Pretzels

Expectation: That yet again the dough wouldn't rise. 

Winner: Whole Wheat Soft Pretzels

As you know from the great pretzel failure and more lessons learned, we had been working on pretzels all week. I'm actually surprised we even bothered one more time, but we came across a recipe that looked promising (and this one had reviews written by real people who actually made them), and we were determined. 

I found the recipe at BakingBites.com, and the original recipe can be found here. One thing I really liked about the recipe is that it has check points throughout the process so that you can tell things are working. And, unlike the first recipe we tried, it is 100 percent whole grain. 

The end product was actually a lot more delicious than I expected. The pretzels did not have a dry "whole wheat" taste, but were moist, substantial and really tasted like pretzels! We dipped a few in pub cheese, dunked some in mustard, and made one awesome turkey-melted Gouda-apple-pretzel sandwich. They were also really fun to make, although it was more or less an all day activity (including gathering the ingredients, waiting for the dough to rise and shaping the dough).

My best estimate of the nutrition facts for one pretzel:

181 calories

1g fat

37g carbohydrate

5g fiber

GI 67

GL 22

About the grains:

Vital Wheat Gluten is the natural protein found in wheat. The flour (found in most grocery stores), is wheat flour with the starch and bran removed (leaving mostly the protein). A small amount added to yeast bread recipes improves the texture and elasticity of the dough. It gives structure to yeast breads and helps them rise. Wheat gluten is also used as a meat substitute in many vegetarian dishes. 

Whole Wheat Flour contains the macro nutrients of the wheat's bran and germ (the whole kernel). It is hearty and more robust than white flour and a good source of calcium, iron and fiber. It can be substituted for some or all of the white flour in most recipes, and found in most grocery stores.