Soft Pretzel Bites & Hot Chorizo Dip

These two recipe were both winners. Caleb and I had this as a lunch/ snack today. The dip would be perfect to take to a party with tortilla chips, as well. And the pretzels, well, they would be perfect anytime. SO YUM!

These recipes came from Mel's Kitchen Cafe.

Soft Pretzel Bites

*Note: if using active dry yeast, increase the yeast to 1 tablespoon. Proof the yeast in the warm water and sugar (let it bubble and foam – maybe about 5 minutes) before adding it to the flour and salt.

*Makes about 2 dozen pretzel bites

Dough:
2 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
1 cup (8 ounces) very warm water

Topping:
1/2 cup (4 ounces) warm water
2 tablespoons baking soda
Coarse salt (optional)
3 tablespoons butter, melted

In a large bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer, place the flour, salt, sugar and yeast. Mix to just combine. Add the water and mix well, adding more flour, as needed, a bit at a time to form a soft, smooth dough that clears the sides and bottom of the bowl. Knead the dough, by hand or machine, for about 5 minutes, until it is soft, smooth and quite slack. The goal is to get a really soft dough that isn’t overly sticky. Lightly flour the dough and place it in a plastic bag; close the bag, leaving room for the dough to expand, and let it rest for 30 minutes or up to 60 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 500°F. Don’t be afraid of the high heat! This is what will help those pretzels to brown up perfectly and stay soft on the inside. Prepare two baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper or lightly greasing them.

Transfer the dough to a lightly greased work surface, and divide it into about four strips of equal length. Allow the pieces to rest, uncovered, for 5 minutes. While the dough is resting, combine the 1/2 cup warm water and the baking soda in a liquid measuring cup (deep enough to dip the pretzel bites into). Make sure the baking soda is thoroughly dissolved. Sometimes I have a hard time getting the baking soda completely dissolved, so I just lightly stir up the mixture right before adding each pretzel.

Cut each strip of dough into about 6-8 pieces, about 1 to 1 ½ inches in width. You don’t have to be completely exact, just eyeball it. Dip each pretzel bite in the baking soda solution (this will give the pretzels a nice, golden-brown color), and place them on the baking sheets. Sprinkle them lightly with coarse, kosher, or pretzel salt. Allow them to rest, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

Bake the pretzels for 7-8 minutes or until they’re golden brown. Bake one sheet at a time – it won’t hurt the other pretzels to chill out for a little longer.

Remove the pretzels from the oven, and brush them thoroughly with the melted butter. Keep brushing the butter on until you’ve used it all up; it may seem like a lot, but that’s what gives these pretzels their ethereal taste. Eat the pretzels warm, or reheat them in an oven or microwave on low heat.

Recipe Source: adapted from this version

Hot Chorizo Dip

*Note: if you aren’t familiar with chorizo, it is a pork sausage that is usually cured and requires cooking prior to eating. The outer casing is easily (and should be!) removed prior to cooking. Chorizo is usually located by the other sausage-type meats in the meat section of the grocery store and it can range from mild to spicy so choose the flavor that suits your taste buds best! In a pinch, I’m guessing that another spicy-ish pork sausage would work in place of the chorizo.

*Makes about 2 cups

1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup minced yellow onion
8 ounces chorizo, casings removed and diced
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk
8 ounce cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) medium cheddar cheese, grated
1 small can diced green chiles
1/2 teaspoon salt

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 2-3 minutes. Add the diced chorizo and cook, breaking up the chorizo into smaller pieces if you like, until it is cooked through, about 5 minutes. Pour off all but one tablespoon of fat from the pan. Add the flour and stirring constantly, cook for 1-2 minutes. Gradually whisk in the milk and combine well. Cook over medium heat until the sauce is thick, about 4 minutes. Add the cream cheese to the pot in tablespoon-size pieces and stir to combine as the cream cheese melts. Reduce the heat to low and add the cheese 1/4 cup at a time, stirring until each addition is melted before adding more. Stir in the green chiles and the salt.

Serve warm in a bread bowl or with tortilla chips.

