Delicious "Mall" Pretzels: Gluten Free! (also options for Dairy Free and Vegan)

No one in my family has a gluten allergy but I like to be able to change recipes for people out there who do! I could not imagine not being able to have certain kinds of foods again! How about those HOT, Yummy Pretzels you can get in the mall!?! Many People with a Gluten allergy CAN'T have them... or I choose not to buy them that much because I can't control how much white sugar they add to them! I am going to show you how to make them and you can adjust the recipe for your dietary needs!

Since I have your attention I just wanted to tell you how I made these pretzels GLUTEN FREE! It's all because of the one ingredient, Buckwheat! You can substitute Buckwheat with MANY of your favorite recipes to make them Gluten Free! Here is a few more interesting facts about Buckwheat: Although treated as a grain, it is not a cereal or grass, but it is actually a fruit that is closely related to wild rhubarb! It is considered a superior source of protein when compared to wheat, rice, and even millet. Buckwheat does not contain gluten like wheat does and therefore you can truly count on it to be "Wheat Free"! Some other facts about buckwheat are, just one cup contains 12 grams of fiber. It also contains the antioxidant Rutin, which can improve circulation and help prevent blood vessels from becoming blocked and it's also a good source of vitamin E. *Tip- after using Buckwheat flour it can spoil easily so be sure to store it in a ziplock bag AND in the fridge for up to 3 months!!!!

Ingredients you will need:

• 1 cup of milk (Dairy Free or Vegan option: Almond, Coconut, Soy etc.)
• one pack of Active Dry Yeast
• 3 Tablespoons Maple Syrup, or any other sweetener you choose
• 2 Tablespoons melted butter (dairy free or vegan option: Earth Balance or coconut oil)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 cups of Buckwheat Flour (this flour is Gluten Free... if you don't need to make them this way then you can sub this part for any other flour you have but I suggest not using white for nutritional purposes. I blogged about this before Click HERE to read!

• 2 1/2 Tablespoons Baking Soda
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• And for the end either melted butter and Cinnamon/raw sugar mixture or Course salt if you want to dip them in cheese etc.

Warm up the milk in microwave or stove top for about a minute and a half. You should still be able to comfortably keep your finger in it. If it's too warm it will kill the Yeast. Add your pack of yeast and let sit for 3 minutes.

   

Add the melted butter and maple syrup to the milk and mix together. Then slowly add in your flour and salt to the mixture. 

 Kneed for about 10 minutes by hand or with a stand mixer.

Now put your dough in a greased bowl and cover with a towel and let rise for about an hour. 

Your dough should double in size!

Preheat you oven to 450 degrees. Divide your dough into 6 lumps for the large "mall size" pretzels. After making these I will tell you that I think it would be a lot better to make the pretzels a little smaller, especially if you are feeding kids. So, next time I make these I would divide the dough into 8 to 10 lumps! Now combine warm water and baking soda in a wide bottom bowl. Also get your greased cookie sheets ready right by you! Now you are going to roll out each lump of dough as thin as possible.

Form your dough into pretzel shape!

Then dip your pretzel into the warm baking soda water and throw on your cookie sheet!

I threw in a few pics of me doing this with my stomach in the way! =) 

As you can see, I set up a little station to roll, form, dip, and then place on the sheet!

  

If you are going to make these to dip in some kind of sauce you should sprinkle with course salt before baking! Then bake for 7-11 minutes! Me and my family LOVE the cinnamon/sugar pretzels so I just baked them without salt.

While they were baking I put about 1/2 cup raw sugar and 1/4 cup cinnamon in a large ziplock bag. I also melted about 4 Tablespoons of butter in a bowl.

When they were done baking, I dipped them in butter and then put them into the bag gently shook the pretzel in the cinnamon/sugar mixture!

Let cool a few minutes and SERVE!

Can you tell he is enjoying it!?!