Welcome baby brunch

Today we had a little get-together brunch to welcome our little girlie. We invited mostly family and a few friends who haven't met her yet. Our house is cozy (read: small) so I tried to have a buffet-style mix of offerings which accommodated as many palates as possible. I had veggie items, some meat (ham), and a few gluten-free foods. I finally got to break in a 3-part buffet warmer my mother gifted me for Christmas plus I put beans on the stove and a few cold salads (fruit, mixed greens & a pasta). I paired these items with coffee, tea and lemonade. For dessert, I offered mini lemon pies and a pumpkin rum raisin cake I made while pregnant and froze for just such an occasion. Finally, I put out some fresh flowers, a bright tablecloth and all-white serving dishes and plates which added to the Springtime and "new" feel. Thankfully we had a beautiful day to boot so we opened up the curtains and windows to let the sun shine in and fresh air fill the house.

Of course, I couldn't forget the main ingredient & star of the show: out little girl!

Sticky situation

Last weekend I was afforded the luxury of time in the kitchen so I decided to make sticky buns. I was reminded that there are few more satisfying feelings than kneading dough. Also doughy buns with cinnamon and sugar are just plain delicious. I found the recipe in an old book I bought second-hand which is a 150th anniversary church cookbook. Church groups here usually know what they're talking about when it comes to baking! And I'm thinking these would be a lovely accompanying treat to any Easter brunch. The recipe is fairly easy though takes a while to process due to rising times. I was able to do some chores around the house in the in-between times...and all that waiting had some yummy rewards.

Dough:
2 1/4 to 2 3/4 cups unsifted all purpose flour
1 pk fast-rising (instant) yeast
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup butter or margarine (softened)
1 large egg

Filling:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter or margarine (softened)
The recipe called for 1/3 cup raisins and 1/3 cup pecans to add to the mix but I omitted them

Syrup:
1/4 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 tbs butter or margarine
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
The recipe called for 36 pecan halves for garnishing, but again I omitted them

Directions:
First you mix together just 1 cup of the flour and the rest of the dry dough ingredients. Then heat the wet ingredients and add them to the dry. Add the butter and egg and mix for 3 minutes. Then stir more flour into the mixture until you form a soft dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured board and knead in additional flour, if necessary to form a stiff dough. Knead for about 5 mins until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Place in a greased bowl, and turn the dough over to bring up the greased side. Then cover the dough with a towel and let it rise in a warm place for about 30-40 mins until it doubles in size. You can also place it in the fridge and let it rise there overnight.

To make the filling, combine the sugar and cinnamon. When dough has risen, lightly grease 2 large cookie sheets or 2 muffin tins (you can make these in the muffin tins and the cups will contain the buns). Turn the dough out on to a floured surface and roll into a 16x12 inch rectangle. Try to keep the rectangle even to make rolling easier. Spread the butter over the dough and then sprinkle with the filling mixture. Roll the dough into a log; try to keep the log roll tight as you go and pinch the edges to seal them. Cut the log into 1 inch sections crosswise and put the buns on the sheets or tins. Cover and let the buns rise again- this time about 30 minutes. I told you there was a lot of waiting but the end result is so worth it!

Preheat the oven to 350 F and bake the buns 20-25 mins until golden brown. While they're baking, make the syrup by combining the sugar syrup butter and cinnamon in a small saucepan. Resist the urge to lick this mixture because it will be HOT...though yummy. When the buns are finished in the oven, remove them to a wire rack and brush the sticky syrup mixture over them. You could, of course, omit the syrup altogether and you'd have perfectly respectable cinnamon buns. But, 'common!

The church recipe book says to serve these treats warm which I highly recommend. And really, I dare you not to try them as soon as you are finished. My partner in parenting wisely advised that I wouldn't be able to make such decadent treats every weekend with our little one. He was right, but we all need a treat every now and then. And not one of these buns went to waste so I think he enjoyed them as much as I did. I hope you do, too.

Fruit by the muffin

Last Sunday, I got up and got baking. Just like old times. I made pancakes for breakfast, started on an all-day pasta sauce from scratch, and made these mini muffins. I got the recipe from a handy Company's Coming recipe book on Christmas recipes which always inspires me to host huge brunches and cocktail parties. This time, I took a baby step and just made the muffins. They were bite-sized and handy for a snack or as a brunch or breakfast item. The fruit and yogurt in them made them moist and the brown sugar kept them sweet. I followed the recipe closely...except I added some raisins along with the recommended fruit. You could also add nuts.

