Soft pretzels are not a big thing here in the UK and there are only (at least from what I have seen during my time) a few places that even offer these. I know they are quite a big thing in America, but here in the UK we tend to favour the hard, crunchy pretzels. Like crisps rather than cake. That being said, I think I have had maybe two soft pretzels in my life and that was all long before I ever went vegan. A few stores have popped up around me though, and the smell of a freshly baked pretzel is just NEXT LEVEL. Seriously I don’t know how people walk past these and not immediately start salivating. Maybe I am just a sucker for freshly baked dough…
Either way, I was VERY excited when I saw a sign on a Mr Pretzels stand that they now serve vegan pretzels. I have never turned towards a counter faster in my whole life – poor sales assistant behind the till must have had the fright of her life when my head popped up with lustful greed for warm doughy goods.
I decided to keep it safe and simple, and go for the tried and tested cinnamon sugar pretzel. It would appear that the vegan pretzels are baked to order, whereas it seemed with the non-vegan options that many were batched cooked ahead of time and simply reheated when ordered. Not necessarily a bad thing, but I did think it was good that they did keep the vegan pretzels separate. Here, the pretzels are baked in the oven, so no hot oil is used. I could not tell if they cook the pretzels in separate ovens though so if this is something of concern for you, you could always check with the staff first.
Goodness me though was this an absolutely delicious treat! When I say that it came out of the oven directly into a bag for me, I am not joking. I had to leave it on a table for about 5 minutes to allow the pretzel to cool down enough so that I could actually touch it, let alone bite into it. But the pretzel itself was light and fluffy, and I could easily tear the pretzel into bite size pieces without any issue. It was almost like cotton candy the way it would just melt in my mouth and truly warm my soul.
The cinnamon and sugar was also delicious. I think the heat from the pretzel did cause some of the sugar and cinnamon to melt a little bit whilst it was resting in the bag, because it was a far less messy eat than I had been expecting. Normally with these sorts of toppings, each bite just sends a mist of cinnamon sugar into the air, but not with this. It was also the perfect balance between the heat of the cinnamon and the sweet sugar. The dough used for the pretzel was very plain, so it really allowed the toppings to do all of the work and I think that it worked well with this. No overpowering flavours from any ingredient, and was just the warm and comforting treat I had been craving.
This pretzel cost me £3.95 from one of their London outlets. I am not sure if this may differ slightly if you go outside of the main cities. The pretzel is a decent size (at least double the size of my hand) and it did leave me feeling comfortably full, rather than feeling bloated or, worse still, still hungry afterwards. I think £4 is very reasonable for a treat of this size, especially when I consider that other treats in London tend to be around the £5+ mark. But again, this is not something I will eat all too often, mainly because I have to actually go into London in order to even find a Mr Pretzels store near me. The chances of me having this more than once every few months is therefore pretty slim, and so I think the cost is absolutely justifiable given my situation.
Taylor Talks Vegan 