Egg-Free, Milk-Free, and Nut-Free Pretzels

By Kelley Lindberg

It’s always fun when I find a new treat that I can make for my son and his food-allergic best friend. Even better when their friends think it’s pretty great, too!

This week, I tried making pretzels from a mix I found at Walmart. It’s from Fleischmann’s (the yeast company), and it’s milk-free, egg-free, and nut-free. (It does contain soy and wheat, however.) It’s called Fleischmann’s Simply Homemade Baking Mix Pretzel Creations.

I’ve never made pretzels before, so I didn’t know quite what to expect. But they were fun to make, didn’t take much in the way of culinary expertise, and turned out pretty good. (Okay, so maybe they weren’t quite as perfect and beautiful as on the box, but I’ve never had anything turn out as good as the photo on the box, so my expectations were pretty realistic!)

Anyway, I made the pretzels for a gaggle of teenage boys who descend on my house like locusts, and like those locusts, they devoured them in a minute or two. Then they graciously declared my experiment a success and gazed forlornly at the empty box.

It took about an hour to make the pretzels (half of that time was just letting the dough rise a little), and you just have to add oil and water – it even comes with its own salt.

These would be fun for younger kids to help with, because they get to roll out the dough into long snakes and then twist them into pretzel shapes. So if you’ve got an hour or so and some hungry kids, give them a try.