Just a Mom, HA!

Homemade Soft Pretzels

Confession time:  When I was pregnant with Cee all I wanted to eat were soft Pretzel Bites from the mall.  I drove by a mall on my commute and had to force myself with all my pregnant-lady rationality (which wasn’t much) not to go there everyday and blow my paycheck.

So, when I saw this recipe over at My Kitchen Cafe (a favorite food blog that I stalk), I got so excited.  Just think of all the money I’ll save if those same cravings come back in my next pregnancy? Woo!

Now, as a connoisseur of soft pretzels, let me say just a couple of things.  First, these pretzels were not like Pretzel Time in the mall – more like soft pretzels at sporting events, which made them a little too pretzely for my liking.  I think that I will lessen the amount of baking soda in the wash next time to see if I can soften them up a touch.

Second – since these pretzels cook very hot (500 degrees!) this recipe has a HIGH SMOKE WARNING! The pretzels were perfect, but the cooking spray that I greased the pan with set my fire alarm off when I opened the oven for the first batch.  I’d suggest making these on parchment paper to save yourself the smokey headache.

Homemade Soft Pretzels

Dough:
2 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons instant or regular yeast
7/8 c. warm water (can use up to a cup in needed)

Topping:
1/2 cup warm water
2 tablespoons baking soda
salt, you can just use plain table salt, or get some coarser salt for a fun look
3 tablespoons butter, melted

Place all of the dough ingredients into a bowl and beat until well combined. Knead the dough, by hand or machine, for about 5 minutes, until it is soft, smooth, and quite slack. Lightly flour the dough and cover it.  Let dough rest for 30 minutes or longer if not using instant yeast (dough should almost double).

Preheat your oven to 500°F. Prepare two baking sheets by spraying them with vegetable oil spray, or lining them with parchment paper (I’d say paper over spray – note my high smoke warning).

Divide dough into eight equal pieces. 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, and place it in a shallow bowl or pie plate. Make sure the baking soda is thoroughly dissolved; if it isn’t, it will make your pretzels splotchy.

Roll each piece of dough into a long, thin rope (about 28 to 30 inches long), and twist each rope into a pretzel. Dip each pretzel in the baking soda wash (this will give the pretzels a nice, golden-brown color), and place them on the baking sheets. Sprinkle them lightly with salt. Allow them to rest, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

Bake the pretzels for 7 to 8 minutes, or until they’re golden brown. I only baked one baking sheet at a time and let the other rest while the first is in the oven.

Remove the pretzels from the oven, and brush them with the melted butter. Eat the pretzels warm, or reheat them in an oven or microwave.

Happy Cooking!

Half-the-Butter Oatmeal Cookies

I love cookies. LOVE them!  Growing up with my parents, how could I not?  My mom is a cookie artist and my Dad is a Cookie Monster.  What I don’t love are the cookies that are SO buttered that they leave grease behind on your fingers or napkin.

Here’s a little secret – you can half the butter on LOTS of cookie recipes.

I even used low-cal butter.

That being said, the flavor was perfect.  Not too sweet, smooth inside and slightly crisp on the outside.  Fierce.

Half-the-Butter Oatmeal Cookies

• 1/4 c. butter/margarine, softened (I used light Blue Bonnet)
• 1/2 c. packed brown sugar
• 1/4 c. white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 c. flour
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 c. quick oats
• 1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used the mini-chips and they were great)

Cream together the soft butter, brown sugar, white sugar, egg, and vanilla.  Add dry ingredients all at once, then stir until well blended.  Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheets.  Bake at 325 for 13 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet, then transfer for racks.  Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Happy Cooking!

Naan Revisited – “Healthy” Pizza & Cinnamon Rolls

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post for naan, Indian flat bread.  I fell in LOVE with this recipe and was inspired by a friend’s comment to try it in new ways.

#1 Pizza:

Naan pizza was fantastic and is a great way to “healthify” a favorite comfort food of mine.  Naan is oil free, I used turkey pepperoni, and went light on the cheese, giving me ALL of the glorious taste without grease puddles to mop up.  Heaven!

To try this: Make naan as directed, but break it up only into 3 sections.  Roll them out, place on a sprayed cookie sheet for the second rising.  After the second rising, top dough with your favorite pizza ingredients, and bake at 350 degrees for 11 minutes (or as long as it takes to cook through and lightly brown the edges).

#2 Cinnamon Rolls.  Again, heaven (and easier than I thought)!

