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So what is needed to make a pretzel vegan? Well the first thing is to switch out the milk and butter. Easily done. You can use any non-dairy milk but soy milk or something called "Not Milk" are both ideal. The butter can be replaced with either vegan butter or a dairy free margarine. If using a dairy free margarine, adding a tablespoon of a non-sweetened soy yoghurt will help to replace that butter taste. In fact my vegan butter includes my homemade yoghurt for this very reason.
So let's talk beer. Not all beer is vegetarian (fish swim bladders can be used to filter beer making it not even vegetarian), let alone vegan (some beer is filtered using milk products, so I have to be extra careful). So you'll need to check the beer out. Vegan beer directory A-F is the best site for this. However any pilsner not made in North America will be vegan due to a law passed in Germany back in the 16th century or thereabouts. So I am using a Pilsner.
You'll also need to make a bicarbonate bath for the pretzels to be simmered in or to brush them down with.
This recipe is taken from Vegan Beer Pretzels
Ingredients
500g white bread flour
2 tsp* instant dried yeast
¼-½ tsp salt
10g dark brown soft sugar
110ml lukewarm soy milk (non-sweetend, unflavoured)
200ml vegan ɓeer
50g melted vegan butter (or non-dairy marg with 1 tbsp of natural, unsweetenedsoy yoghurt)
seasalt flakes
Either Bicarbonate Bath Ingredients (1)
2L near boiling water
5 tbsp sodium bicarbonate/baking soda
Or Bicarbonate Bath Ingredients (2)
1L near boiling water
2½ tbsp sodium bicarbonate/baking soda
Method
- Sift the flour, yeast, sugar and salt together in a bowl. Add the beer, milk and melted butter and mix to form a dough. Knead by hand for 15 minutes or by mixer for 1-2 minutes. At this stage the dough will feel like it is too wet and sticky. It will improve after proving, so work with it.
- Transfer to a lightly oiled bail, cover and place somewhere warm until doubled in size, about 1½hrs.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knock back before dividing into 8 equal weight balls. For me, this was around 110g per ball.
- Allow the balls to rest for roughly 10 minutes before shaping (for me, this was a case of start of ball 1 one ball 8 had been kneaded.)
- Roll the first ball into a long thin sausage shape with a thicker middle than either end, around 40-50cm long. Place the dough into a U shape, then cross the arms over right over left and repeat with the new right going over the new left again. Moisten the very ends of the dough with water and bend both arms & the twist back down towards you pressing the moist ends onto the top of the horizontal thicker piece of dough. Transfer the "shaped" dough onto a greaseproof paper (on a baking tray) and place the current top down so that the moistened arms are now underneath the dough. Repeat for the remaining dough balls.
- Leave the shaped dough somewhere warm to use again. Do not cover them, you need to dough to form a skin unlike most other times!
- From here you have 2 options**. A full bicarb bath or a solution to paint over the dough. And whilst you're doing this, get the oven preheated to 180°C (fan assisted or 200°C/400F, gas mask 6).
- Make up the bicarbonate bath by adding the bicarb of soda a tablespoon at a time to the hot water. Take care because it will "foam" up. Make sure you have enough space in your saucepan to allow for this and also to add the dough. You don't want any spills. You need the bicarbonate bath to be close to simmering (not boiling) without actually simmering.
- One pretzel at a time, gently slide (bottom up) into the near simmering bicarb solution for 30-45 seconds ensuring you keep both sides covered with bicarbonate solution. Turning them over isn't easy, so use a ladle to spoon the solution over the side that will be the underneath of the pretzel but is currently the top because they are upside down.
- Bail the pretzel out and right side up return to the baking parchment. Repeat until all pretzels have been bathed!
- Finally, just before putting in the oven, you want to deeply score the thick part of the pretzel with a lame (unused razor blade or sourdough cutting tool). If you have a very thin but exceptionally sharp knife, you can use this but it may not be as successful. )
- Place in the oven for 15-20 minutes. You want the pretzel to be dark brown not the usual light brown that bread rolls cook to.
- Now if you want the salt on the pretzel, you'll need to have a little extra vegan butter ready melted for the moment the pretzels come out of the oven. Paint the top with melted vegan butter and sprinkle on the sea salt flakes.
Note(s)
* if your yeast states to use a different amount per 500g of flour, then go with your yeast, not mine. Also if your yeast needs actuvating first, you'll need to follow its directions, not mine.
** if you are painting the pretzel with bicarbonate solution rather than bathing/poaching it, get a pastry brush and carefully paint the tops and sides of the pretzel with solution. If you want to try doing the underneath, start with that. But take care because the bicarbonate solution can cause chemical burns on delicate skin.
PS. It appears that I made mine upside down! the arms of the pretzel are shown on top in the original not underneath like mine!
Edited to correct a typo
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