You'll need:

1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt

3/4 cup quick rolled oats
2/3 cup finely chopped apple
1/3 cup finely chopped dried apricot

1 Large egg
2/3 cup yogurt (recipe suggested peach, I used strawberry)
3 tbs cooking oil
 2 tbs milk

Measure first 5 ingredients into a large bowl and stir together.

Add the next 3 ingredients and stir until the fruit is coated. Make a well in the center of the mixture.

Combine remaining 4 ingredients in a small bowl and beat lightly. Add this wet mixture to the dry mixture (the well) and stir until just moistened. The recipe says this will fill 24 mini muffin cups but I found it filled about 18. You need to fill up the cups until they're full and the batter is slightly mounded. The muffins won't rise much in the oven so filling up the cups to the brim will give you a good muffin shape.

Bake in a 350 F oven for about 17 minutes or until the muffins are golden. If you insert a wooden pic in the center of one it should come out clean. These will keep for most of the week or you can freeze them for up to  3 months in an airtight container.

This is a great recipe that's quick to put together and packs a nutritional punch. And with September rolling around, it's great to make a few batches and keep some muffins in the freezer for last-minute school or work snacks.

Cookie Me Christmas

To kick off the holiday baking season, I decided to start with a fool-proof stand-by recipe: the Tollhouse chocolate chip cookie. This recipe makes a bunch of cookies (as in 40 or so) and is easy to make and bake. It's not diet, or gluten free or even dairy free but it is an old stand-by and I'm sure many of you out there are going to be looking for a great cookie recipe this season.

What you'll need:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I did sub half of the white flour with whole wheat and it worked out fine)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup butter (softened)
3/4 cup white granulated sugar
34 cup brown sugar (packed)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups chocolate chips + 1 cup nuts (optional)

Preheat oven 375 degrees F

Like many cookie recipes, you make this one in two stages: wet and dry. First combine the flour, baking soda and salt together in one bowl and stir with a whisk to get any lumps out. Second, use a hand mixer or stand mixer to beat together the soft butter, sugars and vanilla. Combining butter and sugar is called "creaming" and you'll know it's done combing when the mixture is lump-free and fluffy. Then you add one egg at a time, combining after each addition, to the wet mixture. Finally, combine the dry into the wet (in batches and slowly so you don't end up with a snow-storm of flour in your kitchen). Stir in the chocolate and nuts by hand with a spatula.

You then drop the cookie batter onto non-greased cookie sheets with a spoon. I use two spoons, one to drop and the other to pry off the dough hanging on to the original spoon. It's a technique that's good if you don't want to get your hands in a mess

Bake each cookie sheet 9-11 minutes until the cookies are just set in the middle and brown on the edges. You may have to rotate and/or turn your sheet in the oven depending on how hot your oven is, if it's convection, if it's old, etc. I recommend not putting more cookie dough on a hot, out-of-the-oven, sheet because it causes the dough to melt a little and screws up the baking time.

Let baked cookies cool on the sheets on top of the stove for a few minutes before transferring them to wire racks to complete cooling. Pour up a glass of milk and enjoy! Merry (early) Christmas!

Mega Muffins

I'm trying a healthy kick and part of that is figuring out a good way to start my day with a healthy breakfast. There's only so much cereal, fruit and yogurt a girl can eat. Plus I want something that I can eat on the run. Something I can eat on the run without resorting to fast food or pre-packaged treats. There is one snack that is the answer to all these conundrums: muffins! I found this recipe from Canadian Living which I love because their recipes are 'tested until perfect.' The recipe seemed to have all the major items I need to start my day (aside from coffee). These muffins have hearty oats, fruit, protein, and fiber.
The recipe starts like those for many baked goods: combining wet and dry ingredients separately. Then you combine them gently into the same bowl. Though these muffins have lots of grains and oats, they stay moist with the help of grated apples and milk. Without a lot of butter or margarine, they are pretty heart-healthy and I've added some ground flax for an extra healthy kick.
The recipe makes just about 12 muffins, if you fill each muffin tin up to the very top to allow for a yummy outter crust.
Bake the muffins in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out with just a few crumbs. Let them cool in the pan 5 minutes then transfer them to a rack to cool. Your kitchen will smell fabulous and you'll benefit from having tons of goodness baked into a tiny package. They also freeze well; wrap the muffins individually in plastic wrap before sealing in an airtight container or freezer bag. To thaw, microwave for 20 seconds, or let thaw overnight in the fridge.

