Cinnamon Pretzel Sticks with Cherry Jam

This was a fairly simple bake, but turned out to be much more delicious than anticipated. The most important part of this recipe is blanching the dough sticks in the boiling water with bicarbonate of soda. This results in the wonderful chewy texture characteristic of a pretzel, so don't skip this part. If you don't fancy the cinnamon sugar and jam, using the basic dough you can experiment and change the coating and sauce you serve with the pretzel sticks, using up ripe fruit making a jam or making a chocolate or toffee sauce. You could even make a savoury sauce like a cheese sauce or houmous. Have fun and change it up to meet your own tastes.

Recipe - Makes 9

For the pretzels:

• 225g strong white bread flour
• 3 1/2g fast action dried yeast
• 3 1/2g salt
• 20g dairy-free margarine, cubed
• 15g caster sugar
• 140ml soya milk
• 2 tbsp. bicarbonate of soda

For the cinnamon sugar coating:

• 20g dairy-free margarine, melted
• 50g caster sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

For the cherry jam:

• 220g cherries, stoned and quartered
• 75g granulated sugar

To make the pretzel dough, put the flour into a large bowl and tip the yeast to one side and the salt and sugar to the other. Add the margarine to the middle then slowly poor in the soya milk, bringing together with your hand until it forms a soft dough and comes away from the sides. Turn out onto a worktop and knead for 10 minutes until smooth. Place the dough back into the bowl and cover with clingfilm then leave to rise in a warm room for 1 hour or until doubled. 

Meanwhile, make the jam. Put the cherry quarters into a small food processor or coffee grinder and whizz to breakdown. Tip into a saucepan and add the sugar. Stir over a medium heat until the sugar is dissolved then turn up the heat and boil, stirring, until it forms a jam like consistency. Remove and tip into a jar then leave to cool.

When the dough is risen, preheat the oven to 200C. Tip out onto a lightly floured worktop. Divide into 9 equal pieces and roll into long pieces about 10cm long. Bring a large saucepan to the boil and tip in the bicarbonate of soda. Place the dough sticks into the pan of boiling water one at a time for 5-10 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Repeat with each of the sticks and space apart. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the pretzel sticks are browned and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Remove and cool on a wire rack.

Prepare the cinnamon sugar by mixing the sugar and cinnamon together. One at a time, brush the margarine on the outside of the pretzel stick and then roll in the cinnamon sugar. Tap it on its end to knock off any excess sugar. Set aside, then repeat with the remaining pretzel sticks, before serving with the jam.