Soft, Chewy Pretzels

I like having staple recipes that I can turn to over and over again to fit a variety of eating needs. Soft, chewy pretzels are one of those staples. Quick lunch option for kids? Check. Late night movie snack? Check. Friends coming over for board games? Check.

Make a batch of these pretzels ahead of time, they freeze well, like biscuits (just let them cool completely, then stick in a zip-top bag). Reheat in a brown paper bag at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10 minutes and serve with tangy mustard or cheese sauce.

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Soft, Chewy Pretzels
Makes 8 large pretzels or 16 smaller pretzels

1 1/2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
3 ounces unsalted butter, melted
2 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
4 1/2 to 5 cups all purpose flour
Vegetable oil, to coat bowl
3 quarts water
2/3 cups baking soda
1 egg (mixed with 1 tablespoon of water to make an egg wash)
Course sea salt

1. Combine 1 1/2 cups water, sugar, yeast, and butter in a bowl and mix until combined (if using a stand mixer, use a dough hook). Let sit for five minutes.

2. Add the salt and flour to the mixture and mix until combined. Continue to mix/knead in the bowl until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. If the dough appears to wet, add additional flour, one tablespoon at a time. Remove the dough from the bowl, place on a flat surface and knead into a ball with your hands.

3. Coat a large bowl with vegetable oil; add the dough and turn to coat. Cover with a clean towel or plastic wrap and place in a warm spot until the dough has doubled in size (about one hour).

4. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Bring the 3 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot.

5. Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a flat surface. Divide the dough into eight equal pieces. Roll each piece into a long rope. To shape into pretzels, take the right side and cross over to the left. Cross right to left again and flip up.

6. Slowly add the baking soda to the boiling water. Boil the pretzels in the water solution, two at a time for 30 seconds, splashing the tops with the water with a spoon. Remove with a large, flat slotted spatula or a spider. Place pretzels on a baking sheet, leaving plenty of space between each pretzel, and brush the tops with the egg wash and season liberally with sea salt. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until pretzels are golden brown. Remove pretzels from baking sheet and allow to cool on a wire rack.

Dried Fruit Slices

The first things I decided to dehydrate in my new Excalibur were simple: Apples, oranges, and pears. I had them available, and they are so  easy to dehydrate, I though it would be a good place to start.

My Excalibur model has a handy guide right on the top of the dehydrator that explains which temperatures items should be dried at (fruits do well at 135 degrees Fahrenheit). I sliced the apples and pears on the thin side with just a chef's knife (no mandoline this time... I didn't feel like dirty-ing up another piece of equipment) and I cored the apples down the center to make "rings." For both the apples and pears, I dipped them in lemon juice before placing on the dehydrator trays to maintain color (prevent browning). The oranges I sliced a bit thicker, as I plan on using them both in cooking, infusing, and crafting.

Thankfully, my new dehydrator has a timer. That means I was able to "set it and forget it!" and turn it on, go to bed, and wake up in the morning to perfectly dried fruit slices. I left the dehydrator on for six hours, and that seemed to do the trick. Everything was dry, but not brittle. I stored each variety of fruit in mason jars that are in my pantry in the moment. For longer-term storage, I would put them in reusable, freezer-safe containers and store the in the freezer (for up to a year).

I'm looking forward to drying more produce, like beet and carrot chips to add to winter salads. Do you have any uses for your dehydrated produce? I'd love some ideas!

This post is sponsored by Excalibur. To check out their complete line of products, please visit their website. Thank you for understanding the purpose of these types of posts, dear readers!

Perfect Salted Caramels

I met Lauren from Craft My Life Away at the From Scratch Club food swaps. As a first-time swapper, I was eager to get to know Lauren... especially since she brought these insane salted caramel bars that were a hot-ticket item at the swap. Seriously, they were soooo good.

Anyway.

Lauren is a pretty nifty lady, as she is a excellent baker/confection maker and crafter. Since each year I try to send my friends and loved ones a little treat for the holidays, I thought I'd ask Lauren to share her Salted Caramel recipe with me (us) - they'd be perfect to send in the post! So, Lauren, have at it. School us in all things caramel!

Homemade Halloween Goodies

First off, I'm hoping anyone affected by Hurricane Sandy is doing well. Best wishes for a safe and speedy recovery.

If you are like me, you probably waited until the last minute to get your Halloween goodies together. Fear not - there is still time to make some treats from scratch!

Popcorn Balls

Candied Apples

Caramel Apples

If you don't have the time to make your own, I'm going to let you in on a new favorite secret of mine: G.H. Cretors popcorn! This stuff is bonkers good, and the best part is that it's Gluten-Free, GMO-Free, Kosher, and made with all-natural ingredients. 

