Chocolate chip Whole Wheat Pretzels - A plate to call my own

Wondering why I would call that plate my own? Because I made it... yes, I made the cute looking yellow dinner plate myself at a crafts center. Unfortunately, it is not something one can make at home. I would have filled the house with plates if only I could.

It basically involves some basic stuff, like the "slip" (which is liquid clay), I could have used the pottery wheel, but I am not an expert at it, so decided to go with liquid clay.
The slip is poured into a mold, as you clearly can see I used a square dinner plate model. And it sits for about two days in the mold.
Then the third day, the plate is unmolded, it is still slightly wet, and then it is fired under very high temperature.
Next comes the paint, I chose lemon yellow.
You see... I was working on a theme here with lemon, lime and cantaloupe colors (basically light yellow, lime green and light orange) for a dinner set.
So after painting with the desired color, it is again fired to set the colors, then glazed (to give that glossy finish to the plate) and again fired. Lot of repetitions, yes...
It is a long process, but it sure is satisfying to eat from a plate that you made with your own hands. To call it your very own.

Slight shift in focus, away from the plate, and to what is on it today. Chocolate chip good-for-you pretzels made with white whole wheat flour. I like the regular cinnamon sugar pretzels a lot, but what fun would it be to make the same at home?
So I deviated a little from sugar to chocolate, still keeping it in the sweet category though! It is best eaten hot from the oven. So big batches are not advisable. I have given a little note about the yeast used in the ingredient list. So, keep an eye out for it. Other than that, we are all set to dive into the recipe.

Chocolate chip Whole Wheat Pretzels

Ingredients:

Method:

White Whole wheat flour - 1 1/2 cups
Butter - 2 tbsp at room temperature
Instant Yeast - 1 tsp (I used the rapid rise, highly active kind), this did not require adding water to activate it. If you are using the normal yeast, then you may have to let it sit in warm water for a few minutes before kneading it in with the flour, or follow package instructions.)
Sugar - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Water - To knead
Chocolate chips - A handful
Water - 4 cups
Baking soda - 2 tsp

Method:

Preheat oven to 400F.

Mix the flour with the yeast, butter, salt and sugar and knead with just enough water to form a elastic ball. You may have to knead for at least 10-15 minutes or until smooth.

Cover with a cloth and let it rise for an hour or two, till it doubles in size.

Once it has doubled, then punch down and knead again for another 5 minutes. Make 8-10 equal sized balls and let it sit for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring the 4 cups of water and the 2 tsp of baking soda to a boil in a pot.
Then turn down to medium heat.

Then take one ball of dough and form it into a rope using the palm of your hands, in a rubbing motion.
Form into a long rope, at least 15 inches in length, and shape into a pretzel knot.
Make pretzel shapes with all the remaining dough.



Grease a baking sheet and set aside.

Drop the pretzels, two to three at a time gently into the hot water on medium heat. Let them boil for one minute on each side.



Gently transfer onto the baking sheet one by one.

Now insert the chocolate chips around the pretzel and gently press in so it does not fall apart.



Bake for 10-15 minutes at 400F or until lightly browned on top.

Remove and let cool for about a couple of minutes on a cooling rack.

Top with chocolate sauce and serve hot. Cold pretzels don't taste good in my opinion. So enjoy them fresh and hot from the oven.