Sourdough Soft Pretzels

Quirk // I write many of my recipes on the backs of unopened junk mail.

It's a strange habit that started in college and it's stuck to this day, apparently. I need to invest in some composition books or something. Oh, and my writing instruments of choice range from markers and crayons to sharpies and Stephen's red grading pens. Whatever is around and not out of ink.

All that sloppy scratching =


SOURDOUGH SOFT PRETZELS
 Makes 4 >> vegan << pretzels

What you'll need . . . 

• 1/2 cup sourdough starter (straight from the fridge) 
• 1/3 cup low sodium veggie juice (I used R.W. Knudsun's Very Veggie)***
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1-1/2 cups bread flour
• 1 tablespoons flax meal
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• pinch salt
• rosemary + paprika, to taste (optional)

*** You can also use water, I'm sure of it.


Method . . . 

1. Easy enough: Toss all wet ingredients into a large bowl followed by the dry ingredients.
2. Mix together using a spoon, then work into kneading with your hands, adding extra flour if necessary. Form a smooth, elastic ball.
3. Put a bit of olive oil in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap overnight (or 8 to 10 hours should do it).
4. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F. Lightly grease a baking sheet and set aside.
5. Divide dough into 4 equal portions. Then, on a slightly oiled surface (I used a large plate) roll out into a long snake. Shape into a pretzel, as per these instructions from another recipe.
6. Fill a large stock pot with water and bring to a raging boil. Then place the pretzels in one by one (or two by two, if you're comfortable) and keep submerged for about 30 seconds (they will begin to float).
7. Repeat with the other two pretzels. Then sprinkle with coarse salt (and more paprika, if you like).
8. Bake for 5 minutes. Then lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, until golden.

I've been making a lot of stuff with my sourdough starter. Honestly, I didn't know there were so many uses for it. Bagels, pretzels, pancakes, waffles, just to name a few. My favorite creation has to be the basic sourdough loaf, though.

I've also noticed a gigantic difference in taste, sourness, with letting things rise overnight versus just a few hours. It's well, well, well worth the wait, whenever possible.

And I took your advice and bought a non-Le Creuset dutch oven. Got it -- a Wolfgang Puck, 5.6 qt -- at TJ Max on clearance for $39. THIRTY NINE DOLLARS. As in, at least $100 under what I thought I needed to spend.


You'll be getting good use this weekend, my friend.

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Cookie Dough Crumblers and Giveaway

* * * Giveaway Now Closed * * *

Congrats to Jen (California Meets New Jersey) who writes: "Well if I made it past putting it together and not eating the whole bowl...I like to make my own ice cream sandwiches with homemade cookies!"


You all know about my struggles with sugar. Things are looking up, which I'll write about another day, but I must say that Lindsay (Love and Olive Oil) is responsible for a sort of relapse.

A brand new collection of her recipes came out on June 5th in a book called The Cookie Dough Lover’s Cookbook (Quirk Books). It's absolutely teeming with dessert ideas that feature -- you guessed it -- cookie dough.


To celebrate, Quirk Books has asked several food bloggers across the web to go crazy with her concept and create their own masterpieces. With cookie dough. Please. You had me at hello.

Thing is, I eat cookie dough so frequently, I could really only think to share my extremely basic (and quite embarrassing) guilty pleasure. This is my favorite way to eat it.


Obviously that wouldn't earn me any points. So, I went back to the drawing board. Cookie dough cheesecake? It's been done. Cookie dough tirimisu -- also done! Surely there's got to be SOMEthing unique and new!

What about COOKIE DOUGH BABY FOOD?!


OK. No babies were harmed in the execution of that joke. It was purely photographic. The babe ate carrots last night.


Anyway, I decided to keep it basic . . . with a twist. These cookie dough crumblers are bite-sized, salty, crunchy, chewy, and topped with chocolate-peanut butter.


COOKIE DOUGH CRUMBLERS

What you'll need for the cookie dough:

• 1/2 cup Earth Balance or butter
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup cane sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons light coconut milk (or other milk/substitute)
• 1-1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• Pinch salt
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

For the pretzel base:

• Pretzels, enough to make at least 3/4 to 1 cup when processed
• 2 to 4 tablespoons melted Earth Balance or butter

For the chocolate:

• 1/3 to 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon Earth Balance

Method . . .

1. Cream together the Earth Balance, brown sugar, cane sugar, vanilla extract, and coconut milk. Beat until light and fluffy. Then add in the flour, salt, and chocolate chips. Mix until combined. Set aside.
2. Lightly butter the cups of a mini muffin tin and set aside.
3. In a food processor, pulse your pretzels until they are into little bits. Then add in the melted Earth Balance. More EB means less crumble. Though, I used 2 tablespoons and think mine are almost too crumbly. It's up to you!
4. Press equal amounts of pretzel mixture into the cups of your tin. Make sure you have a little left over for sprinkling at the end, though you will have a bit that comes off when you pop them out of the tins.
5. Then press equal amounts of cookie dough into each tin. You may have some left over. Eat it promptly. (Well, that's what I did. You can also store it in the fridge for the week.)
6. I covered my tin and placed it in the freezer for an hour to chill. Then I gently popped each bite out using my fingers and placed on some tin foil. I would have used wax paper, but I was out.
7. Then melt the chocolate, peanut butter, and Earth Balance together. I did it in the microwave, but stove works, too. Spoon this mixture over each bite and then sprinkle with excess pretzel. Let chill in the refrigerator for several hours. Or eat right away for a gooey experience.

Don't mind if I do!


And the book again is The Cookie Dough Lover's Cookbook by Lindsay Landis. I've had my copy for maybe a month and it's already well worn.


GIVEAWAY: If you'd like to win a copy of the book, just leave a comment below -- by midnight EST by Thursday, June 21, with some way to contact you -- with how you'd use the cookie dough. Winner will be announced Friday morning.

And to check out scenes from Stephen's first father's day, visit Writing Chapter Three. We'll be back with more weekend happenings later in the day.

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Rye-Parmesan Soft Pretzels

This recipe comes from Alton Brown, one of my all-time favorite chefs. Before last night, I'd never made soft pretzels from scratch. But that didn't mean everything that went into the process was unfamiliar. In fact, I badly burned my left thumb last night -- and the last time I burned a digit was about a year ago . . . while making soft pretzels.

Ouch!

So, exercise caution as you prepare this recipe. And if you're as clumsy as I am, you may want to keep some cold water and a few band-aids nearby.

RYE-PARMESAN SOFT PRETZELS
(Not a fan of rye or parmesan? Get Mr. Brown's original soft pretzel recipe here.)

What you'll need . . .

• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 2-1/2 cups wheat pastry flour
• 2 cups rye flour
• 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
• 2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
• Vegetable oil, for pan
• 10 cups water
• 2/3 cup baking soda
• 1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
• More kosher salt (or pretzel salt, if you're fancy)

Method . . .

(To make the dough)

1. Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam.
2. Add the flour, butter, and parmesan cheese. Using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined.
3. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes.
4. Remove the dough from the bowl and place in a large, lightly-oiled bowl. Cover the large bowl with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes (or until the dough has doubled in size).
5. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.

(Baking instructions)

1. Then bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.
2. In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.
3. Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

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