Recipe Source: adapted from Joy of Cooking

Horseradish Chive Bread

Preheat oven to 375º. Mash 1 stick room- temperature unsalted butter with 2 Tbsp. prepared horseradish and 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh chives until smooth. Season with coarse salt (I skipped the salt). Slice 1 large French bread loaf (or 2 small loaves), without cutting all the way through. Generously spread butter mixture evenly onto each piece, adn wrap loaf in foil. Bake for 15 minutes. Serve warm.

This is really super delicious and super easy! You could used whatever bread you have on hand, really. I didn't use french bread either time I've made it because the bakery didn't have any either time!

Buttermilk Cinnamon Rolls with cream cheese glaze

I must confess we haven't eaten these yet, or even baked them actually. They are currently ready, but not iced, and sitting in our fridge waiting to be baked fresh in the morning. So I can't vouch for them except to say that I have a really good feeling about these. One adjustment -- I used 1 1/4 C. whole wheat flour. Also, I didn't have any instant yeast, so I just used active dry yeast. I know it's not the same, but the dough rose fine so far. I guess we'll see in the morning. I got this recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe, and she says you can use active dry yeast if you whisk it into the buttermilk/ butter mixture and let it rest for 5-7 minutes until it's foamy. I didn't do this, but I was just feeling lazy (plus, I'm kind of curious to see how it affects the outcome). In future, I'll just plan to keep some instant yeast in my pantry, as well as active dry yeast. This seems labor intensive, but it was really super simple. Just requires planning ahead so they have time to rise and be ready when you want to eat them.

****update: These are REALLY good. Using the wrong kind of yeast didn't seem to adversely affect them, but next time I'll probably use the instant, because I'm just not a rule-breaker. :) Also, I think I'd use regular milk or halft milk and half buttermilk in the glaze. It was a little too tangy for me. Enjoy!

Makes 12 rolls

Rolls:
¾ cup buttermilk, warm (I pour the buttermilk in a glass liquid measuring cup and microwave for 1 minute on 50% power)
6 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
3 large eggs
4 ¼ cups (21 ¼ ounces) flour
¼ cup (1 ¾ ounces) sugar
2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast
1 ¼ teaspoons salt

Filling:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Glaze (or use the delicious cream cheese frosting from this recipe):
1 ½ cups (6 ounces) confectioners sugar
2 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons buttermilk or milk
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

For the dough, whisk the warmed buttermilk and butter together in a large liquid measuring cup. Combine 4 cups of flour, sugar, yeast and salt together in a standing mixer fitted with dough hook (or you can use a large bowl and mix with a wooden spoon or electric handheld mixer). With the mixer on low speed, add the buttermilk mixture and eggs and mix until the dough comes together, about 2 minutes. Increase the mixer to medium speed and knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes (knead for 15-18 minutes by hand). If after 5 minutes of kneading, the dough is still overly sticky, add 1/4 cup flour 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough clears the sides of the bowl but has a slight tacky feel when pressed between your fingertips. (See this tutorial for a visual.)

Place the dough in a large, lightly oiled bowl and cover the top tightly with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled, around 2 to 2 ½ hours, depending on the warmth of your kitchen.

*Note: to make these rolls ahead of time, once the rolls are formed and placed on the baking sheet, immediately cover them with lightly greased plastic wrap and refrigerate them; do not let them rise. Refrigerate overnight, up to 16 hours. Let the rolls sit at room temperature, covered, until they have doubled in size about 3-4 hours and then uncover and bake as directed. The rolls can also be frozen at the same point as mentioned above (cover with a layer of greased plastic wrap and a top layer of tin foil). They will need to sit at room temperature for 9-11 hours to defrost and rise before baking.

Meanwhile, lightly grease a 9X13-inch baking dish (if doubling the recipe, I’ve found using a large rimmed baking sheet, 11X17-inches, works great). In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar and cinnamon together. Set aside.

When the dough is ready, turn it out onto a lightly floured counter (I use my trusty roul’pat for this step) and press it into a 16 by 12-inch rectangle (if you have doubled the recipe, split the dough in half and roll out one half at a time). Gently brush the softened butter over the rectangle, using an offset spatula or rubber spatula. Sprinkle on the brown sugar mixture, leaving a 1/2-inch border along the top and bottom edges. Lightly use the palms of your hands to press the brown sugar mixture into the butter, adhering it to the dough.

