Bread Baking Day #80: Baking with Sourdough -- Soft Pretzels

When I first read about this month's Bread Baking Day challenge (BBD #80), I was thrilled at the opportunity to see if my nearly-two-year old starter was still viable.  It had been through a lot during the past year -- moving cross-country twice and left almost forgotten in the refrigerator.  The time had come to resurrect it.   

Luckily, it came out of dormancy just fine.

For my first attempt, I made a sourdough boule with cracked wheat and sunflower seeds.  It was ok, but not wonderful, although it did have a nice sour flavor.

Then, I ran across a recipe for Sourdough Soft Pretzels, and that was the winner.  

First, you use the starter straight out of the fridge -- cool and unfed.  Then, the dough is mixed in the bread machine and allowed to rest for about 45 minutes before shaping.  No second rise, either.  How easy is that?

The end result is a chewy soft pretzel that doesn't take forever to make.  I will definitely make these again, and perhaps even experiment with shaping, since the basic dough mixture is delicious.

Thanks to Zorra for a perfect challenge.  Check out her website in the next few days to see other sourdough breads.  And follow this link to the original recipe from King Arthur Flour.  It can be adapted to either weight or volume measures.  

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