You could substitute other items such as grated carrot or banana for the fruit for a different tasting muffin. And feel free to experiment with substitutions for the currents such as raisins, chocolate chips, or other nuts or dried fruit. All yummy!

Sugar, (maple) sugar

In the spirit of Canada Day (and summer pot lucks) I present to you a different and creative offering: maple shortbread.

You 'll need:
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup maple suyrup (the real stuff, not pancake syrup!)
2 cups all-purpose flour

Line a 9x13 inch metal pan with parchment paper or foil (or a large springform pan like I used) and preheat the oven to 350F.

Cream together the sugar, butter and syrup until fluffy.

Add in the flour, 1/2 cups at a time by hand. Stir together until everything is just combined.
Press the soft dough into yiour prepared pan. Prick the top of the shortbread all over with a fork. Bake at 350 degress 25 minutes until golden. Let it cool on a wire rack.
You can leave the shortbread just like this, or you can gild the lilly a tad with a maple candy glaze (!) by combining in a saucepan on the stove on medium heat:
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tbs whipping cream
2 cups peanuts (optional).

Pour the melted mixture over the prepared shortbread and smooth to cover. Put the whole thing back into the oven for 20 minutes more until the topping is caramalized and golden. Cut into wedgest (or squares/bars depending on the size pan you use). This should make about 40 decent-sized bars if you use a 9x13 inch pan. They're rich cookies with a hint of maple flavour. Just enough to

Don't you want me, Biscotti?

This recipe is adapted from an old Company's Coming cookbook recipe for cranberry-pepper biscotti (but doesn't that sound awesome?!). I didn't have cranberries but I did have chocolate chips. And a few hours one Sunday morning. I've made biscotti before and remember it being a little labour-intensive. This recipe, however, wasn't bad and the results were just great. Here's the recipe:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
1/4 cup butter (or margarine) softened
1/2 cup sugar (but you can use less)
2 eggs

Put first 6 items in a large bowl and mix well.

Cream the butter and sugar in a separate bowl. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add all this to the first bowl's mixture. Slightly mix it all together until it's barely holding together. It'll be lumpy and bumpy and crumbly.

Turn the mixture onto a floured surface and get your (clean) hands into it. Knead the dough a few times. You can make small or large biscotti cookies. For large ones, use the whole mixture and form it into a long log. To make small ones, divide it in half and make two logs (about 8 inches long).

Place the log(s) on a greased baking sheet and flatten them slightly. Bake at 350F for 20-25 mins until the edges are golden. Remove from oven and let stand 10 minutes.


Biscotti means "twice baked" so when it's cool enough to handle, cut each log into 1/2 inch slices with a serrated knife. Arrange the cut-side down cookies on a baking sheet and bake for another 20 minutes at a reduced heat of 275F. Let stand in oven about 20 minutes after that with the oven turned off.

Biscotti are supposed to be dry and crispy. They're great for dunking into coffee or tea (or wine). This should yield about 2 dozen smaller biscotti...less if you like 'em big!

You can use this basic recipe and substitute the chocolate for anything you'd like, including dried fruit (like apricots, cranberries, raisins) and nuts (almonds are pretty traditional in biscotti). Enjoy!

Switch it up: cookie edition

So remember the thrill I got when I discovered Skor toffee bits? I had a similar feeling when I re-discovered white chocolate chips in the supermarket this weekend. I just had to have them...and make something with them. I decided on a fail safe recipe: reverse chocolate chip cookies. They're chocolate cookies (thanks to cocoa powder) with white chips. There isn't much butter and only one egg so it makes a stiff batter that's easy to handle. Bonus? They're also easy to freeze. I have a feeling my co-workers are starting to get wary of all the baked goods I'm bringing them. Hey, I like baking...but I also don't like gaining weight, hence why I offer goodies to other people. So I baked half this recipe and then froze the rest in a log for easy baking in a pinch.

