Peanut Brittle, with Spirit and Spice

This is an old recipe, which I have started playing with recently. Turns out you can substitute other things, like beer or wine, for the water, and it still turns out great. Also, adding the amount of "heat" I have listed gives it a nice mouth feel without really being hot at all. In fact, if you add it and don't tell anybody, they'll like it better and have a hard time figuring out what you did different. Any hot-heads out there will want to put in a lot more than that.

Find the abbreviated Peanut Brittle Recipe here.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup clear corn syrup (aka Karo)
• 1/2 cup water or Guinness or Chardonnay
  
• 3/4 cup (6 oz, 1 & 1/2 stick) butter
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
• 3 shakes Tabasco sauce (optional)
• 1 lb salted cocktail peanuts
• 1 tsp baking soda
• kosher salt

Equipment:

• 1 large bowl of ice water
• 3 -4 qt pot
• candy thermometer
• wooden spoon
• greased heat-resistant surface, such as pans, sil pats, or my favorite non-stick rolling mat from King Arthur Flour, which is heat tolerant even though it doesn't mention it on the website.
  
• Note: the countertop underneath the pan or mat will get hot, so make sure it isn't too sensitive either.

A helper with a strong arm is also nice.



Keep the bowl of ice water nearby, in case you get hot candy on you. Candy will really burn your skin, and once it's on you, plunging into the icy water is the best way to prevent a bad burn.



1. Measure the baking soda into a small bowl, and keep handy for later.
2. Mix the sugar, corn syrup, liquid of choice, and butter in the pan over medium heat. Also stir in the cayenne and tobasco, if you want the extra kick.



3. Stir until melted and blended.



4. Increase heat to med-high, and heat until it reaches 320 deg F. The candy will bubble and even foam a bit at first, especially if you used beer. It will then thicken, and smooth out, with fewer but deeper thick bubble holes. As the temperature climbs, it will begin to change to a more golden color. The temperature tends to rise, then hold, then rise again several times.



5. When it reaches 320, slide the pan off of the heat, and stir in the peanuts.



6. The temperature will drop, and the candy will become very thick, making it hard to stir. This is where the strong arm is handy. Once mixed, return to heat, and stir constantly until the temperature reaches 305 deg F.

7. Remove from heat, and immediately stir in the baking soda, mixing well.



8. Pour the candy onto the greased surface, allowing it to spread on its own. In the middle, the candy will be thicker than the peanuts are wide, and thinner at the edges, with many bubbles throughout. This creates a light candy that crushes to the bite. Manual spreading will deflate the bubbles without actually spreading the candy significantly. Sprinkle the top with kosher salt. If the cooling surface is in direct contact with a countertop, moving the candy, pan and all, a couple of times will cool it faster.



9. When it has cooled completely, lift and drop the brittle from an inch or two over the counter, to break it. Store in an air-tight tin or container to keep moisture out and keep it crunchy.

New Oven Review: Bosch 800 is great!

We've moved into our new place, and are now back online. This means I'm now a first-time owner of a pair of convection ovens, and I really really love them. Bosch 800 Series; here’s the link. They make me happy.

They work better than I could have imagined, and not just for bread. We use them at almost every meal, and My husband likes and uses them too, and we’ve used both at once a few times. He made beef jerky the other day (dehydrate mode), and a pork tenderloin roast last night.

The Bosch has three elements in each oven, making them "European Convection". The third element is in the back oven wall, around the convection fan. That works better than the "American Convection", which lacks the element that is around the fan. My parents have an "American" style JennAir, and it cooks so unevenly that they never use convection.

I'm very glad I chose the Bosch over the Trivection ovens from GE. The Trivection was tempting because it is supposed to cook things quickly, especially casseroles. It has a low-level microwave in it, but just the "American Convection". I haven't tried a Trivection, but the Bosch ovens are faster than my old oven, and faster than the microwave if you’re fixing something from the freezer for the whole family. Speed Convection; they really mean that.

The Electrolux Icon also looked nice, but will not hold a 16" pizza stone. The stone fits into the Bosch just fine. There's a proof mode, which works nicely. Breads cook faster and rise more. If you get one, be sure to read the instructions, look at the guides, try out the programmed recipes, and expect your food to be done faster than a conventional oven.

