Pretzel Bites & Pretzel Dogs

More back to school lunch ideas! Except it was hard for me to save enough of these to pack into lunch the next day- they were to delicious to stop tasting. Next I'm taking it a step further and using the pretzel dough wrapped around a hot dog. The girls are having a fundraiser for school in which they are selling these pretzel dogs 6 for $19. Haaaa- I'll write the school a check straight out and make my own for way cheaper- thanks for the idea though! 

Dough: 

1 c milk

1 pkg active dry yeast (or 2 1/4 tbl)

3 tbl packed light brown sugar

8 tbl butter

1 tea fine salt

1/3 c baking soda

2 tbl coarse salt

Warm the milk in a saucepan to about 110 degrees, just a nice temp that doesn't hurt your finger. Pour the milk into a large mixing bowl, sprinkling the yeast on top. Let the yeast soften about 2 mins then stir in the brown sugar & 1 cup flour.

Soften 2 tablespoons of the butter (don't melt it!) and stir it into the mix. Add the remaining 1 1/4 flour & the fine salt to make a sticky dough. Turn it onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 5 mins. 

Cover the bowl & let it sit for about an hour until doubling in size.

Preheat oven to 450. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or spray with cooking spray. Dissolve the baking soda into 3 cups of water in a shallow baking dish. Set pan by the prepared baking sheet.

Punch the dough down and turn it onto a floured surface, divide the dough into 6 pieces. 

If you want 6 pretzels, roll out and make a 24-30 in rope. Shape into a pretzel. For bites, stretch and roll out into ropes, then cut into smaller bites. 

Gently dip the pretzel or bite into the soda solution, then arrange on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with coarse salt.

Bake until golden, 8-10 mins for bites, 10-12 mins for pretzels. While they are baking melt the remaining 6 tbl butter and pour into a shallow dish. Set next to a cooling rack.

After cooking, brush the pretzels with melted butter & let cool.

Pretzel dogs:

Wrap the dough around a hot dog (I used a jumbo beef dog here) and dunk the whole thing in the baking soda mix then line on a baking sheet with parchment paper. (I didn't salt them, and they were plenty salty without the added spice) Bake for about 13 mins, or as the dough is golden, but not burned on the bottom- It's a delicate dance! Brush with butter & let cool slightly before serving. We loved ours dipped in mustard! 

Blueberry or Cranberry Lemon Scones

Guys. This post was eaten up somehow. And I had already deleted the images to make room for more silly videos of my kids doing ridiculous stuff. So I'm scamming my own Instagram feed. Because... HELLO GORGEOUS!

These are the perfect not-too-sweet snack to toss into a lunchbox in the morning. A very not-a-cookie-because-I'm-a-SCONE! kind of treat. The recipe is adapted from one a friend turned me onto here. I've added the lemon, which WOWZA, punches up the volume a million percent. But of course if you don't have a lemon on hand (although this recipe alone should persuade to keep a backup lemon at all times) they are great without it. Same thing with changing out the dried blueberries & cranberries. Different flavors, I love them both, don't make me choose. Just don't use the Ocean Spray dried cranberries. I know too much about the seedy underbelly of that nonsense. I picked some up at Sprouts, but Trader Joes, or even our Smiths has some regular dried fruits for not-all-your-monies. 

To the recipe! 

1 1/2 c. plus 2 tbl flour

1/4 c. sugar

2 tea. baking powder

pinch of salt

1 c. dried fruit (blueberries, cranberries, get creative!)

zest of one lemon (or orange, maybe?)

1 c. heavy cream

2 tbl butter, melted

Preheat your oven to 375. In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and stir around. Then add the fruit & zest, and mix, slowly adding the cream until moist. On parchment lined baking sheets, form into balls and flatten the top to accept the brushed on butter. Brush on the butter and sprinkle some sugar on top. (optional, but seriously, you should). Bake for 15-20 mins until golden brown. Enjoy. Try not to eat too many in one sitting. Well, scratch that. Eat the whole batch while no one's looking. 

