Friday, March 20, 2015

Sourdough Surprises: Pretzel Bagels

So, Sourdough Surprises opened up this month. Anything. My head was officially spinning. There's so much I want to redo (I am going to perfect Sourdough Kimmelweck Rolls one day, and I sorta did tell Peanut Butter & Co's

social media director I would make peanut butter filled croissants...) and so much I missed...pie, pizza, bagels, pretzels...

In my pre-blogging days, one of my first successes was a pretzel recipe I found on a party recipe site and turned into sourdough. Then I remembered an age old conversation I had with my father, in which he asked if I had ever thought of trying bagels.

Well, why not combine the two?

Sourdough Pretzel Bagels
Adapted from Sourdough Recipes
Makes 8 smallish bagels

1 cup fresh sourdough starter
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup warm water
2 teaspoons salt
3 1/2 cups flour
1/4 Cup Baking Soda
Cooking Spray
Kosher Salt for sprinkling


Combine all ingredients and knead until smooth. Let rise until doubled in bulk. Divide into eight portions, and form each into a smooth ball. Punch a hole in the center of each and
stretch evenly until about 3 or 4 inches across.

Place on a floured surface and bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add baking soda. Boil the bagels (four at a time if the pot is large enough) 3 minutes on each side. Drain and place on a greased baking
sheet. Spray with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt. Bake about 15 minutes at 450.

As you can see, a few things happened. First and formost, they look weird. Second, maybe the baking soda treatment with the boil wasn't the greatest idea.

I wouldn't say they were inedible. My mother's first reaction was “they're not sweet.” When I said they weren't supposed to be, she said “,Well, maybe 'sweet' isn't the word I was looking for.” In a sense, I have to agree with her.

Well, maybe this is one to tuck away and maybe think about once in awhile. Still, it was worth a college try. And with work slowing down again, you can bet I'll be playing with it.

Check out our other awesome creations!