soft pretzels & a happy memorial day!!!

Before the weather heats up and it's too darn hot to bake anything, I'm baking recipes that I've had on my radar. This Memorial Day weekend's challenge is soft pretzels. This is another recipe that has intimidated me for years mainly because the use of food grade lye for it's water bath before baking. I decided to go for it and NOT use lye, but the other alternative, a baking soda water bath and an egg wash. Success!!! (I think.)

I was inspired to make this recipe from one of my favorite blogs, smitten kitchen. Deb's writing is fun and personal and it's easy to follow. Plus there are ALWAYS some great photographs to help you along the way. Check out smitten kitchen's blog for this recipe and for other amazingly delicious sides/mains/sweets.

Soft Pretzels

slightly adapted from smitten kitchen

makes 8
2 day process

Day 1

For the DOUGH:

2 teaspoons barley malt syrup or dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon unsalted butter - softened or melted & cooled

1 tablespoon instant yeast

1 cup lukewarm water

1-1/2 cups bread flour

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour 

2-1/4 teaspoons kosher salt

Day 2

For the WATER BATH:

1/2 cup baking soda

2 quarts of water

An EGG WASH:

1 large egg

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon water

course sea salt or pretzel salt

***I made my pretzels by hand but can use your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook if you want to but totally not needed.***

In a bowl (or bowl of your stand mixer), stir together barley malt syrup or dark brown sugar, unsalted butter, yeast, water, and half the flour. This will look quite sticky. Add kosher salt and remaining flour and stir until the mixture resembles a shaggy mass. Turn out onto your counter and knead for 8 - 10 minutes or with your stand mixer using a dough hook on #2 speed. Knead until it's smooth like a baby's bottom. Cut the dough into 8 pieces and let it rest for 5 minutes before shaping.

Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly spray with cooking spray. Set aside.

To SHAPE PRETZELS:

Roll each piece of dough into a long 20" inch snake with tapered ends. Make a long "U" shape on your counter. Take both ends and slightly twist together and press end on the bottom part of the "U". ***Do your best at shaping the pretzels since I really don't know how to explain it without visuals. It's totally OK if they don't look perfect. They're homemade.*** 

Carefully transfer your pretzels onto your prepared sheet. ***I was able to fit all 8 onto my sheet. Don't worry, they do not expand much during proofing.*** Let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. Then lightly cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

THE NEXT DAY / DAY 2:

Preheat your oven to 425°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large pot with high sides, bring to boil 2 quarts of water. Once the water is boiling, carefully add your baking soda and stir until it is dissolved. WARNING -  step back, the baking soda will bubble up like crazy once it's added to the boiling water. That is why a pot with high sides is needed. 

Turn down the heat so that it is at a simmer and carefully lower 2 - 3 pretzels into the baking soda bath. Poach for 1 minute on each side. Use a slotted spoon or mesh spatula to remove them from the bath and dab onto paper towels to remove some of the excess water. Place onto prepared baking sheet and continue with the rest of the pretzels.

To make the EGG WASH:

Whisk together the large egg, 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt and 1 teaspoon of water. Brush the egg wash all over the pretzels. Go back and brush another layer of egg wash over the pretzels then sprinkle with pretzel salt or course sea salt. ***I also heavily sprinkled raw sesame seeds over half of mine today.*** If you want a "sweet" pretzel skip salt and just egg wash and bake.

Bake for 15 minutes rotating halfway through baking. If you have a convection setting on your oven, turn it ON at the halfway bake mark. This will help in browning. Transfer to a wire rack. Best eaten warm.

For SWEET pretzels:

After baking, brush with 2 - 4 tablespoons melted butter and toss in 1/2 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon.

These pretzels are really meant to be eaten warm. Within the same day that they are baked, they can be reheated slightly by putting them into your toaster. The exterior salt will weep if pretzels are stored in an airtight container. :( Therefor you must eat all of them while drinking beer…..