To try this: Make naan as directed, but break it only into three pieces. Roll pieces out into as even a rectangle as possible.  Cover dough with melted butter, then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.  Roll the dough until you have formed a long ‘log’ and pinch the edges to seal it up.  It’s okay if some of the cinnamon slime squeezes out, I spooned the extra over the tops when they were all placed.

Slide a thread (or dental floss could work) just under one end of the log until you reach about an inch and a half, then cross the thread over the log and pull ends until you make a slice through the dough.  Remove the now cut roll and place cut side down in a lightly sprayed cake pan.  Repeat this for the entire log.  Allow rolls to rise the second time.  Bake rolls at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until tops are lightly browned like in the picture.  Top with a simple glaze and serve warm.

Simple glazes can be made with powdered sugar, a little melted butter, a little vanilla and a little milk. Happy Cooking!

Yogurt Berry Muffins

These muffins are intended to be a healthier muffin.  If you’re looking for the super sweet, leaves-grease-on-your-fingers type muffins then you shouldn’t read on.  However if you want a muffin that’s warm, not too sweet, and not going to kill you on calories, then this is a great option.

I did want a little more sweet, so I tore mine open and drizzled honey on it.

Then I died because it was so good.

Try the honey, I’m telling ya.

Yogurt Muffins

• 2 c. flour
• 3 Tbs. sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 6 oz light lemon yogurt*
• 1 egg
• 1/4 c. milk
• 1 Tbs canola oil
• 1 Tbs natural applesauce
• 1 cup frozen blueberries and dried cranberries (I used about 2/3 blueberries then topped off the measuring cup with cranberries)

Spray your muffin tin with cooking spray and set aside.  Mix together all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl, making a well at the center.  In a smaller mixing bowl combine all wet ingredients (save berries for later) and mix until well blended.  Add wet ingredients to dry, mixing until everything is moistened – this batter is VERY thick; it’s okay if it’s a little lumpy.  Next fold in the berries, until just dispersed, don’t over mix.  Drop batter into the greased muffin tin dispersing the batter evenly between all 12 cups (each cup should be about 2/3 full).  Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

*Kim’s note:  the lemon yogurt doesn’t add a strong lemon taste.  If you want even more lemon in your batter, add about a tsp. of fresh lemon zest.  Is amazing with honey!

Happy Cooking!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip [Cake Batter] Cookies

It’s the season for pumpkin cooking!  I’ve got two pumpkin recipes for you this week, but since it’s getting late I’m just going to start with the easier of the two.

I get a lot of traffic to this site because of my recipe for Cake Batter Cookies – they’re easy, they’re delicious, you can really cut a lot of the fat, and they lend very well to add-ins.  One of my favorite variations of this recipe is to take spice cake mix and change it into pumpkin cookies!  This is a big fav for Jay too, so when I had some spare pumpkin lying around after a dinner I hosted last week, I knew that the time had come for this:

Hold me back from the cooling racks, I seriously have little restraint around these bad boys.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip [Cake Batter] Cookies

• 1 box spice cake mix
• 1 c. canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix, they are typically sold side by side)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 c. water
• 1/4 c. canola oil, applesauce, or a combo of both (I’ll fill my measuring cup most of the way up with natural applesauce, then just top it off with the oil – you can cut the oil completely, but I find that it adds a little extra weight and moisture to the cookies.)
• 1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Mix first 5 ingredients together in a big bowl – I find that a hand mixer works well for this, but by hand gets the job done too.  Once blended and lumps are out of batter, fold in chocolate chips.  If not using oil, spray your cookie sheets before scooping dough to prevent sticking.  Bake at 350 degrees for 11 minutes.

Happy Cooking!

Eating Out at Home: Sweet Potato Sandwich from Flour Power Cafe

Right after my foot surgery, Jay took me to get some lunch so that I wouldn’t need to get up for the rest of the afternoon. We wanted to be quick since he was away from work so we popped over to the Flour Power Café* in our neighborhood.

It wasn’t exactly what we expected (and a bit pricey), but with TONS of yummy sounding options, we were happy to be there. I got a vegetarian sandwich that used sweet potato as the “meat” then loaded the bread with more veggies and a veggie-spread as well.

It was so yummy I swooned, and not because of the heavy medication.

I can’t recreate their sandwich perfectly since I don’t have a clue what went into that spread (it was kind of hummus-y), but I decided to take the idea and make it my own.