Lift the longest edge closest to you and begin rolling the dough into a tight log. Pinch the seam closed and roll the log so it is seam side down. Gently stretch the log to be 18 inches in length with an even diameter all the way throughout and pat the ends to even them up.

Using a serrated knife, slice the log into 12 evenly sized rolls (or more if you like your rolls thinner). Arrange the rolls cut side down on the prepared baking pan and cover with lightly greased plastic wrap. Let the rolls rise in a warm place until doubled, 1 to 1 ½ hours.

Bake at 350 degrees for 22-25 minutes, until the rolls are lightly golden on top and cooked through but not overly browned.

While the rolls are baking, mix the softened cream cheese and buttermilk together until smooth. Add the vanilla and mix. Whisk in the confectioner’s sugar. Add additional milk or buttermilk one teaspoon at a time until desired glaze consistency is reached. It should be thick yet pourable. Drizzle the warm rolls with the glaze.

Recipe Source: adapted from America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Handbook

Chocolate Chip Muffins

This is another recipe I've shared with a few of you. I got it from my friend Melanie, who shares my love of baked goods with chocolate chips in them! :)

Muffins:

1-1/2 C flour

1 C oats

1/2 C sugar

1 TBS baking powder

1 C milk

1/4 C oil

1 egg

chocolate chips (enough to look good!)

Mix until moist and line muffin cups with liners. Fill 3/4 full.

Streusel:

1/3 C oats

1/4 C flour

1/4 C packed brown sugar

3 TBS butter, chilled

Mix dry ingredients. Cut in butter until crumbs. Spoon over muffins. Bake at 350 for @15 minutes.

Buttermilk Biscuits

This recipe was simple and delicious. I don't have a biscuit cutter, so I used a glass.

12 oz all-purpose flour (about 2 cups), plus more for dusting

4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. kosher salt

1 oz (2 Tbsp) unsalted butter, chilled

2 oz (1/4 C) vegetable shortening (such as Crisco), chilled

1 C. low-fat buttermilk, chilled

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

3. Using your fingertips, rub the butter and shortening into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

4. Make a well in the middle of this mixture and pour in the buttermilk. Stir with a large spoon until the dough just comes together. Then knead in the bowl until all the flour has been taken up.

5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, then start folding the dough over on itself, gently kneading for 30 seconds or until the dough is soft and smooth.

6. Press the dough into a 3/4-inch thick round. Using a 3-inch round cutter, cut out biscuits, being sure to push the cutter all the way through the dough to the work surface before twisting to "punch" out the biscuit. Make your cuts as close together as possible to limit waste.

7. Place the biscuits on an aluminum sheet pan so the they just barely touch. Reroll scraps and punch out as many biscuits as possible.

8. Use your thumb to create a shallow dimple in the top center of each biscuit, and bake until the biscuits are tall and light on top, 15 to 20 minutes.

This recipe is from Family Circle, Nov.1, 2009

Chocolate Chip Oat Scones

This recipe is from our dear friends Melanie and Mei. It's a favorite at our house for breakfast or anytime. Also really good warmed up if you can't eat them right out of the oven.

2/3 C. margarine or butter, melted (I always use butter, margarine does not exist to me.)

1/3 C. milk

1 egg

1/4 C. granulated sugar

1 Tbsp baking powder

1 tsp cream of tartar

1 1/4 C. oats

1 1/2 C. flour

chocolate chips (I use milk or a mixture of milk and dark)

In a medium bowl, mix butter, milk, and egg together with a wooden spoon. Stir in sugar, baking powder, and cream of tartar. The mixture will start to look a little bubbly. Stir in oats and then flour. Add as many chocolate chips as you want. Pat dough into a circle (I usually do it on parchment paper on a baking sheet so I can just bake right on there). Cut it into 8 triangles (no need to cut all the way through the dough, just score it). Bake on cookie sheet or baking stone at 350 for about 15-20 minutes.