Get your pumpkin in a twist

A couple of weeks ago, I made a carrot cake that called for a cup of pumpkin purée. Have you seen the size of the can that pumpkin purée comes in?? HUGE! Way more than one cup, so I had to find some other ways to use it up. I made a pumpkin bread, but there was still lots of purée left. I Googled pumpkin recipes, and came across one for soft pumpkin pretzels. Interesting! So I whipped up a batch, and they’re really, REALLY good :-) I wouldn’t say they’re 100% pretzel-like, but they’re really soft and tender and yummy.

Seeing as it’s pumpkin time of year and some of you might have some excess pumpkin purée in the fridge, I thought you might be interested in making your own batch of pumpkin pretzels. (Recipe from Cake Maker to the Stars)

There are a few steps to making pretzels, but don’t be intimidated – each one is fairly quick and easy. The dough is really nice to work with. When you roll it out into a rope, it stays rolled out and doesn’t spring back. Make sure you pinch the ends down well so the twist doesn’t come undone when you put the pretzels in the boiling water.

How to twist a pretzel (From wikiHow.com)

I realized after the fact that I didn’t twist my pretzels the “official” pretzel way. Here’s a little tutorial on how to get the right pretzel twist.

Shape a single rope into an upside down "U" on your table. Bring the ends together and twist them as shown.

Bring them to the top of the pretzel. Flatten the ends with your fingers and press in the dough to secure, making it look like a pretzel. Place on a greased cookie sheet.

Soft Pumpkin Pretzels

1 1/4 cup warm water, plus up to 1/4 more as needed *
1 teaspoon unbleached granulated sugar
1 package active dry yeast
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups unbleached white flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour **
1 cup atta flour (whole wheat chapati flour) **
1 teaspoon olive oil
kosher salt, sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds for garnish

For Boiling:

8 cups water
2 tablespoons baking soda

  * I actually needed to add more flour because my dough was sticky.
** I didn’t have whole wheat pastry flour or atta flour, so I used 1 cup regular whole wheat flour and 1 cup white pastry flour.

Directions:

1. In a big bowl, dissolve the sugar in 1-1/4 cups warm-to-the-touch water. Add the yeast and let sit a few minutes until the yeast blooms. Stir in the canned pumpkin.
2. Stir in the flours and salt and mix to form a dough. If the dough seems too dry, add 1 tablespoon of water at a time until it comes together. (You may not need to add any.)
3. Hand knead dough for ten minutes, or five minutes in a mixer with a dough hook.
4. Put the olive oil in a big bowl and turn the dough around in the oil until the sides of the bowl are oiled and the dough is covered in a light film. Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled about 50 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 475°F.
6. In a pot with high sides (the water will foam up once the pretzels are added), bring 8 cups of water to a boil with the baking soda.
7. Divide the dough into six even pieces. One by one, carefully roll them into a coil that is 19” long and about 3/4” - 1” thick. Carefully twist each rope into a pretzel shape and pinch the ends of the rope to the body of the pretzel so they stay in place.
8. Boil three pretzels at a time for one minute, flip over with tongs and boil the second side for another minute. Place on a Silpat or greased cookie sheet and lightly blot off any foam with a towel. Quickly sprinkle with seeds and salt so they stick to the moist dough.
9. Bake for 15-25 minutes, until deeply browned on top.

Eat & enjoy!