Cinnamon Sugar Pull Apart Bread

The whole idea of "making" bread seems rather tedious. And time consuming with all the "waiting for dough to rise." However I tried this over Thanksgiving and it wasn't as much of a pain as I had expected. Plus it was super delicious to eat. (I was mostly responsible for finishing off a whole pan) Since the kids are at home sick today, and I will be forced to spend the entire day inside my house, I am making up a batch right now.

Source: foodsnots.com via craftyashley on Pinterest

Dough
     2 3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
     1/4 cup sugar
     2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast (1 packet)
     1/2 tsp. salt
     4 Tbsp. butter
     1/3 cup whole milk
     1/4 cup water
     2 eggs (at room temperature)
     1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Filling
     1 cup sugar
     2 tsp. cinnamon
     1/4 tsp. nutmeg
     4 Tbsp. butter, melted

In a large mixing bowl, mix 2 cups of flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Set aside.

In a small sauce pan, melt the butter and milk. Once the butter is completely melted take off the burner and add the water and vanilla. Let the mixture cool for 5 minutes.

Pour the milk mixture into the large bowl with the dry ingredients and mix well. Whisk together the eggs and add to the batter. Keep mixing. Add 3/4 cup of flour and mix well. The mixture will be very sticky which means it's perfect. Place the dough in a medium greased bowl. Cover with wrap and let it sit in a warm place to rise for about 30-45 minutes. Once the dough has doubled its size, knead in 2 tablespoons of flour. Cover the dough again for 5-10 minutes.

Meanwhile, start on the filling. In a medium bowl, mix together the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a small bowl. Set aside.

Once the dough is ready, roll it out on a floured surface. Brush the melted butter on the dough and add the sugar mixture. Make sure everything is covered. Using a shape knife or pizza cutter, cut the dough into equal sized strips (about 2 to 2 1/2 inches wide). Then cut the strips into equal sized squares. Stack the squares on top of each other and place them in a bread pan. Cover the dough for another 10-15 minutes to rise.

While dough is rising, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Place a cookie sheet under bread pan and bake for 30-35 minutes until outside of bread is golden brown.

Week Full of Buttermilk Cloverleaf Rolls

Ok, I am in love. And while making bread is kinda hard- it sure does work out the arms!

3 c. buttermilk at room temp.
3 c. flour
1 tbl. yeast dissolved into 1/4 c. warm water (let proof for 2-3 mins.)
1/2 c. sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tea. salt
1/2 oil
1 tea. baking soda
5 c. flour, more or less

Mix the buttermilk. flour, and yeast/water mixture in a large mixing bowl. Let stand at room temp until it has doubled in size- about two hours.

Add sugar, eggs, salt, flour, oil, and baking soda. mix well and knead for 7-10 mins. Grease as many muffins as you want, then roll small dough balls (about 3/4 in.) and place three balls into each tin.

Place the rest of the dough into a covered container and place it in the fridge. It will keep for up to seven days (a whole week's worth of rolls for dinner!)

Let rolls rise until double in size- about 1-2 hrs. (dough from fridge will take longer because it's cold) Bake at 350 for 10-12 mins.

Banana Bread

4 tbl. margarine
1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
2 eggs
2 tbl. milk
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 c. mashed bananas
1 3/4 c. flour
2 tea. baking powder
1/2 tea. baking soda
1/4 tea. salt

Mix together and pour into greased bread pan. Bake at 350 for 55 mins.

Cornbread

Husband thought he didn't like cornbread. Well, turns out his family does not add heaps of sugar in their cornbread. Having successfully converted a non-cornbreader, I can safely say this recipe is tasty.

2 c. yellow cornmeal
1 c. flour
1 tbl. baking powder
2/3 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 egg
1 1/4 c. milk
3 tbl. cooking oil

Mix wet & dry ingredients separately, then combine and pour into a greased 9x9 pan. Bake at 400 for 20-25 mins.