Sweet Potato Sandwich

• 1 medium/large sweet potato, peeled, steamed, sliced
• Grainy sliced bread, toasted
• Sweet BBQ sauce
• Avocado Dip

Possible toppings:

• Baby spinach
• Sprouts
• Onion
• Tomato
• Cheese
• Cucumbers

Spread BBQ sauce on one of the slices of bread, then arrange sweet potatoes on top. Spread avocado dip on the other slice of bread. Stack sandwich with as many toppings as you like, sandwich together and enjoy! Makes 3 sandwiches.

Happy Cooking!

*I was in no way compensated for the review of this restaurant.

Peanut Butter Feather Pancakes and Fruit Parfait

I’ve got to hand it to my sidebar ads, sometimes they’ve got some great suggestions.  As the site owner, I’m not allowed to click on my own ads and I stand by that since it would be a horribly dishonest thing to do, but sometimes a few of them grab my interest and I type in the URL myself so that I can see what all of the fuss is about.

These pancakes caught my interest over on the Jiff website.  Jay loves PB, and since breakfast is HIS specialty in our house and not mine, I thought I’d suggest these to him.

We measured, we flipped, we ate.

While Jay did like these served up the traditional way with maple syrup, I preferred going with fruit toppings – bananas, jams, jellies, fruit syrup, honey that kind of thing.  Thanks for the adventure Jiff!

Peanut Butter Feather Pancakes
•    1 cup  All Purpose Flour
•    2 tablespoons sugar
•    1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
•    1 large egg
•    1/3 cup Peanut Butter
•    1 cup milk
•    2 tablespoons  Canola Oil (I used applesauce instead)

STIR together flour, sugar and baking powder in large bowl. BEAT egg with peanut butter in small bowl until blended. Stir in milk and oil. Add all at once to the dry ingredients, beating until blended. HEAT skillet over medium-high heat or griddle to 375ºF. Spray with no-stick cooking spray. Pour 2 tablespoons batter for each pancake onto skillet. Cook until bubbles break the surface. Turn and brown the other side. SERVE with syrup, fresh fruit or powdered sugar. Yield: 16 (3-inch) pancakes.

Pictured with the pancakes is a simple fruit parfait which makes a great breakfast side or snack, and is a healthier alternative to bacon, eggs, ham, etc.

Easy Fruit Parfait

• 2-3 c. fresh fruit, cut into bite sizes (in the picture I used 1 apple, 2 bananas, and 2 kiwis)
• 1 container of low-cal yogurt (berry flavors work best, or you could try a lemon)
• Something for a bit of crunch – cereal pieces, granola (I used a Nature Valley granola bar that I crunched up).

Mix all ingredients together, refrigerate until time to serve.

Chocolate Banana Biscotti

Last weekend I posted a link about cutting eggs out of baking.  Since I’d never really thought about taking out eggs I decided to give two of the suggestions a try in one recipe – Chocolate Banana Biscotti.  These turned out 100 times better than I ever imagined!  First out of the oven they have crip outsides, a warm and chewy inside, and a flavor that is sweet, but not too sweet.  I could have eaten them all day, but I stopped myself after two. : )

The best part is the calorie count – I sliced my logs to make 19 cookies, and with a little math I discovered that puts the average sized ones at 93.42 calories.  And with the fat corners I cut, the only fat involved is what comes in the original batter, and what’s in the chocolate chips.  Not a bad treat!

Chocolate Banana Biscotti

• 1 package banana bread mix (I used Pilsbury)
• 3 Tbs water
• ½ banana, mashed
• 4 oz plain, fat free yogurt
• 2 Tbs natural applesauce
• 2 servings of semi-sweet chocolate chips (I actually counted them so that I could do the calorie math and I used 64)

Combine all wet ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir until combined.  Add wet ingredients to banana bread mix and stir until mixed.  Chop half of the chocolate chip pieces until slivered, then add them and the rest of the chocolate chips to the batter.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with foil or parchment paper.  Since I took all of the oil out of the recipe, I sprayed the foil with cooking spray until well coated for ease of removing logs.  Divide dough in half and form two rectangular logs (about 4.5 inches x 8 inches) – dough will be sticky, but touchable (use wet hands if needed).

Bake logs for 30 minutes, remove from oven and cookie sheet, and allow to cool on wire racks.  Once the logs are cooled cut them into ½  inch strips.  Put strips back on the cookie sheet, cut side down, and bake for another 10 minutes.  Flip strips to other side and bake another 10 minutes.

Kim’s note:  Mine were crisp on the outside with a chewy center using the method described above, but have softened even more as I’ve stored them.  If you want them to be truly crispy throughout like a coffee house biscotti, I’d suggest baking the strips longer, but still doing the 10-minute flip so that the edges don’t have the chance to burn.

Happy Cooking!