Here's the easy peasy recipe:

1/2 cup butter (softened)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 pk (226 g) white chocolate chips

Cream together the butter and sugar until blended and smooth. Whisk the egg and vanilla in a small bowl and then add to the butter mixture and blend in. Gently incorporate the four and baking soda. Then mix in the cocoa powder and finally the chips. The batter will be tight and easy to mold. To bake, drop onto a ungreased cookie sheet (about 1tbs cookies) and bake at 350 degrees for 9-11 minutes. I found 9 minutes fine but ovens differ. Just be sure to watch the cookies because it's difficult to tell if they're too dark or burning! Once they're done, let them cool on the cookie sheet about 2 minutes before removing. The cookies will be cracked but if you don't over-bake them they'll still be chewy. These will store well baked, or free unused dough sealed tight in plastic wrap. Wouldn't your co-workers love some of these?

Cookie Sheet

Chocolate coconut cookies

This is an adaptation from the Canadian Living Mud Pie cookie recipe. I was on a roll last week in the kitchen and took out my trusted Canadian Living Cooks cookbook. Their recipes are tested until perfect and this one promised to be a cookie version of a brownie. Yum. I had the basic ingredients but not the add-ins so I used what I had: chocolate and shredded coconut. Here is the recipe and what I did:

6 oz chocolate (bittersweet and chopped)
1/2 cup butter (I used a little less)
1 1/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup shredded coconut

Line baking sheets with parchment paper and preheat oven to 350F.

In a large heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water melt together chocolate and butter. Remove from heat when almost melted and stir until fully combined.

Then whisk in sugar, eggs one at a time, and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Pour over chocolate mixture and stir until just combined. Add in coconut and combine. Drop by tablespoonfuls, about 2 inches apart, onto prepared pan(s). These cookies tend to spread while baking so take that into account. You can also make them smaller if you wish.

Bake one sheet at a time in the centre of the oven until firm around edges but still soft in the centre. This should take about 10-12 minutes. Let stand on the pan until firm (about 5 mins) before transferring them to racks to completely cool.

The recipe book also says you can make these ahead by layering them between wax paper in an airtight container to be stored at room temp for up to 5 days or freeze up to 2 weeks. This recipe makes a lot of cookies (about 3 dozen) so it's great you can store some if needed! Happy chocolate fix!

Snow Day Pizza

So it's a snow day here where I live. Blizzard conditions outside with blowing snow and cold temps. I'm off work for the day and had little else to do but conjure up something in the kitchen. I also don't have much in my fridge. But I seem to always have the necessities for baking: flour, yeast, salt, sugar, etc. So after scouring my pantry I decided to make pizza. From scratch.

It's not that difficult and here's my go-to pizza dough recipe:

1 1/2 tsb dry yeast
1/2 tsp sugar
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water

Mix these together gently and let sit 10 mins until it starts to bubble.

Then, in a large bowl, mix together
3 1/2 cups flour (all purpose)
1 1/2 tsp salt

Pour the yeast mixture into the centre of the flour mixture. Start pulling in flour into the centre with a fork gently mixing as you go. Then add 1 egg, beaten, and continue to combine the mixture into a loose dough.
Once the mixture starts to just come together, dump it out onto a floured surface and knead it.

Kneading is simple enough and the best way is to press the dough, pull one side towards you and then double that onto the middle mass of dough. Turn the whole thing a 1/4 turn and repeat. Keep doing this for a couple minutes until the dough becomes smooth and can form a ball.

Put the ball of dough into a lightly oiled bowl and turn it around until it is lightly coated with oil. Cover with a dish towel or plastic wrap. You need to let this rise for about 45 minutes in a warm place. Once that's done, unwrap it, punch the dough down, knead it once more for a few minutes and it's ready to go.

You can stretch this dough with your hands or knuckles, flavour it with herbs, shape it into bread sticks or whatever you'd like. On this snowy day, I opted for one basic tomato sauce/peperoni/cheese pizza and one smaller basil pesto and tomato flat bread.

Making your own pizza dough is a little time consuming but you can take pride in it. It's relaxing and helps you take out your frustrations. Plus you can experiment with it: use whole wheat flour, flavour it, make it into different shapes, choose whatever toppings you like or have on hand, etc.

Not a bad way to spend time, or eat, on a snowy day.

Banana muffins (sanity-saving baked goods)

So as I was saying, making food can be oddly calming and sanity-saving. This week, it was banana muffins that eased my mind and reminded me there was at least one area of my life I can control. The recipe, I realized today, I have already posted here. This time around, I used two bananas and no chocolate though. It's an easy recipe which goes great for breakfast, breaks at work or when you want to earn brownie points with anyone.