Updadte:

I still love these ovens, but there is one fault: the display gets confusing sometimes, when both ovens are on. On a few occasions, I've had an oven be off, and I couldn't tell until later. On others, when trying to heat the lower oven to 550 for pizza, I ended up setting the upper oven. This was especially bad because the upper was supposed to be proofing some dough. I had to throw part of it away, even though I figured out what I'd done fairly quickly. It works great when I get the correct oven doing the job I want.

Apple Strudel

This is the favorite bread creation of many of my friends. Technically, it is probably not a strudel, since it is made of bread dough rather than pastry. But to-date, no one has cared. I serve the glaze on the side, allowing each person to decorate their own slice to their liking.

I was in a hurry and my photos leave much to be desired. This strudel did not last past lunch time at work this morning, even though it shared a table with a number of excellent breakfast items and sweets. It looks prettier with the icing on top.

Find the most current and print-friendly version here.



Dough Ingredients:

1 1/8 cup		water
3 Tbs		butter
2 Tbs		dry milk
1 tsp		salt
3 cup (15 oz)		all-purpose flour
3 1/2 Tbs		sugar
1 tsp		malt powder (optional)
1/8 tsp		ascorbic acid (optional)
2 tsp		cinnamon
2 tsp		yeast, fast rise
		---or---
1 Tbs		yeast, active dry

Filling Ingredients:

1/4 cup		butter, melted
3/4 cup		apple pie filling, canned or homemade
1/2 cup		sugar
1 Tbs		cinnamon

Topping:
1 egg
1 Tbsp water
1/2 cup pecans, coarsely chopped

Glaze:
powdered sugar
milk
vanilla
butter
100% pure Maple Syrup, optional

Instructions:

I make the dough in the bread machine. I tested the recipe a few days ago to make sure it needed no adjustments in water to flour ratio. My family enjoyed that strudel, and allowed me to take the next one to work. I made the dough for this one on "timer" so it would be ready when I got home from work.

Dump the finished dough out and roll it into a 10" x 14" rectangle. My preference is to use a silicone Roul 'Pat mat and a silicone rolling pin, and I use no "bench flour". I have a thinner mat too, but this one stays put on the counter top better. As a second choice, I would roll directly on a clean counter top or board, using only as much flour as necessary to keep it from sticking to the counter.

Check your oven to make sure the stones and racks are properly arranged, and turn it on (350°).



Next, transfer the dough to a parchment sheet. Feather the edges of the dough in roughly 1" strips, using a dough knife. Using bread-dough math, a 14" long sheet can be cut into seven 1" feathers, plus two ends. The gluten must be shrinking the feathers as it is cut. I generally don't measure it anyway.

Spread the not-too-hot melted butter on the dough with a pastry brush, coating the center and the feathers, while leaving the ends butter-free. Pour the remaining butter in the uncut center, and even it out.



Pour the cinnamon-sugar mixture onto the pool of butter. Smooth it out with the back of a spoon, so that it covers the uncut part of the dough. Doing the butter and cinnamon-sugar this way gives a nice cinnamon syrupy layer under the apples, and avoids having the sugar draw too much juice out of the apple filling.



Spread the apple filling over the cinnamon. Dip your fingertips into some water, and wet the ends (not the feathers) of the dough. Fold up the ends and pinch together, working it until it really sticks together well. This one still had a "blow out" on the end during baking.



Fold the feathers over each other, gently pulling as needed to stretch them across the loaf.



Spray the top with cooking spray.



Cover with plastic wrap; make sure the wrap is laid out flat, so the rising dough will not get trapped by it on the sides.



Let it rise in a warm place until doubled in size. My usual spot is on the cook top, which is over the oven. I actually have to make sure it doesn't get too hot there, since there is a vent in one of the burners. One of the "feathers" is already escaping, sliding down the side. I scooted it back up, and got egg on it in the next step, but in the end, it still escaped.



Mix an egg with about a tablespoon of water, and chop some raw pecans.



Brush the top of the loaf with the egg wash, and sprinkle with pecans. I coated it with egg twice to make sure the pecans would stick. Egg is "food glue," and it also makes bread shiny on top. Use a paper towel to wipe up any excess that gets on the parchment, or just crack it off after it is baked.