Happy Memorial Day!!!

key lime meltaways

These little key lime meltaway cookies DO melt in your mouth. They also have just the right amount sweetness from the dusting of powdered sugar and zing from the copious amounts of key lime zest in them. I imagine that you can turn these into any meltaway flavor by switching the zest and juice to either orange, lemon, even grapefruit or by all means just using everyday limes which are in the original recipe.

I formed my dough into 1-inch diameter logs, so when I sliced my cookies they were about the size of a quarter. Perfect little one-bite bursts of sunshine. 

Key Lime Meltaways
adapted from Martha Stewart Living, December/January 1998/1999 and smitten kitchen
makes 6+ dozen quarter-sized cookies


INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter @ room temperature
1 cup of confectioners' sugar ***a.k.a. powdered sugar*** 
finely grated zest of 4 - 6 key limes ***I used 6 because I wanted them to taste lime-y***
2 tablespoons fresh key lime juice
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1-3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt 

DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, cornstarch, and salt. Set aside.

Cream unsalted butter and 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar together in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment or hand held mixer. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Add the key lime zest, juice, and vanilla. Mix until fully incorporated and fluffy.

Add your flour mixture to your butter mixture and mix on low speed until just combined.

To make these cookies into bite-size, divide the dough into thirds. Place each third onto a piece of 8-inch X 14-inch piece of parchment paper or equivalent. Fold one of the longer ends over the dough. Hold the bottom side of the folded parchment and using a bench scraper or ruler, press and push on the dough that it forms a log approximately 1-inch in diameter and 10 inches long. You should have 3 rolls.

Refrigerate logs until cold and firm, at least 1 hour. ***Cookie logs can also be frozen when you need a burst of sunshine.***

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Remove parchment from logs; cut into 1-1/4 inch thick rounds. On parchment lined cookie sheets, space cookie rounds 1 inch apart. Bake cookies until barely golden, about 13 minutes, rotating halfway through. ***If baking cookie dough straight from freezer, cooking time may be increased an additional 2-3 minutes.*** 

Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool for 8 - 10 minutes. 

Place the remaining 2/3 cup confections' sugar into a large Ziplock bag. While still warm, gently toss the cookies in the confectioners' sugar until completely dusted.

Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 weeks.

gluten-free tropical banana bread & cup4cup flour

Gluten-free. 
Words that frightened me when I thought about baking.

My fears for baking gluten-free are over now thanks to CUP4CUP's Gluten Free Flour. I stumbled upon it during my daily food blog stalkings on Joy the Baker . This miracle mixture was developed by Lena Kwak, Thomas Keller's Research & Development Chef at The French Laundry. Need I say more??? 

I was oh-so impressed by all the rave reviews this flour received that I rushed out and bought a bag. Or maybe two. And since this GF flour is a special ingredient in my pantry, I will be treating it like baking gold and experimenting with my favorite recipes with caution. 

I have a couple of go-to banana bread recipes, but my ingredients in my pantry were limited so I borrowed ingredients and made substitutions from a couple of recipes from Smitten Kitchen and Musings from a Housewife and concocted my version, a tropical banana bread.

Tropical Banana Bread

makes 1 loaf 

3 ripe bananas 

1/4 cup pineapple - fresh and finely chopped ***Not needed really, but I think it added flavor and moistness.***

1/3 cup coconut oil ***Don't have coconut oil??? Melt some butter.***

3/4 cup coconut palm sugar ***No coconut palm sugar either? Brown sugar would taste awesome!!!*** 

1 large egg, beaten slightly

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup dried unsweetened coconut plus 1 tablespoon for sprinkling on top

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 

1 1/2 cup CUP 4 CUP Gluten Free Flour

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Lightly oil a loaf pan and dust with flour. Set aside.

With a potato masher or fork, mash up bananas and pineapple. With a spatula, mix in coconut oil to combine. Add coconut palm sugar, egg and vanilla extract then dried coconut. Mix until smooth.  Sprinkle the baking soda and kosher salt over the mixture and mix in. Add your GF flour last and fold in. Pour into your prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle with the reserved 1 tablespoon of dried coconut.