Here are the results, which were gobbled up at work faster than I could say "there's banana muffins in the break room."

Baking for the mind and soul

Everything kept going wrong last night. Nothing horrible but just enough crap to get under my skin and annoy me. So what did I do? After a nice healthy glass of pinot grigio I set to baking. That's right. Baking. It soothes me. It makes me calmer. I get to take little nothings like four, sugar and eggs and make them into something worthwhile. This time, the something was banana muffins. I'll post the pictures and recipe soon. But for now, I can revel in feeling like I've meditated, and feeling like I've created something good. And those are pretty good feelings.

Adventures in entertaining

Everyone has the need (or want) to entertain once in a while. Holidays, birthdays, housewarmings, congratulations, etc. They're all excuses for celebrations complete with food, drink and good company. While I have been known to go a little out of control with my food and drink preparation, I have learned some useful tricks and techniques over the years that have made entertaining enjoyable and easier than ever. First, I try to have one or two signature dishes. Then the rest of the spread can be easy cheese/fruit/meat platters, veggie or fruit trays, ready-made frozen apps or even chips and dip. Have one drink you can offer guests (and make sure there's a non-alcoholic option) but more often than not people will bring their own libations so don't sweat it. Focus your energy on taking pride in your work, setting a nice grouping of finger foods and then forget about it. When guests stat arriving you need to relax and enjoy their company. The middle of your party is no time to be worrying over un-made dishes, stuff in the oven or if a pot is boiling over on the stove!

I threw a bash this past weekend and here are some things I threw together for the occasion. Complete with my recipe for my go-to party dish: guacamole!

There are a million different ways to make guacamole and I've been known to just throw together some avocados, tomato and lime juice and call it a day. But if I'm really serious, here's how I do it:

3 avocados
1 tomato
1/2 lime (juiced)
1 clove garlic (minced)
1/4 onion (minced)
1/4 cup cilantro
1 jalapeno pepper (minced)
pinch salt & pepper

Combine everything in a medium/large bowl and mash avocados with a fork until the mixture is still slightly chunky but well combined. Then transfer the mixture into your serving dish. To save the guacamole for the party, put plastic wrap over the mixture and press it into the top of the guacamole so it touches all the surface. This will prevent the mixture from browning. Refrigerate until it's time to party. Serve with chips or veggies. Yumm-0!


Cheese and crackers is easy peasy but pleases lots of people. This was simple brie and pepper goat's cheese. Below: a spread on a table makes it easy for people to mingle and dash back and forth for treats. Besides what I talked about here, I also made bacon-wrapped asparagus (yes, it is an excellent idea!) and did a couple veggie platters and candy bowls in strategic places around the apartment.




One of my signature dishes and an essential sweet treat in a sea of salty, savory appetizers. Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes get easier to make every time and are are a great conversations starter! Happy entertaining!

Holiday baking

I've posted on the Signal Blog about my holiday shortbread baking-fest. Happy holidays all!

Awesome chocolatey brownies

Photo: Guilty Kitchen

What better way to spend a Sunday afternoon (and celebrate my dad's birthday) than make a batch of easy but choco-gooey brownies? I have a go-to Toblerone brownie recipe but wanted to try something new. Then I remembered a brownie recipe had come through the pipes on FoodBuzz recently. It's the Guilty Kitchen's recipe for The Perfect Brownie.

I followed it to the letter - except I also added chocolate chips - and the end result was indulged, decadent and, well, awesome. Prepare all the ingredients on your counter, and pre-heat the oven while you're mixing everything together. The recipe goes by in a snap. This wonderful treat is so easy and quick to make. It's a sweet brownie that's heavy on chocolate. Here is a the recipe and I highly recommend you try this out! Thanks fellow food buzzer!

3/4 cup all purpose flour, sifted
1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp cocoa
6 oz dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids or more)
1/2 cup butter, cut into small pieces
1 tsp instant coffee
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
3 eggs, well beaten
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8x8 brownie pan. In a bowl, whisk together or sift the flour, salt and coca powder. In a double boiler (metal bowl resting on top of a saucepan of water), melt together the chocolate, butter and coffee. Add sugars and remove from heat.
Add in eggs and vanilla, but do not over beat. Sprinkle flour over chocolate mixture, folding gentle with a spatula. Again, to not over mix. Pour into baking pan, bake 30 minutes (rotating halfway) or until edges are completely cooked and center is slightly underdone. Let cool in the pan, cut into squares and enjoy!