Oh, what a wonderful smell, fresh bread and cinnamon... About twenty minutes was enough. With this loaf, the temperature probe doesn't really work, because it would just get the tip stuck in the filling and give a bad reading. For done-ness on this loaf, I go by smell, sight, and touch. If it smells like heavenly bread and toasty pecans, looks browned and bubbly where the apple has broken free, and feels "set" when you tap/touch it, pull it on out.



Yes, once again an end opened up, but at least one end stayed closed. I'll try again sometime, and write an update if I find the way to keep it closed. But my co-workers didn't bat an eye, and it was happily eaten completely. Actually, imperfections are evidence that it is home-made, so I'm not too worried about it.



For the icing, pour about two cups of confectioner sugar into a bowl. Melt a tablespoon of butter. Pour a tablespoon of milk and the butter into the sugar, and stir it in. Add about 1/4 tsp of vanilla and a tablespoon of 100% maple syrup (optional; grade B has the most flavor; I wouldn't use pancake syrup). Taste it, add milk until it pours off of a spoon in a nice drizzle, and add more butter, vanilla, and/or maple to taste.

Apple Pie Filling

I'm making an apple strudel this week, and I've always just used canned apple pie filling. The apple crisp was so easy to make, I was inspired to make my own strudel filling. It turned out really well. I'll let you know how the strudel turns out, and get a photo.

I added some cinnamon and sugar to the leftover filling, warmed it up, and it was really good, better than the cinnamon apple side dish you get at restaurants.

Find the latest version here.
Here's how I made the filling:

Apple Pie Filling Recipe

5 Tablespoons all purpose flour
3/4 cup lt brown sugar
8 apples, various kinds*
juice of 1 lemon
3 Tablespoons maple syrup

Preheat oven to 350°.

Mix flour and brown sugar in a small bowl, and set aside.

Juice the lemon in a small bowl.

Peel and slice apples. A spiral peeler/slicer works well; cut rings into thirds. Put sliced apples into a large bowl, sprinkling with lemon juice and stirring as you go, to reduce browning.

Stir in remaining lemon juice, and all of the syrup. Sprinkle flour and sugar mixture on top, and stir until evenly coated. Spread apple mixture into a 9 x 11 glass casserole, packing down lightly.

Bake for 45 min at 350°, remove from oven, and stir. Cover snugly with aluminum foil, poke 3 - 4 holes in the foil, and bake an additional 15 min. Apples are done when the juices are bubbly and thickened. Allow to cool, covered, for another 15 - 30 minutes, then uncover and stir.

*Some good eating apples are not as good for baking. I used 2 Granny Smith, 2 McIntosh, 2 Golden Delicious, and 2 Jon-A-Gold. Next time I'm going to try some Rome apples.

Notes:
I bought my apples too far in advance, and some of them were a little soft. They tasted fine, but were much harder to peel.

I may try baking them with the foil on for the whole time next time. I put it on when I discovered that the apples were really dry on top. On the other hand, that may have helped them thicken.

I put the sugar on last, then immediately to the oven, so they wouldn't juice up too much before baking.

These taste better than the baked apples I've had at some "Roadhouse" type restaurants. To eat straight, I might add a little more sugar and a touch of cinnamon. I left them plain because the strudel calls for cinnamon anyway.

Apple Crisp, mmmmm

We made nachos today, which were ok. We also made Apple Crisp, from Food TV's show "Down Home with the Neelys". Wow, that was so good! It was very easy, too. I don't think I'll be making an apple pie for a long time; who needs to fuss with a crust?

I did the crisp in a square casserole, since I don't have enough ramekins. It turned out great. Also, serving it into a bowl gave me room to put some "pralines and cream" ice cream on top. I recommend that highly. :) :)

With so many apples at the store right now, I couldn't resist swapping in one Golden Delicious and one McIntosh in place of two of the Granny Smiths (my second substitution was less successful, read below). We have a spiral apple peeler/slicer/corer, which made nice sized apple for the recipe. Just slice the rings into quarters. The kids call the apple peel "fruit by the foot", and eat it in long ribbons.

I made this a second time, with I think one Granny Smith, one Golden Delicious, and three Fugi. It turned out much more watery, and not as full flavored. I think the Fugi is a good eating apple, but will not use it again for baking.