Bake your loaf on the middle rack of your oven for 50-55 minutes or until a tester/skewer comes out clean. 

Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes and gently remove it from the pan and cool completely.

strawberry shortcakes

The temperature is definitely heating up on the East Coast which means that baking will soon come to a halt any day now. Although sometimes when fruit looks this good, like the strawberries I found and the Union Square Greenmarket, I will pump up the A/C and make a few baking exceptions.

I have a little confession I'd like to make.....Not everything I make/bake comes out picture perfect. For example, these shortcakes. This was the first time I had ever made this recipe but it's not going to be my last because these shortcakes are tasty!!! Mine looked kinda like a big blob of baked biscuit dough but when I topped them off with the strawberries and whipped cream, they were pretty and delicious. If you're offended by my post and want to look at a more beautiful and detailed recipe, go to smitten kitchen.

I also made the mistake by toasting it in my toaster which burned the nice sparkly sugar I had sprinkled on top. Oh well.....


Strawberry Shortcakes
a few tweaks made to the original recipe via smitten kitchen adapted from Claudia Fleming and Russ Parsons
Serves 6


FOR THE SHORTCAKES
1 2/3 cups (224 grams) all-purpose flour
3 1/2 tablespoons (50 grams) sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon (20 grams) baking powder
2 hard-boiled egg yolks
1/8 teaspoon salt
a scrape of a vanilla bean or a few drops of vanilla extract
6 tablespoons (84 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2/3 cup (168 grams) plus 1 tablespoon heavy cream or 1 egg slightly beaten for a wash
course sugar or sanding sugar for finishing


pint of strawberries
sugar
lemon juice
whipping cream 
vanilla extract


In the bowl of a food processor, or with a pastry cutter, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, egg yolks, and salt and vanilla bean/extract if using. Pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the flour resembles coarse meal. Add 2/3 cup of cream and pulse until the dough comes together. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and gather into a ball. Then pat it into a rough circle about 6 to 7 inches in diameter, and 3/4 to 1 inch thick.

By using a sharp knife, you can cut the circle into 6 wedges or you can use a cookie cutter to make shapes of your choice. Arrange on a parchment-lined baking sheet. 


Chill for 20 minutes and up to 2 hours.


Preheat oven to 350˚. Brush tops of the shortcakes lightly with heavy cream or egg wash and sprinkle lightly with course sugar. Bake until golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Rotate sheet halfway through to ensure even baking.


In the meantime, quarter your strawberries and toss in a bowl with sugar to taste and a little lemon juice. Whip cream to soft peaks, adding sugar and vanilla extract to taste.


You can either split the cakes in half horizontally or leave whole, dollop with sweetened whipped cream and a large spoonful of strawberries.

oat & maple syrup scones

I have been on a scone binge lately and this is the second kind of scones I've made in the past few days. Don't worry, the first batch I shared/gave away and I have plans to do the same with these.


Oat and maple syrup scones have been on my to-bake list. Although I do have another recipe, when I came across this recipe from one of my favorite blogs, Smitten Kitchen, I just knew I had to make them. Mine didn't come out as pretty as Smitten Kitchen's did, so a sweet camouflage of maple syrup and powdered sugar turned them from ugly to pretty tasty.....


Oat and Maple Syrup Scones
recipe taken from the blog Smitten Kitchen but adapted from Breakfast Lunch Tea: The Many Little Meals of Rose Bakery
Makes 10 - 12 scones


1 3/4 cups (260 grams) all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting surface
1/2 cup (80 grams) whole wheat flour
1/2 cup (35 grams) rolled oats ***Smitten Kitchen used quick-cooking, I used whole rolled oats***
1 very heaped tablespoon baking powder ***My heap looked like 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons***
1 very heaped tablespoon superfine (caster) or granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon table salt
Scant 3/4 cup (160 grams) cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup milk or buttermilk ***I didn't have either, so I used heavy cream***
1 egg, beaten (for glaze)


Preheat your oven to 400˚F (200˚C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or butter a baking tray.

