kid approved lunch

Vegan (and Delicious) Soft Pretzels

Recipes

I love soft pretzels! Especially fresh soft pretzels. Like, a lot. I tried getting frozen soft pretzels to make at home, but they are just not the same. I decided to begin searching for soft pretzel recipes online. After trying a few, I decided to use my favorite parts of each to end up with some really delicious soft, buttery, and salty pretzels. They are also really filling!

What You’ll Need:

Directions:

Step 1: In a small bowl, mix your Active Dry Yeast and water and set aside.

Step 2: In a large mixing bowl, mix your sugar, salt, and flour.

Step 3: Once yeast is dissolved, combine with flour mixture and add warmed up Silk. Mix until dough is no longer sticky.

Step 4: Cover the dough with a dish towel and let rise for one hour.

Step 5: Preheat your oven to 500° F, uncover your dough bowl and punch down the dough. Break apart into 9 (as even as possible) chunks of dough.

Step 6: Roll each chunk of dough into a long rope. To form a pretzel grab both ends and form a heart, twist together once in the center and close pretzel by tucking ends under. Leave to rise for 15 minutes.

Step 7: In a large pot, boil water and baking soda. Use a spatula to dip each pretzel in the bath for 30 seconds then put onto baking sheet.

Step 8: Melt “butter” and brush generously onto each pretzel. Sprinkle course sea salt onto pretzels to liking.

Step 9: Bake in oven for 10 minutes, or until golden brown. After removing, brush more melted “butter” and serve warm.

If you really want to go all out, try serving with my Incredibly Easy Vegan Chickpea Salad!

Incredibly Easy Vegan Chickpea Salad

Recipes

I first heard about this Vegan Chickpea Salad from a dad in our play group and it has since become a staple in our home. Seriously, I make it at least once a week!

It is a healthy, kid-approved lunch that is so easy to make! In fact, it is so hard to mess up that you can totally let your kids make this (almost*) completely by themselves and it will still come out delicious. It is a great meal to get kids involved in the kitchen from a young age.

What You Need:

  • 1-2 can(s) garbonzo beans
  • Red onion
  • Shallots
  • Celery
  • Lemon juice
  • Follow Your Heart Vegenaise
  • Dijon Mustard
  • Relish
  • Paprika
  • Dill
  • Salt & Pepper

Directions:

(I used 2 cans of garbonzo beans here)

Step 1. In a strainer, drain and rinse garbonzo beans then empty into a large mixing bowl.

Step 2: Add all ingredients into bowl.

This is one of those recipes where you can literally just eyeball everything to your own liking. Add as much or as little as you prefer – it will still come out delicious with very little effort.

It’s the perfect starter recipe for getting kids involved in the kitchen (*note: please leaving vegetable preparation / knife handling to an adult) from a young age. Being able to add ingredients freely is so exciting to my children. They get to play and experiment with their ingredients while gaining confidence since it still comes out delicious in the end!

Step 3: Stir and Mash

Mix everything together really well and then mash it up. A potato masher is easiest, but you can use whatever you have handy. I like to have it semi-mashed because I enjoy the texture, but mash it to your liking.

Enjoy!

Serve it up with some Ritz Crackers (our favorite way), as a sandwich, on homemade pretzels (recipe coming soon!), or on a bagel for a delicious and healthy lunch!