Skiing at our local resort was made even better by heading into the Adler Lounge for a mid morning coffee and a salty pretzel. With this not being a normal year, we still managed to get some skiing on the piste but all of our local mountain huts had to remain closed due to Covid restrictions in Austria. The result was really quiet pistes but with no coffee and pretzels!
Taking matters into our own baking hands, we started to make pretzels at MoaAlm. Not conforming to the traditional recipe by making them vegan, we then decided to make bite size pretzels that are also a bit softer. This is a recipe adapted from Green Evi, a German based plant based foodie, who's website we will be checking constantly for inspiration. These tender vegan pretzel bites have added seeds and salt on top. A perfect snack on their own, we then decided to pair them with a Beetroot and Horseradish dip.
- April 26th is National Pretzel Day in America
- 17th Century German children wore Pretzel necklaces during New Year for good luck.
- The Pretzel was probably invented by an Italian monk.
- Pretzels were hidden on Easter morning, just like eggs are now.
- In 1993, the first Pretzel Museum of soft pretzels was opened in Philadelphia.
We made these tasty mini Pretzel bites savoury, but they can easily be made sweet by adding dried fruit into the mix and sprinkling sugar instead of salt on the top. They were delicious straight from the oven, but be careful not to burn your mouth! (something we have lots of experience in!) They can be kept for a few days, if you have the self control that seems to be missing from all of us at MoaAlm Mountain Retreat. Don’t worry about being too precise about the shape of your Pretzel, remember that you are already changing tradition by not forming a knot.
They can be paired with lots of things, in Germany a Pretzel will often be served with a white sausage and sweet mustard. We decided to skip the sausage, adding beetroot, horseradish, sunflower seeds and Tahini to the sweet mustard, making a vibrant purple dip.
350 ml warm water
1.5 tbsp white sugar
3/4 tbsp dry yeast
1/2 tbsp salt
525g white flour (will also work with spelt flour)
1.5 L water
6 tbsp baking soda
3 tbsp melted vegan butter
Coarse sea salt
Sprinkle of sunflower seeds and Nigella seeds
Mix together the warm water, sugar, and yeast, allowing it to stand for 5-10 minutes (until yeast starts to bubble) Add salt, then slowly add the flour, mixing constantly with a wooden spoon, until the dough is not sticky anymore.
Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes, then shape into a ball, placing it into a greased clean bowl. Cover with a kitchen towel, placing in a warm space for 30-60 minutes, until the dough doubles in size.
Once the dough has doubled, cut it into 8 pieces. On a floured surface roll each piece into an approximate 4cm roll, then using a sharp knife cut roll into 6-7 pieces.
Preheat the oven to 220°C, lining two baking trays with baking paper.
Bring the 6 cups of water to a boil in a large pan, then add baking soda. Add about half of the pretzel bites to the pot, and let them boil for 20-30 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon, and place on a baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the bites.
Brush the pretzel bites with melted vegan butter, sprinkle with seeds and salt. Bake for 15 minutes.
75g soaked sunflower seeds
2 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp sweet mustard
1.5 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp tahini
1/2 tsp turmeric
100ml plant milk
2 medium sized cooked beetroot
1.5 tbsp grated fresh horseradish
salt, pepper
Place ingredients in a food processor, and blend until creamy.
A perfect German and Austrian recipe for Easter. To be honest, pretzels are the ultimate salty snack for all of us on ski days, hiking days and lounging around not doing a lot days!
If you are looking for more savoury baking ideas, then check out our Indian Potato Bread
Happy Baking...and please take the time to tag #relaxinglyactive and #moaalmmountainretreat if you make our recipe and share it on your social media!