Pretzel Rolls

My brother in law was over yesterday and said he had a project for me. He brought out a bag of Trader Joe's pretzel rolls and asked if I could make anything like it.

I do love a challenge. I started searching my favorite blogs first and struck out. So I checked tastespotting and foodgawker. I came across this recipe from foodgawker.

If you've ever made soft pretzels at home, this is really no different. They are just shaped differently. They are soft, chewy and delicious. I had one for lunch today with shaved turkey and provel cheese. A-mazing.

The recipe said to make 18, two ounce balls of dough. I weighed mine and they were all close to two ounces and I only got 16 rolls. I think next time I will make them a little bigger because these were almost slider-size instead of bun-size. The directions were very good, so I've just copied them (almost) exactly from Stresscake.

Enjoy!!!

Pretzel Rolls

From: Stresscake

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups warm water (around 110°F)
1 packet active dry yeast

2 tsp sugar
4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp kosher salt
4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup baking soda
1 egg, lightly beaten
pretzel salt - I used coarse Kosher salt

Directions:
Combine the water and the yeast in the bowl of a standing mixer and let rest 5 minutes until foamy. Add the remaining ingredients (sugar, flour, salt, butter) and mix with the dough hook until thoroughly combined, the dough comes together and is rather silky – but not sticky – to the touch.

First rise: Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in bulk. Punch down and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper or Silpat mats.

Shaping: Cut the dough into 18 pieces, roughly 2 ounces each. (Or really any size you wish, keeping in mind that you’re going to have to poach them in the baking soda solution so they need to fit into your pan.) To shape, take a piece of dough and start forming a nice round, smooth ball by pulling the sides to the center and pinching to seal. By doing this, you’re creating a smooth skin around the dough ball.

Place, pinched side down, on a counter and lightly cupping your hand around the dough ball, rotate your hand in small circles lightly rolling the ball around the palm of your hand. This takes some practice. Space evenly on the prepared sheet pans, pinched seam side down, leaving at least 1” between each roll.

Second rise: Cover with a tea towel or a light film of plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes until doubled.

Preheat oven to 425°F and place oven racks on the lowest and middle positions.

Poaching: In a large saucepan, bring 2 quarts of water to a low boil. Add the baking soda and lower heat to a simmer. Carefully slip the rolls into the poaching liquid, seam side down. Poach for 30 seconds then carefully turn the roll over in the liquid. Poach other side for 30 seconds then remove with a spider or slotted spoon to the same prepared sheet pans, seam side down. Repeat with the remaining rolls, leaving at least 1” between rolls for baking.

Glaze: With a pastry brush, glaze each roll completely with the lightly beaten egg making sure to coat all sides completely. Top each roll with a sprinkle of pretzel salt. With a sharp straight edged knife, cut a slash or “X” in the top of each roll.

Bake: Bake the rolls for 15-20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking – top to bottom, front to back – for even browning. Cool completely. Rolls are best eaten on day of baking but they store pretty well in the freezer, tightly wrapped. Reheat in a damp paper towel for 30 seconds in the microwave.

Tomato, Basil, Mozzarella Tart

I recently got a tart pan and went searching for tart recipes. I knew I was making a sweet tart for Mother's Day so I looked for something more savory. I found this recipe on Annie's Eats.

There really isn't much I can say about this tart other than you absolutely have to try it. The crust is amazing - the fresh basil and garlic really make it delicious - and the combination of tomato, mozzarella and basil is always fantastic.

I used fresh basil from my container garden and used roma tomatoes instead of the cherry tomatoes in Annie's version. I also blind baked it before adding toppings like she suggested.

Please try this. You will not regret it!

Tomato, Basil, Mozzarella Tart
From: Annie's Eats

Ingredients:
Crust:
1/3 cup fresh basil leaves

1-2 cloves garlic

1¼ cups all-purpose flour

½ tsp. kosher salt

8 tbsp. unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 8-10 pieces

4-5 tbsp. ice cold water

Topping:
8 oz. fresh mozzarella, sliced

Ripe cherry tomatoes

Salt and pepper

1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1-2 tbsp. minced fresh basil

Directions:
Using your food processor, process the basil and garlic until it is finely minced. Add the flour and salt and pulse until well combined. Add in the butter a few pieces at a time pulsing between additions. Mix until a crumbly dough forms. Begin adding water - 3 tbsp's to start - and pulse. Add more water - 1 tbsp at a time - until dough forms ball. Remove from bowl, flatten into a disc, about 5 inches across, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.