Next time I'm back to Granny/Golden/Macintosh. I might swap in a Jon-a-gold or a Rome. I found some good apple info here.

Cinnamon Pretzels

We made pretzels for the game. Some had traditional salt, and then we tried butter, cinnamon, and sugar. They were really good that way. We're still working on the shape, but they taste great anyway.



Make the pretzel recipe, boil and bake as usual, but do not put on the salt. After they come out of the oven, brush with melted butter, and sprinkle with a blend of cinnamon and sugar. It's best with cinnamon from a store like Fresh Market, or an online spice store like Penzey's.



Here's the finished dough in my machine, a Zojirushi. It's a larger than typical machine, and it barely handles this recipe. Any bread machine can be used to make a larger batch of dough than it can handle making into a finished loaf.

Chili: Not a baking thing, but so good...

We made chili for the game yesterday. It's a recipe that we have developed, and I wanted to share it here. Here is the current revision of the recipe.



Here are the main "seasoning" ingredients.



These are the "add-ins"



And here are my secret ingredients:



My Chili Today
(because we keep tweaking it)

Ingredients:

4 slices raw bacon, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 - 2 1/2 lb ground beef
salt
pepper
Chili-O mix pack
1 tsp ground cumin, very fresh*
1 Tbsp smoked paprika
2 Tbsp chili powder
1 bottle beer (Corona is good)
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can beef broth
1 can tomato sauce
4 corn tortillas
1 can sweet corn
3 cans beans; I like one each of red, black, and great northern**
1 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
balsamic vinegar
1 lemon
maple syrup

lettuce
shredded cheddar cheese
sour cream
Fritos

Strain and rinse the beans and corn. Save a can for putting beef fat in later.

Brown the bacon in a large pot. Saute onions in the bacon and bacon fat. If you have time, caramelize the onions (cook slowly until they turn caramel-colored). Add the garlic, cook a another minute or two, then empty the pot into a bowl for later.

Get the pot hot again, and put in chunks of ground beef (don't crumble it yet), so that they sizzle and sear on the bottom, turning brown. If they stick some, that's good. Sprinkle the top with salt and pepper. A few minutes later, flip the beef to sear on the other side, salting and peppering again. Remove pan juices as necessary (use a baster to suck it up, and empty it into your bean can) to keep the beef sizzling. Once the beef is browned on the sides, crumble it with your spatula and cook until pink is gone. Remove any unwanted fat now, before adding the spices.

The pot should still be hot. Add the onion mixture to the beef. Sprinkle the Chili-O, cumin, paprika, and chili powder on top. Stir and cook until the pot is dry and the meat is coated. Pour in the can of beef broth, deglazing the pot (the broth should sizzle and un-stick everything from the pan). Stir until very thick. Add the beer, stir, return to a simmer, and allow the fizz to come out. Mix in the cans of tomatoes and tomato sauce.

Bring the pot to a simmer, then crumble the corn tortillas and stir them in. Simmer briskly about 20 minutes, until tortillas disappear, and the pot thickens. Use more or less tortillas to thicken to taste.

Stir in beans and corn. Return to a simmer. Add the juice of the lemon, and stir in the chocolate. Taste the chili. Add salt as desired. Add maple syrup to sweeten, and balsamic vinegar to "brighten", usually around two teaspoons of each. Adjusting the salt, balsamic (sour), and maple (sweet) is the key to a good balanced flavor, and takes multiple tasting and adjustment cycles.

Serve over torn lettuce. Top with shredded cheddar, sour cream, and Fritos.

*Fresh cumin makes a huge difference. It's worth the trouble to toast seed in a dry skillet and grind it yourself, or to buy some at a specialty store (like Fresh Market) every few months. When fresh, it has a very strong, wild sort of a smell, which I've never gotten from a bottle at the grocery store.

**I'd like to try some more bean varieties that I read about online. The problem is finding them, preferably canned. I'd want to know it was worth it before I cooked beans especially to use in chili. Here are some I've heard of: anasazi, pink chili, Mexican red, cranberry.

A Few of My Favorite Things

Now that I have a camera at my disposal, I've taken some photos of some of my favorites.

My lovely Zojirushi bread machine, a really handy "beaker" measuring cup, and a "French bread" cutting board, perfect for taking a strudel to a party. The dough knife is another extremely useful tool, and I don't care that my dad laughs to think I bought a rectangle of metal with one edge curled over. We use it for all sorts of things.

