I love a good movie night. But the last couple of times I busted-out a good film after the kids hit the sack, I haven’t felt like revving-up the popcorn maker just to have the little ones wake again. Weird how my priorities have changed in life since having kids…So, I’ve switched to a new snack (well, new for me) to much on while I catch a flick (and no, I’m not talking Netflix and Chill–just watching a movie): Vegan Homemade Pretzels.
So, the thing with these Vegan Homemade Pretzels is that you can’t just make them right when you want them–unless, like me, you’re willing to make them the first time and wait while they’re baking while your movie is rolling. No, what’s so clever about this snack is the idea that you can make a dozen, then put all of them in the freezer to reheat later. Yup. So, you just whip-up a batch, maybe while the kids are even awake, then you have enough for like 10 movie nights…simple and elegant in solving the snacky problem. Heh.
I don’t know. I guess maybe I’m just a little silly like that, but just popping one of these pretzels in the microwave seems so much easier than cranking-up the hot air popcorn machine lately. I mean, besides the fact that making the popcorn wakes my toddler (and then she needs some, and a gatorade to go with it and then it’s like our movie night is destroyed because she wants to RULE THE WORLD AT MIDNIGHT!)…yeah, besides that, it just seems like there’s so many more steps to the popcorn than the pretzel. So, pretzel wins this week. Again.
Vegan Homemade Pretzels
Vegan Homemade Pretzels
I've switched to a new snack (well, new for me) to much on while I catch a flick (and no, I'm not talking Netflix and Chill--just watching a movie): Vegan Homemade Pretzels.
Ingredients
- 1½ and 2 tblspn warm water
- 1 tblspn sugar
- 2 tspns salt
- 4 tspns yeast
- 4½ cups flour
- 2 tblspn coconut oil
- 8-10 cups of water for boiling
- ⅔ cup of baking soda, also for boiling, so don't throw it in the dough, that would be bad
- 1 tblspn coconut oil for spreading over a the top right before you pop it in the oven
- 1 tblspn salt, for sprinkling over the top and making insanely good right before you pop it in the oven
Instructions
- Mix water, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl and sprinkle the yeast over the top.
- Allow to stand for 5 minutes.
- Add flour and melted coconut oil and mix until well combined and no flour remains on the sides of the bowl.
- Turn-out dough and knead for 5 minutes or 50 times. Either one. Heh.
- Oil a clean bowl (just spray it with cooking spray) and place the dough in it and cover.
- Allow to sit for one hour or until the dough has doubled in size (or until you just can't stand it anymore and just HAVE to finish making your pretzels because you're HUNGRY).
- Preheat oven to 450-degrees.
- Cover a baking sheet in parchment paper and spray lightly with oil. Set aside.
- Place water on to boil and add baking soda the moment the water begins to boil--and enjoy the fizz because that's fun.
- Turn the dough out of the bowl and split it into 12 smaller balls.
- Using your hand, roll each ball into a snake-shape about 12 inches long.
- Shape the pretzels by making a "U" shape, then bringing the ends together, folding them over each other and then back toward the center of the "U". Or just fumble through the process until you get a pretzel shape--that's what I did and I was ok with that. Heh.
- Place each pretzel in the boiling water for 30 seconds. BE CAREFUL IT'S HOT.
- Repeat with all pretzels (I could get 3 in my pot at the same time).
- Brush each pretzel with melted coconut oil and sprinkle with salt. It's ok if you don't have a brush--just use a paper towel like I did...heh.
- Place pretzels on your lined and oiled baking sheet and then in the oven.
- Bake for 30-minutes or until crust has reached the desired brownness (which is goldeny brown for me).
- Remove from oven and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes or until they're safe to handle.
- Slice and serve warm, with all that yummy gooey cheese just calling my name...oh, wait.
Let me know how your Vegan Homemade Pretzels turn out by leaving me a comment below!