I love Auntie Anne's Pretzels But They're Not Whole Wheat

Auntie Anne and I have a love affair but in my attempt to 1) spend money wisely and 2) eat better I cannot continue to go there. Although that saddens me, it's for the best. So I attempted to make a whole wheat version of those delicious pretzels, here's how it went:

Whole Wheat Pretzels

Pretzel
1 1/2 cup warm water
0.25 oz active dry yeast
0.90 oz  brown sugar
0.20 oz salt
9.85 oz whole wheat bread flour (hard wheat)
5.85 oz  whole wheat pastry flour

Baking Soda Mixture
2 cups Warm water
2 tablespoons baking soda

Dipping
to taste coarse salt
4 tablespoons butter (melted)


Directions
Dissolve brown sugar in water, then mix in yeast. After yeast starts to bubble, pour into mixing bowl. Mix salt into flour and slowly add to wet ingredients. Mix until a smooth, elastic dough forms. 
Knead for about 5 minutes. (Clearly I didn't knead this long enough but it was late and I honestly didn't care)

Cover and let dough double in size.

While dough is rising, prepare a baking soda water bath with 2 cups warm water and 2 Tbsp baking soda. Then shape. Now because I failed to adequately knead my dough I couldn't make those nice, thin, neat pretzels at Aunt Anne's but I was more concerned with taste than appearance.

 Dip pretzel in soda solution and place on greased baking sheet. Allow pretzels to rise again. Bake in 450 oven for about 10 minutes or until golden. Dip in melted butter and sprinkle on your favorite topping! 

Thoughts:

I wish I hadn't been so lazy and properly kneaded my dough. The pretzel were DELICIOUS but I would have liked for them to be delicious and pretty. There's always next time. 

Until next time,

Kellan