Vegan Mofo 2014 Day 6: Miniature Whole Wheat Soft Pretzels

Little pretzels makes us feel less guilty about making larger ones.

After three weeks of an otherwise super busy fall season, with school officially going David Lynch crazy, tomorrow three critics ae heading into my studio to see what I'm up to. Some of which, I've never met before. So I'm a little over excited and nervous at the same time. It's like opening a Christmas gift and no sure if liking what's underneath crisp holiday wrapper. Critics are a gift anyway. There are pros and cons to every artist's studio practice. I'm anxious to learn what can be added and subtracted from mine. Hopefully the millions of books (art books, novels, journals, and what not) and snacks (Kettle Maple Bacon Chips, bananas, Clif bars, chocolate memorabilia) will not be an absolute problem. We just had a talk last week where studios should be treatd primarily as work space. Yet all my books and snacks make working easier. 
Enough school chirping. that is until tomorrow. Taste the Nom Nom rolls onward with delicious baked good heaven. Something that I could bring into the studio, but won't because they're way better at home with a mug of steamed tea and corny romance novels.
I love fresh, hot, and straight out of the oven pretzels! They're the best! Here I use my traditional pretzel recipe, but minimized the size. I'm not thinking in waste line terms. I'm thinking in the selfish, gluttonous mathematical equation. Why have one large pretzel when you can have two small ones?  I like imagining that having two pretzels is better. That way when you polish off one and lick fingers clean of false buttery Italian seasoned bliss, the other is waiting still warm and utterly patient.

Miniature Whole Wheat Soft Pretzels Ingredients and Preparation

3/4 cup warm water
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon active dry yeast

3 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
3 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon baking soda
1 1/2 cup water

Mix sugar, yeast, and water together. Let sit for 10 minutes or until foamy.
Add salt.
Pour in flour in at 1 cup at a time. 
Massage and knead Italian seasoning and olive oil onto dough, doing this for a good 10 minutes.
Place into oiled bowl and cover for an hour.
An hour later, beat down risen dough and cut into eight equal parts.
Prepare baking soda bath and preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Out of the eight parts, individually make skinny spaghetti like strips and fold into desired pretzel shape.
Drop pretzel into bath for 30 seconds.
Dry onto cloth and then place onto baking sheet.

Brush extra olive oil atop pretzels and extra Italian seasoning.

Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Fully baked.

The pretzel party.

Plate and serve.

Try really really hard to eat just one. Please try.