Hello everyone. Let me preface this by saying I have never made a homemade bread in my life but I can certainly follow a recipe. I would like to attempt to make soft pretzels/sticks with spent grain. Would someone be so kind as to post a nice easy to follow recipe for my first attempt or at least point me in the right direction. Thank you.
Iceman
To add spent grain to a recipe, I start with the basic recipe, then add about 1/4 to a 1/2 cup of spent grain while kneading.
Dough:
3 cups flour
1 packet yeast
1 cup warm water
1 TB sugar
1.5 tsp salt (or a little more)
Boil:
3 quarts water
1/4 cup baking soda
1-2 TB malt syrup or DME
Dissolve sugar in the cup of warm water and sprinkle yeast on top to bloom (wait 5-10 minutes until it's foamy).
Mix salt and flour, then combine with yeast slurry.
Mix thoroughly and knead on a floured board 0for 10 minutes until the dough is soft and stretchy. (Or 5 minutes in a stand mixer.) THIS IS WHEN YOU ADD SPENT GRAIN, while kneading. You can add a little at a time until it looks good.
Put the dough in an oiled bowl and let it rise for an hour until it's about double.
Punch down and divide into 8 pieces.
Roll the pieces into a snake and twist into a pretzel or leave it straight.
Put the shaped pretzels on parchment paper on a sheet pan.
Let proof till they get puffy (20 minutes).
While they are proofing, preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
In a pot, mix 3 quarts water, baking soda, and malt syrup and bring it to a boil. Reduce to a simmer.
Put the pretzels in the water bath in batches. Make sure they float and don't stick. Let them boil for 30 seconds, then flip them over. Boil 30 more seconds and remove with a slotted spoon. Put them on a plate or sheet pan with parchment paper so they dry.
They will dry a little while you finish boiling. You can brush with egg wash or sprinkle with salt while they are wet. Move them to a DRY sheet of parchment on the baking sheet.
Bake for 12-15 minutes, but check them at 10.
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If you have a food processor, this can be done easily in the food processor, especially if the spent grain is dry. If it's wet, you can add it in, but I would knead it in after the dough is formed.
Put the flour and salt in the food processor, then add the yeast slurry while it's running. It should clear the sides within about 30 seconds from starting.
If it is too gloopy, add flour a tablespoon at a time. If it's too dry (crumbly looking), add water 1 tablespoon at a time. Keep it running!
Process 90 seconds total, then remove it to a lightly floured counter. Knead in spent grain a little at a time.
Does all of that make sense?
