As you can tell, I have been on a sourdough kick. My latest adventure has been making sourdough pretzels that are delicious but also nutritious. Being my first attempt, I went with a recipe from northwestsourdough. The recipe was a good start, but I didn't really follow it. My definition of measuring does not include measuring cups, scales, or teaspoons. So all of the quantities are flexible and substitutions are encouraged. Substitutions with the toppings could include basil, garlic powder, cheese, or a wide variety of things other than crushed rock salt.

Sourdough Pretzels

• 2 cups sourdough starter (I used kamut sourdough)
• 2  water
• 3 Tbs oil
• 2 tsp salt
• Kamut flour (or whole wheat flour)

Mix all of the sourdough, water, oil, and salt. Add flour until the a slightly sticky dough is formed. It should be soft but you should be able to knead the dough without too much trouble. The dough should then be allowed to ferment for 8-12 hours, or overnight. Once the dough has fermented, punch it down and knead a few times.

Separate the dough into balls (ours were about about an inch and a half in diameter)

Then, for each ball:

Roll the dough into a long snake.

 Form the dough into the shape above- or any other shape you feel like.

Finally, flip the dough over to get the standard pretzel shape.

•  1/4 cup baking soda
• 1 Tbs salt
• 1 egg
• coarse salt

Once all the pretzels are shaped, place onto parchment paper to proof (allow to raise) for about 2 hours. A few minutes before they are done rising turn the oven to 425 degrees and put about 2 quarts of water on to boil. Add the baking soda and salt to the water. Drop the pretzels in (you will probably have to do them in multiple batches) and allow to simmer for 30 seconds on each side. Place them on an oiled cookie sheet.
Make a mixture of 1 egg and 1 Tbs water and brush each pretzel with the mixture. Sprinkle the pretzels with coarse salt (I used crushed rock salt) or other toppings and bake for 20 minutes or until as brown as you like (or until black and smoking).