Category: Snacks

Amazing Pretzels

Soft pretzels are amazingly easy to make. They are a favorite food around here.

Ingredients:

  • 4 tsp of active dry yeast

  • 1 teaspoon of sugar

  • 1 1/4 cups of warm water

  • 4 cups of flour

  • 1/3 cup of sugar

  • 1 1/4 tsp of salt

  • 1/2 cup of baking soda

  • 4 cups of hot water

Dissolve your yeast in warm water and sugar.

Add the rest of your ingredients except the baking soda and hot water.

Mix together to form a soft dough. For this I knead in the bowl.

Place in an oiled bowl (or old crock pot insert), roll around to coat with oil, cover and set to rise. It takes about an hour for it to double in size.

Mix baking soda and hot water until the baking soda dissolves.

Grease a baking pan thoroughly.

Dust the risen dough with some flour then punch down.

Turn out on a floured surface and break into 1 1/2 inch balls. Original recipe said it would make a dozen, I get a dozen and a half.

Roll out into 1/2 inch ropes. And pull your pants up.

Dip into the baking soda water and then make your desired shape. This week it was hearts. Sprinkle with salt.

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees and bake for 6-7 minutes.

 **Notes**
You can use table salt, Kosher salt or Sea Salt. For a change up try some cinnamon and sugar on top.
My 17 year old daughter asked if we could make hamburger or sandwich rolls from them. I think it might just be worth a shot.

Make Your Own Apple Sauce

Courtesy of Wikipedia

Perhaps one of the easiest apple dishes to make in the entire world. There is nothing really purer than freshly made apple sauce.

Ingredients:

  1. Apples, peeled, cored and sliced.
  2. Water
  3. Cinnamon stick (1 for every 2 quarts of apples)
Directions:
  1. Place the apples into a large stock pot.
  2. Add water until it just barely covers the apples.
  3. Add cinnamon stick(s)
  4. Turn the burner to medium heat and stir occasionally. For approximately 30 minutes, more for larger batches.
  5. Once the apples have softened use a fork or potato masher to smoosh the apples. For a smoother apple sauce place in a blender to remove lumps. 
  6. Store in freezer safe containers, jars for the refrigerator or can them to store in the pantry.
**NOTE** You may add sugar to your apple sauce but I have always found the natural sugar to be more than enough. You can also leave out the cinnamon stick if you so choose.

Amazing Pretzels

This snack was demanded by my husband. No, not that in Cartman, “Get in the kitchen and bake me some pie!” way. But he had been asking for a while now and I finally made the time to make them. The beautiful thing about making your own pretzels they can be any shape that you want them to be, today’s were lopsided hearts in honor of Valentine’s Day tomorrow.

So I dusted off my old cook notebook, removed the nerf dart from the center and dug out my recipe. Oh the nerf dart you ask? My 13 year old daughter apparently was defending herself from my 7 year old son and my cook book was the appropriate shield whatever day that was.

Ingredients:

  • 4 tsp of active dry yeast
  • 1 teaspoon of sugar
  • 1 1/4 cups of warm water
  • 4 cups of flour
  • 1/3 cup of sugar
  • 1 1/4 tsp of salt
  • 1/2 cup of baking soda
  • 4 cups of hot water
Dissolve your yeast in warm water and sugar.

Add the rest of your ingredients except the baking soda and hot water.

Mix together to form a soft dough. For this I knead in the bowl.

Place in an oiled bowl (or old crock pot insert), roll around to coat with oil, cover and set to rise. It takes about an hour for it to double in size.

Mix baking soda and hot water until the baking soda dissolves.
Grease a baking pan thoroughly.
Dust the risen dough with some flour then punch down.

Turn out on a floured surface and break into 1 1/2 inch balls. Original recipe said it would make a dozen, I get a dozen and a half.

Roll out into 1/2 inch ropes. And pull your pants up.
Dip into the baking soda water and then make your desired shape. This week it was hearts. Sprinkle with salt.

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees and bake for 6-7 minutes.

 **Notes**
You can use table salt, Kosher salt or Sea Salt. For a change up try some cinnamon and sugar on top.
My 17 year old daughter asked if we could make hamburger or sandwich rolls from them. I think it might just be worth a shot.