Allergen-friendly Apple Cinnamon Vegan Pretzels!

Well, they're not completely vegan... these ones do have honey..

BUT you can replace the honey with agave nectar and keep it completely vegan ;)

And did I mention there's no added sugar, no eggs, no dairy, and no soy?

This is such a huge deal, because our little guy has NEVER had a pretzel before. This is as exciting as the first time he had Pop tarts - and I'll tell you: the look of amazement on his face every time he tries something new is totally worth all the hard work :)

Being a Mom is the hardest job in the world. Add in having a little one with food restrictions, and it seems even harder. But every time I give him something new that I know is safe for him, and he dives right in, it's like a hug from the Lord for me - like He's telling me everything's going to be ok, and that I'm doing a good job :)

I actually made these for the first time last night, but didn't write down what I did - but when I posted a picture of how they came out on facebook, everyone was asking me for the recipe.

So tonight, I took my time getting all of the ingredients together, and measuring out each.

I was a little nervous for this... only because this is the first time I have actually thrown a bunch of ingredients together without basing this off of an actual recipe...

Really, I know it won't go to waste, but I didn't want to let YOU down!

So hopefully this comes out as good for you as it did for me and my little guy!

What you need:

Pretzel:

• 1 3/4 cup safe flour (we use Trader Joe's white whole wheat, with no barley)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 tsp yeast
• 1/8 - 1/4 cup honey (if going completely vegan, use agave nectar), to taste
• 2 Tbsp applesauce
• 1/4 cup apple, peeled and shredded into tiny pieces

Glaze:

• 4 Tbsp safe milk (we used goat's milk)
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 1 Tbsp pure maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 450 degrees, and spray a baking sheet with safe cooking spray. 

Combine 1 cup of the flour with the salt and the cinnamon in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the mixture, and set aside.

In a separate bowl, combine the warm water, and the yeast. Stir gently until yeast dissolves. 

Pour into dry mixture. Add honey or agave, applesauce, and shredded apple. I mixed this for several minutes by hand using a fork, but if you have a dough attachment for a Kitchen Aid, I'm guessing that would work even better!

Once dough is formed together, roll into a ball:

Cover, and let it rise - I was impatient and only waited about 20 minutes, but if you wait longer, you'd probably get prettier pretzels ;)

Lightly flour a surface and roll dough out:

Cut into strips, and drizzle honey (or agave) by a spoon onto each strip.

Roll each strip around the honey (it will probably get a little messy!), until the dough twists together:

From here, you can twist the strips into a regular pretzel shape, or make different shapes, or even letters!

Place these on a sheet and arrange them so they're at least an inch apart.

Bake for 8 - 10 minutes, or until the sides are browned.

While pretzels are baking, if you'd like the glaze, you can prepare it by pouring the goat milk, maple syrup, vanilla, and flour into a saucepan. Heat over low heat, stirring constantly with a fork, for about 3 - 4 minutes. Remove from heat once mixture starts to thicken.

I poured the mixture immediately onto a plate to keep it from sticking to the pan. 

Once the pretzels are cooked, pour the glaze over the finished pretzels, and allow to cool:

Try to let it cool before eating it ;) These aren't salty like regular pretzels, because of the apple-cinnamon flavor, but they're crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside!

Also - if you try a variation of this recipe - please let me know how it comes out! Many times, our kiddos will have different intolerances/allergies, so if you make a gluten-free version for example, please let me know how it comes out!

Enjoy!! :)