Whisk flours, oats, baking powder, sugar and salt together in a large bowl.

Add your small pieces of butter.

With a pastry blender or your fingertips, work the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs.


In a small bowl, combine milk/buttermilk/heavy cream (whatever you're using) and maple syrup, then add these liquid ingredients to the butter-flour mixture. By hand or with a rubber spatula, bring everything together to form a softish dough. ***Since I used the heavy cream, it needed more liquid. I had to add an additional 2 tablespoons.*** If it feels too dry, add a little more milk but not enough that the dough is sticky. 


On a lightly floured surface, pat or roll the dough out until it is 1 1/4 inches (3 cm) tall/thick. Using a 2-inch (5 cm) cutter, cut the dough into rounds and place them on your prepared baking sheet/tray so that they almost touch. 

***The scones in the pic to the right are spaced out on my baking sheet, not almost touching each other at all. I then moved them closer together after reviewing the recipe.***

Glaze the tops with the beaten egg and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the scones are lightly golden.

The scones will stick together, so pull them gently apart when they've cooled a bit.
Serve warm.

I thought that these scones were down right ugly, so I mixed up a glaze of 1/3 cup powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons maple syrup, 1 tablespoon heavy cream and a few drops of water. The glaze should have the consistency of heavy cream. Drizzle the maple glaze on top of the warm scones and garnish with a few oats.  

peanut butter chocolate chip cookies - recipe #3 of 7 days of sweets

If you live in NYC you are surrounded by famous and not-so-famous bakeries, restaurants with a bakery attached, and corner bodegas that also tap into the "homemade" sweet treat. I bake on a regular basis (obviously) but I do try and sample the best of the best or attempt to make the best in my very own kitchen. Now this recipe was introduced to me by my good friend who is also a baker and I trusted her taste palette and gave these peanut butter chocolate chip cookies a go.....

I have a couple of friends with nut allergies but I feel most like or love peanut butter cookies. Add some chocolate and it's a win win situation. This recipe for peanut butter chocolate chip cookies comes from one of my favorite food blogs, Smitten Kitchen via Magnolia Bakery Cookbook. 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

via Smitten Kitchen and Magnolia Bakery Cookbook

INGREDIENTS

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup peanut butter, at room temperature ***I used Trader Joe's Organic Chunky Peanut Butter***

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 large egg, at room temperature

1 tablespoon milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup peanut butter chips

1/2 cup chocolate chips ***I didn't have any chocolate chips but I chopped up chunks from my Pound Plus Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate bar. I'd also recommend bittersweet chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet.***

1 - 2 tablespoons sugar for rolling

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. 

In a large bowl, beat the butter and peanut butter together until fluffy. ***This can be done in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, a hand held mixer, or with a wooden spoon and your own muscles. *** Add both of the sugars and beat until smooth. Add the egg and mix well. Add the milk and vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and mix thoroughly. Stir in the peanut butter chips and chocolate chips/ chunks.

Place remaining 1 -2 tablespoons of sugar in a shallow dish or plate. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls into the sugar and roll around to coat. ***I used a 1-ounce cookie scoop.*** Place onto prepared baking sheets, leaving a few inches between for expansion. ***BTW....If you're using a 1-ounce scoop, this recipe will yield 3 dozen cookies.....***

Using a fork, lightly indent with a criss-cross pattern but do not overly flatten cookies. ***Smitten Kitchen used a small offset spatula to keep it smooth on top and so did I.***

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. ***11 minutes was just perfect.*** Do not overbake. Cookies will appear to be underdone, but they're not. Cool the cookies on the sheets for 1 minute, then remove to a wire rack and cool completely. ***I sometimes bake two sheets of cookies at a time, but since this was my first time baking these cookies, I baked one sheet at a time on the middle rack of my oven.***

If you or your sweetheart love crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, then make these for Valentine's Day. Who needs a box of chocolates anyway.....