Easy Vegan Pumpkin and Chili infused oil Pretzels – easy, vegan, spicy and delicious pretzels, perfect for cozy fall weekends or any time of the year. Great snack or accompaniment to dinner or BBQ.
I was supposed to have an autumn baby. Instead she arrived unexpectedly 2.5 months ahead of schedule. I wrote about it trying to capture the moments of fear, denial, confusion. I may even post it here one day but not today. My throat still tightens every time I think back to those first few hours, days, weeks after she was born. That experience broke me into a million tiny pieces and I am still slowly rebuilding myself. Making myself new and stronger.
She was supposed to be a fall baby and my birthday present. Born only a few days after my own birthday I imagined planning her parties filled with pumpkins and squashes, orange hued maple leaves and apple cider. Instead her birthday is in July.
Today was her official due date and it seems fitting to resume blogging on this special day that didn’t happen.
With the onslaught of pumpkin recipes all over the food-blogosphere and my love for all things autumn, I couldn’t forgo my own pumpkin creation. This Easy Vegan Pumpkin and Chili infused oil Pretzels creation, like many bread recipes, is perfect for when you have a baby asking for food around the clock. There’s a lot of waiting for the dough to rise, there’s no long and complicated techniques. It takes a long time to make and requires breaks in between. So, it works great when you only have 20 minutes here and there during the day – perfect mom recipe.
Pumpkin adds moisture, fibre and colour to the dough. Chili infused oil is very subtle in this recipe. You can use just oil, you can add more chili, you can even use cayenne pepper. I like combination of pumpkin and spice, so I’d recommend adding even more chili. Paprika in the dough is optional, it adds a bit of colour and a savoury note. I sprinkled the pretzels with chili salt (don’t even remember where I got it, but I love it), so there was a spicy kick from the topping as well. These Easy Vegan Pumpkin and Chili infused oil Pretzels taste really good with sharp vinegary mustard. I personally adore various Kozlik’s mustards.
Easy Vegan Pumpkin and Chili infused oil Pretzels
Ingredients
For the dough
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 2 teaspoons dry yeast
- 1 tablespoon sugar (white or brown)
- 1 cup pumpkin purée
- 1/4 cup vegetable or olive oil
- 1 teaspoon red chili flakes (or more to make the pretzels spicier)
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika (optional)
- 2-3 cups flour (see instructions)
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
To boil pretzels
- 8 cups water
- 1/4 cup baking soda
- Oil for brushing, , coarse salt for sprinkling, mustard for serving
Instructions
Make chili infused oil
- Heat oil in a small pot with chili flakes to infuse the oil. Don't worry if the chili flakes burn.
- Strain the oil and cool.
Make the dough
- In a bowl of a stand mixer combine 1/2 cup warm water, yeast and sugar. Let stand for 10 minutes until the yeast dissolves and the mixture starts to foam.
- Add pumpkin to the yeast mixture and mix.
- Once chili infused oil is cool, add it to the pumpkin-yeast mixture. Add paprika if using.
- Add a cup of flour and start mixing with a paddle. Add salt.
- Switch to the hook attachment and add flour half cup at a time. I used 2.5 cups of flour. It depends on how humid it is that day and on the flour you are using. It could take up to 3 or even more cups of flour. The dough needs to be soft and it needs to gather into a ball around the hook.
- Knead the dough for about 10 minutes.
- Place the dough into a well oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place for about one or two hours until doubled in size.
Shape the pretzels
- Once the dough is risen, punch it, knead it for a couple of minutes and divide into 16 pieces.
- Roll each piece into a long rope (50-60 cm) and fold into pretzels.
- Place the pretzels onto baking sheets covered with parchment paper, cover with kitchen towels and let rise for another hour or so. Note, I only let them rise for about 15 minutes this time and it was fine.
- Preheat oven to 425F.
Boil the pretzels
- Once the pretzels doubled in size and became puffy, boil 8 cups of water with 1/4 of baking soda.
- Drop pretzels into the boiling soda water one at a time a let them cook about 10 seconds on each side. Place them back onto parchment right after.
- After all the pretzels are boiled, brush them with oil, sprinkle with salt and bake for 15-20 minutes (if using two baking sheets, then switch them midway) until they are golden.
