Cinnamon and Sugar Pretzels

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~ raw, vegan, gluten-free ~

These past few weeks I have been blessed with a bounty of almond pulp. I have two girlfriends who enjoy nut milk but don’t take the time to make it for themselves.  So, I offered a trade.  I told them that I would make fresh nut milk for them if they would buy the nuts and I could have the nut pulp.

I thought this was rather brilliant of me since I don’t drink a lot of nut milk and I was finding it hard to create all my recipes where I wanted to experiment with nut pulp.  Problem solved for now.

But even these two amazing ladies can’t keep up with my addiction need for nut pulp and can only drink so much milk before it is coming out of their….ears! Hehe  But in the meantime, I am not going to complain, but only rejoice in my little goldmine of almond pulp.

Just in case you are new to raw foods, nut pulp is the by-product of making nut milk.  You can read more about it here.  And if you are one who drinks commercial almond milk, I beg you to try making your own.  It tastes light years better!  You can make it as creamy or thin as you want.

You can sweeten it and tailor it to where it will make your taste buds sing.  And when your taste buds sing, you can’t help but dance and when you dance you can’t help but smile, and when you smile…there is joy in your heart.  Who knew all that could come from making nut milk. :)  I don’t mean to be silly here,  just trying to encourage you to really enjoy your time preparing healthy foods in your own kitchen.

One of the key ingredients in this recipe is cinnamon.  I have talked about cinnamon before, but I think it is important to point out a few things about it before I let you go.  Not all cinnamon is created equal. Depending on the type of cinnamon you use, it can make or break a recipe.  There was a time in my life where I had no idea that there was a difference in cinnamons.  Cinnamon was cinnamon, right?  Wrong.  If you are scratching your head thinking, “What’s the big deal?”  I ask you to read this post that I did on cinnamon.   Trust me; it makes a difference.

These pretzels can be left slightly soft, or they can be dried hard and crunchy. If you want to make them crunchy, keep them in the dehydrator until that is achieved.  Keep in mind that this recipe isn’t a really sweet one.  You can make adjustments while making the batter if you have a sweet tooth.  I was delightfully surprised when I took them out of the dehydrator and found that they had naturally darkened… just as if they had been baked.  Too much fun!

Ingredients:

yields 12 large

• 2 cups moist almond pulp
• 2 Tbsp ground flaxseed
• 1 Tbsp ground Ceylon cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp Himalayan pink salt
• 1/4 cup cashew butter
• 3/4 cup almond milk
• 5 tsp coconut aminos
• 3 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Preparation:

Create the batter:

1. In a food processor, fitted with an “S” blade, pulse together the almond pulp, ground flaxseed, and salt.
2. Add almond butter, water, aminos, sweetener, and vanilla.  Process until everything is well combined.

Piping the pretzels:

1. You will need a disposable piping bag and a 1/2″ piping tip.
2. Place the piping tip in the bag and cut the tip-off, so the tip pokes through but is nice and snug in the bag.  If the hole is too big, the tip will shoot right out once you apply pressure to the bag.
   • Once you have the tip in place, slide the bag into a tall glass, and fold the edges over the glass rim.   This will create a stand, and it will make it easy to fill it with the batter.  I posted the photos below.
3. Fill the piping bag with batter, about 3/4 quarter of the way full.
   • Work all of the air bubbles out of the bag so that it doesn’t “burp” while creating a line of dough.
   • You will need to re-load the bag 1-2 times throughout the process.
4. Place a non-stick sheet on the mesh sheet that comes with the dehydrator.
5. Place the pretzel template under the non-stick sheet.  This will help you create consistent shapes.
6. Hold the bag at a 22 1/2 degree angle and with steady, consistent pressure, squeeze the batter out and slowly slide the tip.
   • Don’t go too fast and cause the line to break and don’t go too slow which will cause bulges.  You will quickly get the hang of it.
7. Mix together the coconut crystals and cinnamon. Sprinkle the mixture over the piped pretzels.
8. Sprinkle coarse sea salt on top and lightly press it into the dough.  Because we are not using yeast these pretzels won’t rise causing the dough to grab onto the salt, so we have to help it a little. :)
9. Dehydrate at 145 degrees (F) for 1 hour to set the “outer crust.”
   • Continue drying at 115 degrees (F) for 6-8 hours or until dry.
   • Part way through the drying process, remove the pretzels from the non-stick sheet and place them on the mesh sheet to help speed up the dry time.
   • They do firm up a tad more once they cool.
10. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.  If they soften before eaten, pop them back into the dehydrator to firm them up.

• To learn more about maple syrup by clicking (here).
• What is Himalayan pink salt and does it really matter?  Click (here) to read more about it.
• Learn how to make your own raw almond butter by clicking (here).
• Learn how to grind your own flaxseeds for ultimate freshness and nutrition.  Click (here).
• Coconut Aminos is a gluten-free, soy-free… soy sauce substitute.  There are many other comparable products that you can use. Click (here) to learn more about them.

Tags: Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Nut Free, Refined Sugar Free, Soy Free, sugar free