I found 30 mins to be the perfect timing but all ovens vary. Just keep an eye on it towards the end of cooking time. Leaving the brownies underdone is, in my opinion, the best method because they'll be more ooey gooey. This recipe would also be good with some add-ins like marshmallow, nuts or or dried fruit (though all those things would take away space from the coveted chocolate) and the perfect pairing is a big glass of milk!

Light cheesecake

For a recent get-together I decided to make cheesecake. There were two problems with that idea though: most recipes for cheesecake require multiple blocks of cream cheese and I'm trying to eat and cook lighter. So I found this recipe for a lighter cheesecake and spiked it with some vanilla extract and orange zest for extra flavour. It was a tangy cake that wasn't rich but tasty all the same.

First you make the base with graham cracker crumbs and/or shortcake biscuit crumbs and butter. This isn't terribly light but you can pick and choose the kinds of biscuit you use and the butter or margarine you mix it with. Use as much as you like because everyone has their own preference on consistency or thickness of cake bases. Whiz it in the food processor until it becomes a little crumbly and then pat and press it into the bottom of a 10" springform pan.

Alternatively you could not use a crumb base. Just grease the springform pan and pour the cheesecake batter directly into the pan to bake.

The cheesecake part is done like this:

4 cups Ricotta cheese
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon grated orange rind (zest)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
Cooking spray (for non-crust option)

Preheat oven to 350°.
Place first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed 2 minutes or until smooth. Add eggs, 1 at a time, and beat well after each addition. Pour the batter into the pan on top of the cooled crust or on its own. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until cheesecake center barely moves when pan is touched. Remove cheesecake from oven; run a knife around the outside edge of cheesecake. Cool slightly; remove outer ring from pan. I decorated this cheesecake with orange and starfruit slices to make it pretty.

Pretzels!

Flipping through a few cookbooks one day I found a picture of homemade pretzels and a pint of beer. The recipe for soft pretzels just seemed intriguing and promised to be yummy. It takes some time to make but a lot of that time is waiting, rising and baking. And the process of forming the dough is fantastic. Here it is:

2 1/4 tsp dry yeast (1 package)

1 1/2 tsp sugar

1 cup warm water

3 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp salt

6 cups water

cooking spray

2 tbs baking soda

1 large egg

2 tsp salt (kosher or sea - or replace this with sesame seeds)

Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water in a large bowl and let stand 5 mins.

Spoon 3 cups flour and 1 tsp salt into yeast mixture. Stir together until soft dough forms. This is the beginning of your basic bread mixture. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface (counter top) and knead until smooth and elastic (about 8 mins). Kneading involves working with the dough in a push and pull method. You'll find the dough changing under your fingers and the feel of the dough is wonderfully tactile. Add some flour (about 1tbs at a time) if the dough starts sticking to your hands but it should feel slightly sticky.

Place the dough into a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning the ball of dough to coat it. Cover with a tea towel or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 40mins. The dough should double in size in this time.

Preheat oven to 425 F and divide dough into 12 equal portions. Working with one portion at a time, roll each into a long rope (about 18"). Cross one end of rope over the other to form a circle, leaving about 4" at end of each rope. Twist the rope at the base of the circle and fold the ends over and into the traditional pretzel shape. Alternatively, you can make smaller pretzel sticks or whatever other shape you would like!

Place your pretzels on a greased baking sheet and let rise again for about 10mins.

Combine 6 cups water and the baking soda in a pan or dutch oven (not aluminum). Bring this to a boil, reduce heat and simmer. Gently lower one pretzel at a time into the simmering water for 15 seconds, turn and simmer for 15 more seconds. Do this to all the pretzels returning each one to the creased pan. When they are all finished with the boiling process, beat the egg with 1tsp water and brush this over the pretzels. Sprinkle the salt or seeds on top of the pretzels. Bake at 425F for 12 mins until they are deep golden brown. Transfer them to a wire rack to cool and enjoy! These are great for a party or a nice light snack.

They will last about a day but then they'll get chewy and stale so keep this in mind. They're impressive for guests but do them the day of your event or party to keep freshness. And they're excellent with mustard!

Though they're satisfying in their doughiness, the pretzels only cost you 140 calories and about 2 grams of fat each.