Author: Thomas

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Homemade Soft Pretzels

Another stay-at-home special! I was making my brother’s Elk Queso recipe and thought a good homemade soft pretzel would go great with that cheesy dip!

Ingredients:

  • 1 ½ cups water, warm
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 packet active dry yeast
  • 4 ½ cups flour
  • 3 tablespoons oil, divided
  • ⅔ cup baking soda
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • coarse salt

Preperation:

  • In a bowl, mix water, salt, and sugar until combined. Add yeast, and let rest 5 minutes until yeast starts to foam.
  • Add flour and 2 tablespoons of oil, and mix thoroughly until a dough forms.
  • Remove the dough and use the remaining oil to cover the bowl.
  • Cover bowl with plastic wrap, and leave in a warm place for 1 hour.
  • Preheat oven to 450°F (230°C).
  • Cut dough into 8 pieces and roll them out into thin ropes, twisting the two ends to form a pretzel shape.
  • Add baking soda to a large pot of water, and bring to a rolling boil. Boil each pretzel for 30-45 seconds per side.
  • Transfer pretzels to a baking sheet, brush with egg wash, and sprinkle with salt. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until golden brown.
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Blueberry Buckle

Blueberry Buckle

This was a suggested recipe from Leigh – she loves her desserts! I pretty much followed the recipe from Alton Brown so this is another not-invented-here recipe. It was a bit of a pain as his measurements for the dry ingredients were all in ounces so I ended up weighing each of those ingredients. Turned out fantastic, moist and slightly sweet, almost an angle food cake taste and texture but heavier. It’s also good with a cup of coffee the next morning, so I’ve heard.

Ingredients:

FOR THE TOPPING

  • 3 1/2 ounces sugar
  • 1 1/2 ounces cake flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (freshly grated)
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (cubed and chilled)

FOR THE CAKE

  • 9 ounces cake flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (left at room temperature for 30 minutes or until instant-read thermometer stuck into the middle reads about 60 degrees F))
  • 5 1/4 ounces sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 15 ounces fresh blueberries

Preparation:

MAKE THE TOPPING

  • Combine the sugar, flour and nutmeg in a small bowl then work in the butter, using a fork to combine. Keep “forking” until the mixture has a crumb-like texture. Set aside. Note: If you have a pastry cutter, now’s the time to use it. I used a handheld food processor and it worked perfectly.

MAKE THE CAKE

  • Heat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a 9-inch square GLASS baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
  • Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and ginger together in a medium bowl and set aside.
  • Beat together the butter and sugar in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium speed until light and fluffy, approximately 1 minute. Reduce the speed a bit and thoroughly incorporate the egg. Reduce the speed to low (or “stir” on a Kitchenaid) and add one-third of the flour mixture. Once incorporated, add one-third of the milk then repeat alternating until all ingredients are combined.
    • Don’t worry if batter is a little thick.
  • Gently stir in the blueberries and pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish and sprinkle on the topping mixture.
  • Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 45 minutes, or until golden. Cool for 30 minutes before serving.