milk
  • Big Bowl 2:
  • 1 tablespoon white sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup brown rice flour
  • 1/2 cup tapioca starch
  • 1/2 cup white rice flour
  • 1/4 cup potato starch
  • 2 1/2 Tablespoons teff flour
  • 2 Tablespoons almond meal
  • 3/4 tsp xanthan gum
  • Other Bowls/Ingredients:
  • __________________
  • 1 egg white, whisked until stiff peaks form.
  • __________________
  • 1/4 cup extra white flour, for dusting the pretzel balls of dough.
  • __________________
  • 1 1/2 cups warm water
  • 1 tablespoon baking soda
  • __________________
  • For topping pretzels:
  • 1 tablespoon melted butter
  • salt, to taste

Preparation

Step 1

Combine the yeast, brown sugar and milk in a small bowl...set aside

Next, combine all flours/starches/almond meal with xanthan gum, salt and the 1 tablespoon of white sugar. Make sure to mix thoroughly with a fork.

Use an electric hand mixer (or a hand whisk, but it'll take awhile) to mix the egg white until stiff peaks form.

Next, when the yeast has proofed (foamy on top), start mixing in the yeast/milk mixture with the flours. Then fold in the egg white with a fork. It doesn't have to be mixed perfectly.

Put the dough in an oven safe glass bowl or dish, set the oven to the "warm" setting (below 200 degrees) and let the dough rise for 45 minutes.

After the 45 minutes are up, take the dough out of the oven.

Put a piece of aluminum foil down on the counter/table, sprinkle the 1/4 cup of white rice flour over the aluminum foil.

Begin forming 5 balls of dough by rolling them in the flour (it will be sticky, so that's why you want to make sure you cover the outside of the dough balls with flour--they're easier to work with this way).

After you form them into balls, roll them into the shape of a fat string (about 3/4 of an inch thick) and shape into pretzels; place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment or aluminum foil.

Put 1 1/2 cups warm water into a large cup, stir in 1 tablespoon of baking soda. Use your fingers or a pastry brush to lightly coat the exterior of the pretzel tops with this baking soda solution.

Now preheat oven to 400, let the pretzels rest on the counter while you preheat the oven.

Bake 10-12 minutes until golden brown on top, bake longer if you want them more firm (I like mine soft so I baked for 10).

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter with some salt and, using a pastry brush, coat the pretzels (while they're still warm) with the butter. Sprinkle pretzels with more coarse salt or cinnamon & sugar! :)

This recipe makes 5 short and chunky (and tasty!) pretzels.

Store these in an air-tight container or freezer bag. Microwave 15 seconds before eating the next day :).

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