Dough/bench knife, Bread machine (Zo), and Beaker on a narrow cutting board 

Removed from the list: "Six Thousand Years of Bread", the book I tried reading; it turns out to be oddly religious, more historical than culinary, and honestly not as captivating as I had hoped. I did not finish reading it.  My little shelves hold two pan scales, measuring cups, flax seed, sesame seed, amaranth seed, powdered milk, vanilla in a dropper bottle, a jar of acetic acid, a salt cellar like Alton Brown's, and some Fiesta pieces.

Two-pan scales and other frequently used items.

Kitchenaid mixer with grain mill attachment

A great cutting board and bread knife, with the remains of my latest loaf of bread (they even ate the crusts)

Football Food: Popcorn Balls

Made these this morning, this is all that's left...



I'm indifferent to football, but my husband likes Auburn. I decided it would be a fun excuse for teaching my daughter to cook, try new things, and for all of us to try liking football. Today was our first "football food" day.

We made popcorn balls, and colored them blue and orange for Auburn. They came out a bit on the pastel-side, but oh well. I got the recipe from AllRecipes. My 7-yr-old popped the popcorn, my 10-yr-old tended the goo on the stove, and my 4-yr-old joined in to shape the balls. My husband helped eat them. He does cook, but he was actually watching the game.

Two of my helpers....


The popcorn balls were good, but a bit more gooey than I would prefer. They were also very sweet. Today I made them with nine large marshmallows, no vinegar, no vanilla. Next time I make them, I'll try it this way, with reduced marshmallow, and the addition of vanilla and vinegar:

Soft Popcorn Balls

• 5 quarts plain popped popcorn (I used Orville's tender white microwave popcorn, it took 4 bags, and it is salted)
• 3/4 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 cup margarine
• 2 teaspoons cold water
• 2 5/8 cups confectioners' sugar
• 6 large marshmallows
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• 1 tsp vanilla
  
• food color
  

1. Pop the popcorn, remove all unpopped kernels, and divide into large bowls, one for each color you want. Set out a small bowl for each color, including the cooking pot. Put food color into each bowl, reserving one color for the pot, to be done last.
   
2. Place a bowl of ice water next to the stove, for plunging hands into if you get burned by the candy. It probably won't happen, but is good just in case.
   
3. In a large sauce pan, combine corn syrup, butter, water, confectioners sugar, marshmallows, and vinegar. On medium heat, stir constantly until the mixture comes to a boil. Allow to bubble for a minute or two.
4. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla, then pour into color bowls. After dividing, add the last color to the pot. Stir each bowl
5. Pour a bowl of colored goo into each bowl of popcorn, and stir until coated. Make sure to scrape from the bottom, lift, and fold; the goo collects in the bottom.
6. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray, and have all the ballers rub their hands in it. Roll into 2 - 3" balls. Place balls onto the cookie sheet.
7. Serve on a plate, or wrap each ball in plastic wrap when completely cool. If they are allowed to sit out unwrapped, they will get soft, because they attract moisture from the air. Use colored wraps and ribbons to make them festive.
   

The Crazy World of Appliance Shopping: About Convection Ovens

I'm building a new house, and it's really baffling trying to choose kitchen appliances. There are so many to choose from, it is hard to figure out what makes one better than another. I'm shopping for quality and performance without extreme cost. Unfortunately, the market is focused primarily on the "look", or on performance that millionaires might be willing to buy.

For example, refrigerators. GE has the "Profile" line, with a certain styling (and pricing). The high-end of that line has dual evaporators, which is good. But, if you look at their models that have no "look" name, you can get one with dual evaporators that is less expensive than the cheapest "Profile" fridge. But didn't you really really want all your appliances to be "Profiles"? I don't think so.

Another example: Thermadore, Wolf, Sub-Zero, $$$$$$$$$. End of discussion.

Ovens are confusing too. If you stick a fan in the oven, you get to call it "convection". If there is a third (hidden) heating element that the fan blows past, it is called "European" convection, and you get to invent a trademarked nick-name for it. If it lacks the third element, having only the upper and lower heating elements, it is called "American Convection" or simply "Convection".