- Cool and serve with mustard.
PrettyHealthy says
Finally I can make my favourite food: Pretzels!!! Thanks for ahring this amazing recipe. By the way, those picture are sooo yummy 🙂
Julia says
Thank you so much! I hope you like them!
Dylan says
Wow, these look delicious. I don’t think I’ve ever had homemade pretzels. Wahoo!
Imagelicious says
Thanks. They were delicious and they aren’t that difficult to make.
Karen Frazier says
Your recipes are beautiful. Please share a print button, unless I am overlooking it. Thank you-
Imagelicious says
Hi there, thank you for the suggestion about the print button. My platform doesn’t support those kinds of buttons easily, but I will definitely look into some work arounds. Again, really appreciate the suggestion!
Hilary from Cocoa Bean, The Vegetable says
Oh YUM!! I know a couple people who would think they’ve died and gone to heaven if I made them these pretzels. They look so tender and perfect, and the added kick would be so delicious.
Imagelicious says
Thank you! They were really yummy, I kinda want to make them again.
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
But now you have a wonderful summer baby, and you know Harry Potter was born in July, so she’s probably magical, too 😉 these pretzels are gorgeous, I love the way you’ve photographed them. They look like the epitome of fall.
Imagelicious says
Omg – totally forgot about Harry Potter birthday in July! This is awesome! I am such a huge Harry Potter fan. In fact, while we were at the NICU in the beginning we weren’t allowed to use cell phones while holding her and those holds had to be minimum of two hours. That in combination with her breathing mask noises, low light for her sensitive eyes and lack of sleep resulted in me falling a sleep while holding her which stressed me out a lot. So, I was reading Harry Potter to her out loud. I stopped in August, but I read three books to her already. I should resume that 🙂
The FoodOlic says
I’ve always heard it’s quite hard to make pretzels, your recipe seems like a simple and out of the ordinary one! I’ll try it soon, thanks for sharing!
Imagelicious says
I also thought that making pretzels would be an ordeal, but the biggest challenge is to boil them which frankly isn’t a challenge at all. One thing to note is that boiling water with baking soda is very foamy and splatters everywhere, my whole stove needed to be cleaned after.
Gloria @ Homemade & Yummy says
WOW….love the pics. I think big chewy pretzels are delicious. These with the addition of pumpkin sound divine. I could eat these for a meal…..with a side salad…PERFECT!!
Imagelicious says
Thanks, Gloria! I could eat those for a meal too. In fact, they were my breakfast a few days in a row 🙂
Janet @ the taste space says
Hug! Way to go on making something as awesome as this with everything that has been going on. Our summer was predominantly tomato sandwiches! In time, I hope you share your writing from around that birthing experience. I found that as I saw him grow as a baby, I felt much better about the whole situation. I no longer find the diaper changes such a huge ordeal and it certainly isn’t because he gives me more sleep. Hug
Imagelicious says
Surprisingly I am actually doing quite well at home with her. I am really looking forward to seeing her grow… I need to process what has happened and I think I may share what I wrote at some point… even just to help someone else. I found that I craved those stories and experiences while I was at the NICU.
Laura says
These pretzels look awesome and I love the flavours you used! Can’t wait to try them! July babies are good! My daughter was born in July and summer parties are awesome – lots of outdoor parties,bubbles, water etc. Enjoy all the newborn cuddles and snuggles!
Imagelicious says
Thank you so much, Laura. I’ll figure out July birthdays 🙂 and there’s always Halloween for me to enjoy with her!
Bethany @ athletic avocado says
These pretzels look amazing and are so creative! Love all things pumpkin!
Imagelicious says
Thanks! I love using pumpkin in the fall.
Maikki | Maikin mokomin says
I just made batch of chili oil and this recipe sounds like a wonderful way to test it! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Imagelicious says
Oh, that oil will be perfect in these pretzels!
cakespy says
These are so creative! Love this idea.
Imagelicious says
Thank you!
zero says
awesome recipe but…… where’s the pumpkin lol?
Imagelicious says
Omg, LOL!!! Wow, forgot the main ingredient. I’ll update the recipe!