Hey friends! This recipe was much needed in my home. My husband absolutely loves soft pretzels and my daughters love bagels, so here is a dough that brings the goodness!
This dough uses hard wheat to get a nice gluten structure. I used a combination and hard red and hard white, but if you would like a more “white flour” look, use only hard white. I chose both for the gluten development as well as the flavor profile hard red adds!
Another note is that you will be brushing an egg wash on the top before adding your seasonings and baking these beauties! I scramble a whole egg, but if you don’t want yours to look as browned, use just egg whites with a splash of water for your egg wash.
I hope you try these beauties! They’re so delicious and the possibilities for flavor combinations are endless!
To see the technique I used to shape these, as well as what your dough should look like, refer to the video below!
Whole Grain Soft Pretzels (or Bagels!)
Soft, delicious pretzels made with freshly milled flour.
Ingredients
- 520 grams hard white/ red wheat
- 45 grams sugar
- 290 grams of water
- 35 grams of oil
- 1 egg (may use 2 for bagels)
- 11 grams of salt
- 11 grams of yeast
Instructions
- Mill wheat. Add in sugar, water, oil, and your egg. Use a dough hook or spatula to bring the ingredients together. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, uncover and add in your salt. With a dough hook on your mix turn on and then measure your yeast. Add it in as well and set a timer for 8 minutes. Let the dough knead until the timer goes off. If you’re working by hand, knead 12 minutes.
- Oil a bowl or container and add in your dough. Your dough should be together in a nice ball and it should not spread quickly. Refer to the video to see what the dough looks like.
- Put your dough in the oiled bowl and roll it around to coat the top of the dough. Cover and let rise for 1-1.5 hour(s).
- ‘When your dough has a decent rise, divide into 10 pieces for pretzels or 8 pieces for bagels On a slightly oiled surface. Roll the dough our into a long log shape about 18 inches in length for pretzels and twist as you’d like your pretzels to appear. For bagels, shape into a ball and poke a hole through the middle. Work the hole so it stretches without ripping through your bagel. Place on a lined cookie sheet and cover to rise another hour.
- Boil a big pot of water (6 quarts) and add 2 teaspoons of baking soda. When the water is boiling, add your pretzels or bagels in a few at a time (don’t overcrowd) and boil on each side for 30 seconds. Strain and remove to a baking sheet.
- Brush all your treats with an egg wash. Top with desired seasonings and bake at 375 degrees F for 25 minutes for until done.*
Notes
*for lighter colored bagels and pretzels, use only white wheat
**for a lighter baked top, use only the egg whites and water in your egg wash