My parents have an "American" convection oven. They tried baking pizza, and still had to turn it for it to cook evenly. It also "auto-converts" the baking time and temperature by keeping the full time, and lowering the temperature. How useless! They don't use convection at all now. Not all convection ovens are created equally.

Convection is only useful if it heats the oven evenly, and if your food is in a shallow pan exposed to the air. The real power of a convection oven is if you have multiple trays that you want to cook at once, like cookies or rolls. From what I can gather, it doesn't help for casseroles, or especially not for covered pans.

I really wanted to try a Trivection oven, but I couldn't find many reviews on it, and it is expensive. Also the controls seem a bit gimmicky. I found some super expensive convection ovens that sound amazing. Finally, I found an Electrolux and a Bosch that were more reasonably priced, rate well at Consumer Reports, and sound really great. I've chosen the Bosch because it is deeper; the Electrolux cannot hold my pizza stone. Ok, so I took a pizza box to the showroom (it was the same size as my stone), ignored the curious glances, and actually stuck it inside the oven. It was the only way to know for sure. Beware! There is a Bosch that lacks the third heating element; make sure to get one that has it.

The Bosch convection ovens have a "proof" mode, and a "warm" mode. So, with double wall ovens, I can use them as an oven and a warming drawer, or an oven and a proofing box. Twice a year, I may use them as two ovens.

My house won't be done for another 2-3 months, so for now I just get to imagine cooking in my new oven. That has me thinking; I don't know how to use one. Can I make toast in it? I'm not having much luck finding cooking tips online. Sounds like I'll be writing more entries to document what I figure out. I have used a portable convection oven for the pretzels, and it does make them rise better, brown nicer, and cook faster than at home, so I'm hoping for some great results.

The Secret of Bread Baking "Science"

I've heard people say that baking bread is a science, more like chemistry, you have to be exact about the measurements or it will fail. Not so! Some people try a few times, have the loaf fail, and then give up on bread baking altogether.

The real magic to baking good bread is learning how the dough should feel, adjusting the flour and water until it feels right.

One Christmas day, I accidentally doubled the amount of butter in my favorite yeast roll recipe. The dough was too wet; no surprise. I added extra flour until the texture felt right. The rolls were good as ever, and extra buttery too. Here are some tips to help the beginning baker find the perfect texture.

The Feel of a Nice Dough Ball

• Get a fresh bag of bread flour, and stick with one brand until you get a feel for the dough. Expect to adjust recipes if you switch brands. I recommend a white flour, like Gold Medal or King Arthur Flour's Bread or All-Purpose Flour.

• To learn the texture of good dough without an experienced baker standing at your elbow, you have to feel it. Look in the pan several times while it is kneading (assuming you're using a bread machine), and pinch it. Make this a habit. When the loaf is baked, how did it turn out? Beautiful? Or does the loaf look like tree bark? Think back to how the dough looked and felt. Eventually you will learn what a perfect dough feels like. Read on for more tips on what to look for in the dough texture.
  
• In the first few minutes of kneading, the ingredients should come together to form a ball that does not ooze all over the bowl/pan. Newly formed dough balls are overly sticky, and become less so as the gluten develops during kneading. After the ball has kneaded fully, it should be soft, smooth, stretchy, and barely stick to your fingers when pinched. The "troubleshooting" section, below, has some tips if this does not describe your dough.
  
• Pinch Test: If you pinch the dough ball, your fingers should meet little resistance until your fingers are about 1/2 inch or so from touching. At that point, you should feel a good springiness keeping your fingers apart. It feels similar to pinching your hand in the "web" between thumb and index finger
• If you roll a ball of finished dough on a clean, bare countertop with your bare hand (make sure your hands are dry), it should roll easily and slightly grip the counter without clinging to or sliding on the counter, and without gluing itself to your hands. It is pliable, springy, not like stiff knotted rubber bands, and yet definitely not oozing.

Kneading

• If you have a bread machine, use it for kneading and first rise. I often bake in the bread machine also. This is my lovely Zo (Zojirushi). After ~7 years, it sounds like it's wearing out; I'll definitely get another!
  