The Chicago Mix is definitely my favorite - it's a mix of cheese and caramel corn. I love the Caramel Nut Crunch, too.

Get a sample pack and try them all out! So good. You can buy on the site, on Amazon or use the store locator for more information. This would be an awesome holiday present (hint hint). Keep tabs on G.H. Cretors on Facebook.

Good luck prepping for Halloween! Are you handing out candy or going the extra mile to make something special? How many trick-or-treaters do you get? (We get two.)

Biscotti

Sometimes I swear I should be Italian. I love the language, the culture, and especially the food. But alas, not a drop of Italian blood in this lady. I am rather homogeneous (Scots-Irish, English, Welsh, with one descendant down the line being of Apache heritage). Besides having a high tolerance for alcohol, this lineage has also led my family to be a sole supporter of Coppertone.

One Italian tradition I learned to love while visiting the country with my mother was biscotti (dipped in either espresso or wine). A few years later, while I was slinging pancakes in a local cafe, I was re-introduced to biscotti. After my waitressing shift was up I would take an espresso and piece of chocolate biscotti (technically, biscotto) to accompany me on the ride back to my apartment.

Biscotti is incredibly simple (remember: I don't make anything that's "hard") and like biscuits, if you have a good base to work from, you can expand the flavors immensely. I recently made a large batch of gingerbread biscotti and espresso chocolate-chip biscotti to send to three lovely ladies as part of the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap. It was so fun to send out my cookies in their little tins, only to receive three batches of scrumptious goodies in return. If you missed out, don't worry, I heard the organizers will do it again next year!

Special Shout-Out: I sent my cookies to Annalise at Completely Delicious, Jewel at Eat Drink Shop Love,  and Tanvi at The Hathi Cooks. In return, I received Double Chocolate Crackles from Amber at Amber's Confections, Molasses Cookies with Orange Sugar from Emily at Back to the Cutting Board, and Dark Chocolate Cafenela Cookies from Leslie at My Kitchen is Open. Now, on to the recipe.


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Biscotti
Makes 20 pieces


Base Recipe
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine the flour, baking powder and soda, and salt together. Set aside

2. Beat together the eggs and sugar until combined and pale (that's how you know the sugar has dissolved). Add in dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

3. On a greased cookie sheet (this is one of the few times I actually dig out my Sil-Pat), form dough into log about three inches wide and 12-15 inches long. Bake for 25-30 minutes until lightly browned.

4. Remove biscotti from the oven and allow to cool enough to handle. With a serrated bread knife, cut the biscotti into about 20 pieces (more or less, depending on how thick you like you biscotti). Be sure to cut straight down into the biscotti to get clean cuts that doesn't cause the cookies to crumble. Arrange back on the cookie sheet and back for another 12-15 minutes until the biscotti is dry and crisp. Allow to cool on a baking sheet. Enjoy by dunking into your favorite Italian beverage.

Espresso Chocolate-Chip Biscotti
Start with base recipe, but add to egg/sugar mixture...
2 teaspoons instant espresso or coffee powder
2 teaspoons hot water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
(or 3 teaspoons very strong espresso and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)

After incorporating dry ingredients, add six ounces of chopped semi-sweet chocolate or mini chocolate chips. Bake as above.

Gingerbread Biscotti
Start with base recipe, but add to dry ingredients...
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon orange zest

Bake as above.

Peach Fruit Leather

Peach Week goes nostalgic today, with a take on old-school Fruit Roll-Ups. In efforts to "adultify" this a bit, let's call it Fruit Leather, instead. Most recipes you find will tell you that fruit leather requires a dehydrator, but I'm going to debunk that myth. You can most definitely make fruit leather in your standard old oven. Any fruit can be used to make fruit leather, but "firmer" fruits (like apples and pears) might require a bit of water to "loosen" the puree up.

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Peach Fruit Leather
Makes Eight Large Strips

4 cups peaches (skinned, pitted and diced)
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1. In a blender, puree all ingredients together until smooth (if the puree is a bit thick, add some water to thin it out).

2. Line a jelly roll pan with waxed paper or a Silpat and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Preheat oven to 175 degree Fahernheit (if it doesn't go that low, heat to the lowest setting).

3. Spread the puree onto the prepared pan and spread out into a thin layer. Bake in the oven for 6-8 hours (or longer if necessary - a humid day might cause this to take longer). The fruit leather is "done" when it easily pulls off of the waxed paper or Silpat and stays together (with the pliability of actual leather).

4. Fruit leather can be wrapped in waxed paper and stored in the refrigerator for up to two months. This makes a great treat for lunches (especially with Back-to-School coming up!) and doesn't have any of the nasty chemicals or preservatives of conventional Fruit Roll-Ups. Enjoy!