Comfort Food - Soft Pretzel Bites

It has been COLD here lately and for some reason cold weather makes me want warm carb filled foods. Yesterday the craving hit and I decided to try adapting a soft pretzel recipe to make it a bit healthier. The result was delicious and definitely fit the comfort food category.

Whole Wheat Soft Pretzel Bites
Find the original recipe here.

1 1/2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons sucanat
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast (or one package)
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
4 to 4 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon wheat gluten
3 quarts water
3/4 cup baking soda
1 whole egg beaten with one tablespoon water
sea salt (If I would have had course salt, I would have used that)

Combine water, sucanat, yeast, and melted butter. Let stand 5 minutes and pour into the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the dough hook, add sea salt, gluten and 2 to 3 cups of flour. Mix until well combined. Continue adding remaining flour until dough is soft and pliable, but not sticky. Transfer dough to a greased bowl. Cover and let stand in a warm place until double. This time of year, I turn on the oven for about a minute and then turn it off and let my yeast doughs sit inside until risen.
Preheat oven to 425.
In a large pot, combine 3 quarts water with 3/4 cup baking soda. Bring to a boil. Divide dough into eight equal  portions and roll each portion into a rope. Cut into bite size pieces and drop 15-20 pieces into the baking soda water. Boil for 30 seconds and transfer to a greased cookie sheet. Continue until all pretzel bites are boiled. Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with salt. Bake for 13-15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve hot. I haven't tried it yet, but I imagine these would freeze well and you could just pull out a few and reheat in the oven for a quick and tasty snack.

Matt made a quick little cheese sauce for his, but since my body has decided not to get along with very much dairy, I dipped mine in honey mustard sauce. But even plain, these little bites were tasty!

More Fall Goodness

Yesterday I made a trip to the local apple orchard. There is just nothing like a good crisp apple straight from the orchard. I've always associated apples with fall, but for the past 7 years, I have not had a good apple in the fall. I was never able to find that orchard fresh crisp tart/sweet combo in an apple while we were in Texas. So yesterday and today have been major apple eating days. I bought a ton, but I may have to head back up and get some more at the rate we all I have been eating them.

So today's cooking experiment included finding a good caramel apple dip for all these yummy apples. Not that they need dip, but I just love apples and caramel. I have this memory from growing up of combining caramel ice cream topping with cream cheese and it was amazing, so I was looking to recreate that. Unfortunately caramel ice cream topping in the store is really nothing but corn syrup and hydrogenated oil, so I did a hunt and came up with a recipe to make my own. I think it's even better than what I remembered from growing up. Now if I can restrain myself from eating it too quickly.

Caramel Cream Cheese Apple Dip

1/2 cup sucanat or brown sugar

2 1/2 Tablespoons water (omit 1/2 T if using brown sugar)

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 Tablespoon salted butter

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

In a heavy sauce pan, combine sucanat, water, and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until it is bubbly and beginning to thicken. (About 6 minutes total cook time.) Remove from heat and stir in cream and butter. Stir until the mixture is smooth. Pour into a bowl and stir in the vanilla. Let mixture cool for about an hour. Place cream cheese block in the caramel mixture and beat with hand mixer until smooth. Serve with your favorite apples.

Thick and Creamy Yogurt

I can't remember exactly when I first started making yogurt. I remember getting tired of paying more than $2 for a quart of yogurt that lasted us less than a week. I looked into yogurt makers, but really didn't want yet another kitchen appliance taking up space in my already full cabinets. So, I did a little research and discovered that yogurt making is ridiculously easy. I confess that since our move, I had not gotten back into making it, but last week, I finally got sick of paying so much and made my own. This time I decided to try straining it though, to make it a bit more like that yummy creamy Greek yogurt that my frugal self will not even consider buying. Since I've only sampled Greek yogurt at the store and can't bring myself to buy it, I don't have anything to compare this to, but we really like it. Especially with a swirl of vanilla extract and a sprinkling of a new nutty granola I've been making.

Thick and Creamy Yogurt

1 - 2 quarts milk
2 T plain yogurt with no added fruit or sweeteners
a large double boiler, or two pans that will give you the same effect
a digital read food thermometer
a cooler large enough to hold 1-2 quarts of yogurt surrounded by water
a sink full of ice water
wide mouth canning jars
cheesecloth or other similar material (I use an old super thin pillow case that I cut in half and it works great)
strainer

Begin by placing your milk in a double boiler and bringing the temperature to 180 degrees. Remove the pan that's holding your milk and place it in the sink full of ice water until the temperature falls to 115 degrees. Remove from the ice water and whisk in 2 T yogurt until thoroughly mixed in. Pour into wide mouth canning jars and place the lids on. Fill your cooler with enough hot water to come up to the edge of the glass part of your jar. Water temperature should start off around 118-120 degrees, but absolutely no hotter or it will kill your yogurt culture. Place your jars into the water and put the lid on the cooler. Set your timer for 5-6 hours depending on how sour you want your yogurt. After 5-6 hours, you can remove your jars and refrigerate. That's it! SO easy.

But, if you want your yogurt to be thick and creamy, after it has been allowed to culture for 5-6 hours, pour it into a cheesecloth lined strainer. Make sure you keep the strainer over a bowl because what's straining out is the whey and it can be used to make some super yummy biscuits. (recipe to come) Allow the yogurt to strain about 45 minutes, stirring once to allow the whey to strain well. Scrape the yogurt out of the cheesecloth and back into your jar, stir it up, and refrigerate. Enjoy with your favorite toppings!