To bake - preheat oven to 425. Roll out dough on a floured surface until is is about 12 inches across. Lay it on top of your tart pan and press the dough into the edge and up the sides. Lay a piece of aluminum foil over the top of the tart and place baking beads on top - or dried beans, rice, pennies, etc. Anything heavy). Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove foil and beads and bake for another 5 minutes.

Lower oven to 375. Top tart shell with sliced mozzarella and then sliced tomatoes. Drizzle on olive oil, then sprinkle on salt, pepper and basil.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until cheese is lightly browned. Depending on your oven you may need to rotate it halfway through baking. You also may need to dab the top with a paper towel halfway through to remove excess moisture.

Vanilla Bean Buttercream

I have been looking for a vanilla frosting recipe for cupcakes that would make a pretty swirl. I recently made some strawberry cupcakes with a strawberry buttercream frosting. No matter how much powdered sugar I added to the frosting it was just too liquid-y. Don't get me wrong, it was delicious, but it melted right off the cupcakes. I only frosted a few of the cakes before I stopped and set out to find a stiffer buttercream. I went back to The Cupcake Project and tried out her 'favorite vanilla buttercream.' It is now MY favorite vanilla buttercream.

The only adaptation I made is to use the scraped seeds from two vanilla pods instead of the 2 tsp. of vanilla bean paste. (only because that's what I had on hand)

It was fantastic on the strawberry cupcakes. I've also used it on homemade oreos (will blog soon, I have to make them again because I didn't get pictures the first time), Sugar Cookie Bars (again, need to blog this one), and most recently, oatmeal cookie sandwiches.

For the Oatmeal Cookie Sandwiches I used my usual recipe and baked the cookies for 12 minutes in my new fancy Whoopie Pie Pan. Once cooled, I filled with the vanilla bean butter cream. These sandwiches were so amazing, I kept one and immediately got rid of the rest because I knew I would have devoured them all.

Vanilla Bean Buttercream Frosting

From: The Cupcake Project

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup butter (room temperature)

2 tsp vanilla bean paste

1 tbsp milk

Directions:

Mix butter and sugar til well combined. Add in vanilla and milk. Add more sugar to make the frosting stiffer, or milk to make it less stiff.

Cheddar Crackers

I saw this recipe on The Cupcake Project - which is a fabulous blog, go check it out. I thought it looked like a fun project and something my kiddo would love. I happened to have a set of little cutters from I have no idea where. They have been in my pantry since our wedding. But they were perfect for these crackers. I had a fish, a moose, a bear, a canoe, and a house. I did not use the house or the canoe.

The dough comes together super easily and rolls out great. The only thing I didn't like was how long it took to cut out the crackers and re-roll the dough. Next time I make these, I will probably just use a pizza cutter and make squares instead of animal shapes. I will also cook them just a little longer to make them more crispy.

The verdict? Kiddo loved them, husband loved them and I liked them a lot. I don't think I cooked them long enough so they were a little soft, but had great flavor overall. I will make them again, but like I said, no tiny cutters next time.

Cheddar Fish Crackers

From: The Cupcake Project

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
4 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
8 oz cheddar cheese

1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

Directions:

Pulse the flour, butter, cheese, salt, and pepper together using a food processor until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

Pulse in 3 to 4 tablespoons of water, one tablespoon at a time, and only enough so that the dough forms a ball and rides the blade.

Remove, wrap in plastic, and chill for 20 minutes or up to 24 hours.

Line 2 baking pans with parchment paper and set aside. Preheat oven to 350. Roll the dough out to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut out as many crackers as possible and place them 1 inch apart on the prepared baking pans.

Bake until golden and crisp - 15 to 20 minutes.

Roasted Tomato Salsa

When I saw this recipe for salsa I knew I had to make it soon. I love chips and salsa - it's easily my favorite snack. I had never made my own salsa, though, until now.

This was simple and delicious. I changed the quantities up a little bit, and used different peppers from the original.

