Whole wheat soft pretzels

I made these pretzels awhile back and instantly fell in love with them. The original recipe comes from Katy of Sugarlaws and this is the second time I've made them. The first time I added a little whole wheat flour (her's call for all APF), this time I upped it more and still achieved an amazing texture and flavor! Next time... I'm going to try adding even more whole wheat and less bread flour... so stay tuned and I'll let you know how it goes!!

My original post equated these to crack... that is still the case. The recipe makes 6 medium sized pretzels, which in both occasions have not lasted the night... the recipe easily double, triples, quadrupled.... but do so at risk to your waistline, because although they aren't bad for you... eating anything in large quantities really isn't the best ;) moderation people!! and I have none with these in the house... I WILL eat them all if left alone...


Whole Wheat Soft Pretzels
INGREDIENTS:
1 tsp active dry yeast
Pinch of sugar
1/3 cup warm water (110 degrees)
1/2 cup bread flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp splenda blend (2 Tbs white sugar)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp canola oil

3 tbsp baking soda
1 cup hot water (as hot as your tap can get)
Sea salt or whatever other toppings you want

DIRECTIONS:
Dissolve yeast into water with a pinch of sugar, let stand 10 minutes, until the mixture is creamy colored. Mix the yeast mixture with flour, sugar, salt and canola oil, and knead until combined (a few minutes, not even 5). Let the dough rise in a greased bowl until doubled in size, about 1 hour. (We keep our place kinda cold (65) so I normally turn the oven on for a minute then turn it off and stick the bread in there to rise... otherwise it would take foreeeeeeeever to rise)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. When the dough has risen, pinch off a handful and roll it out into a long strand. Set aside. Repeat with the rest of the dough, about 6 times. Once all the strands are rolled out, pick up the first one and stretch it out again (the gluten will have relaxed and it should stretch further now). Twist it into a pretzel shape and place it on a baking sheet lined with silipat or cooking spray. Repeat with the rest of the strands.

Dissolve baking soda into hot water and stir until dissolved. Quickly dip each rolled pretzel into the mixture and place it back on the baking sheet. Sprinkle all the pretzels with sea salt, to your preference. Bake for about 8 minutes, until pretzels have browned. (Mine took 8 minutes then I dropped the temperature to 350 for an additional 4-5 minutes)

CHOW!