Soft Pumpkin Pretzels!

I've been feeling very pretzel-y.

It seems to have come with this whole Halloween rush, I dunno. Anyway, I wanted to try my hand at pumpkin pretzels, and ya' know--they came out magnificently! I love them much better than the plain wheaty ones I made a few days ago. I just followed the same recipe, but added 1 cup of canned pumpkin puree. I didn't even add extra flour, the dough didn't need it--though it was a tad sticky. It also didn't need additional flour when I rolled them into coils. Can you see the pretty golden hue? And with pumpkin seeds on top and mustard squirts, I am dyin' from the goodness.

Soft Pumpkin Pretzels
1 1/4 cup warm water plus up to 1/4 more as needed
1 teaspoon unbleached granulated sugar
1 package active dry yeast
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups unbleached white flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup atta flour (whole wheat chapati flour)
1 teaspoon olive oil
kosher salt, sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds for garnish

For Boiling:
8 cups water
2 tablespoons baking soda

1. In a big bowl dissolve the sugar in 1 1/4 cups warm-to-the-touch water.
2. Add the yeast and let sit a few minutes until the yeast "blooms."
3. Stir in the canned pumpkin.
   
4. Stir in the flours and salt and mix to form a dough. If the dough seems too dry, add 1 tablespoon of water at a time until it comes together--you should be OK without it.
   
5. Hand knead for ten minutes, or five minutes in a mixer with a dough hook.
6. Put the olive oil in a big bowl and turn the dough around in the oil until the sides of the bowl are oiled and the dough is covered in a light film.
7. Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled about 50 minutes.
8. Preheat oven to 475F.
9. In a pot with high sides (the water will foam up once the pretzels are added), bring 8 cups of water to a boil with the baking soda.
   
10. Divide the dough into six even pieces. One by one, carefully roll them into a coil that is 19" long and about 3/4-1" thick. Carefully twist each rope into a pretzel shape and pinch the ends of the rope to the body of the pretzel so they stay in place.
11. Boil three pretzels at a time for one minute, flip over with tongs and boil the second side for another minute.
12. Place on a Silpat or greased cookie sheet and lightly blot off any foam with a towel.
13. Quickly sprinkle with seeds and salt so they stick to the moist dough.
    
14. Bake for 15-25 minutes, until deeply browned on top.

xo
kittee