My husband said it was the best salsa he's ever had. Now he COULD be lying, but I kind of doubt it because he knows when he gives something I make a big compliment, I'm likely to make it again and again and again. Which I will do with this recipe.

Roasted Tomato Salsa

Adapted from: One Particular Kitchen

Ingredients:

8 roma tomatoes

4 jalapenos

10-12 garlic cloves

1 large onion

Cilantro

salt

sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375.

Cut tomatoes in half and place on baking sheet. Cut onion into quarters and add next to tomatoes. Peel garlic cloves and add to baking sheet. Cut jalapenos in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds and membranes. I left the seeds and membranes for 1 1/2 of the jalapenos and I would say the salsa was 'mild.' So if you like it hotter - leave more of the seeds and membranes.

Roast in oven for around 45 minutes or until onion becomes translucent. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Put everything in your food processor, adding a few stems of cilantro, a big pinch of salt and about a tablespoon of sugar and buzz it to your desired consistency.

Lemon, Thyme, and Olive Oil Cakes

I saw these on Pioneer Woman's site and knew they would be perfect for Easter Brunch. I decided to try to make them mini and found these super cute liners. Aren't they adorable?

Well I did a trial run and they didn't turn out so great. They suck to the liners pretty badly, so I decided for the brunch I would do like the recipe calls for and just butter/flour the pans. They came out great and were very good. I did end up making them using a mini muffin tin and it made about 3 dozen cakes. They baked for about 17 minutes.

This recipe is different because it uses the blender to mix the ingredients. I had a little trouble with the first step of mixing the sugar and zest together - my blender just would not pull all the sugar to the middle. Otherwise this was a simple recipe with great results.

Lemon, Thyme and Olive Oil Cakes

From: The Pioneer Woman Cooks

Ingredients:

Cakes:

1 Tbsp melted butter
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsp grated lemon zest
2 eggs
¼ cups olive oil
⅔ cups milk
1 cup flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 tsp minced fresh thyme

Glaze:
1-½ cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp melted butter
3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (more as needed)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare a muffin pan with melted butter and then dust with a little bit of flour - or spray with cooking spray with flour. Pulse the sugar and lemon zest in a blender until combined. Add the eggs one at a time, then gradually pour in the olive oil and milk, pulsing until emulsified into a thin batter, about 30 seconds. Don’t over blend or the cakes will be too puffy.

Whisk one cup flour, the baking powder, salt and thyme in a small bowl. Add to the blender in 2 batches until just combined. Pour the batter unto the prepared pan and bake until the cakes just start to pull away from the sides of the pan and spring back when lightly touched, about 25 minutes depending on your oven.

In the meantime, make the glaze: whisk the powdered sugar, melted butter and lemon juice until smooth, adding more lemon juice if too thick. Drizzle over the cooled cakes or turn the cakes over and dunk the tops in the glaze. Garnish with a thyme sprig.

Mac n Cheese

I needed to throw together a quick side dish for a impromptu dinner. So I went to the pantry to take inventory. I found a half box of store brand elbow macaroni with a recipe on the back for macaroni and cheese. I adapted it to use what I had on hand. The recipe below is how it is written on the box. My changes are in italics. The main thing I added was Penzey's Brady Street Cheese Sprinkle. I love this stuff. I use it on salad, pasta, bread, veggies and who knows what else. You can obviously leave it out, since the original recipe doesn't call for it, but if you have it on hand or have a Penzey's nearby, I highly recommend giving it a shot.

Macaroni and Cheese

From: Schnuck's Pasta Box

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup flour

3 cups milk

2 cups grated cheddar (I used 2 cups cheddar and 1 cup mozzarella)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp dry mustard (I did not have any)

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

2 cups elbow macaroni (I used a whole box of rotini pasta)

1 heaping tablespoon Penzey's Brady Street Cheese Sprinkle

Directions:

Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in flour to create a roux. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly. Add seasonings. Cook until sauce is thickened then add 1 cup grated cheddar (I added 1 cup cheddar and 1 cup mozzarella) and stir until melted.

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Add to cheese sauce and mix well. Turn mixture into 8 inch baking dish or pan. Sprinkle top with remaining 1 cup cheddar cheese.

Bake at 375 for about 15 minutes. If you want to make the top crispy, broil for a few additional minutes.