• A stand mixer with a dough hook, and some food processors will work also; Use instructions that came with the appliance. Kneading can be done by hand, if you have the time and inclination.
• Check and adjust consistency during the kneading process, before first rise, but after the ingredients have come together into a dough and have kneaded for a few minutes. The dough should form a smooth ball, somewhat tacky at first. A whole-grain dough will be tackier and rougher than a white flour dough.
  

Proofing

• To do the first rise in a bowl, use a large bowl sprayed with cooking spray. Spray the top of the dough, then cover with plastic wrap. Make sure there is enough room for the dough to expand. Let rise until doubled in a warm room, or a warm place over the oven. It will eventually rise in a cool room or even the fridge, but will take longer.

Texture troubleshooting tips

• When adding flour or water, add about one tablespoon at a time, and let it knead some before adding more. If it is very gooey, add two tablespoons.
  
  

  		Symptom	Suggestion
  		Dough is goopy, even after kneading; leaves sticky mess on your hands	Too wet; add flour
  		Dough clings and smears on the bottom of the bowl and fingers; does not form a ball	Too wet or gluten is not developed; knead some more, add flour if this doesn't help
  		Dough is hard to pull and shape, stiff	Too dry; add water
  		tight, looks like gnarled tree bark, not smooth
  		Finished bread has alot of stretch marks, looks torn or gnarled on top	Dough was too dry

Pretzel Class: What to Bring, What to Do

My kids' preschool teachers have asked me to do the pretzel class every year since I was crazy enough to do it the first time when my oldest daughter was three. This morning I did it for the 5th time. I send in supplies and instructions for the "Prelude" activities (some experiments with grain and yeast), which the teachers do with the children before baking day.

This is the main article, laying out how to bake with the kids. The recipe and experiments are in other articles.


Baking pretzels with my daughter's preschool class: Everything you need to take with you to the classroom, and the steps for turning the dough into pretzels. Includes exploration of wheat and yeast, and how they are used to make bread.

A couple of the girls pose with the class's pretzels. In one photo, the grain crusher/flaker is visible to the left. In the other, the "yeast buddy" is in the upper left.

Prelude Activities:

Prior to pretzel baking day, have the children do the following, if possible:

• Look at grain samples, and sprout some.
• Discuss the wheat life cycle, using a photo and the sprouts
  
• Crush some grain into flakes, and into flour. Separate flour from bran using the sifter.
• Have yeast blow up a balloon; a smiley-face balloon makes it a "yeast buddy"
  

Equipment:

• dough, ready to "punch down" at the right time in the class discussion; for a nice touch for the kids, use some home-ground flour in place of some of the regular flour, so you can tell them that it's in there.
• dough knife

  

• silicon mats for rolling dough on
  
• ruler
• pot
• measuring cup
• 2 Tbs baking soda
• burner
• whisk
• slotted spoon
• cooking spray-oil
• 3 baking sheets
• 2 cooling racks
• parchment paper
• pretzel salt
• 2 timers
• hot pads
• spatula
• paper towels
• foil
• pen
  
• oven, such as a portable convection oven, and baking sheets that fit in it.
• bowl of rising dough, timed to complete first rise as the class discussion starts; over-proofing some is ok here.
  

Discussion Props:

• a slice of regular bread
• a flour tortilla
• the "yeast buddy" from the yeast experiment
  
• a small bowl of flour, preferably including some that the kids made themselves, and a small cup of water, for making a demo dough ball
• sprouted wheat
• wheat life-cycle photo
  
• an already-made pretzel
• the bowl of pretzel dough
• access to the "stations", described below, for demonstrating pretzel baking steps.
  

Discussion:

Before making the pretzels, gather the kids. This discussion will tie together all of the activities the kids have been doing leading to baking day, and show them how to do the pretzels.

1. Remind the kids how they crushed grain and sifted it to make flour. Show them the wheat life cycle photo and the sprouts, demonstrating that the grain is also seeds.
   
2. Put some flour (preferably what they have made) into a bowl, add water, and knead into a small ball. They will be surprised to see the powder turn into a springy, stretchy ball.
   
3. Show them a flour tortilla, explaining that it is made of dough. Show them a slice of bread, and that the difference between the flat tortilla and soft bread is the holes.
   
4. Show them that you can make a balloon out of the small dough ball, by shaping it.
   
5. Talk with them about the yeast experiment, where the yeast in a water bottle eat sugar and blow up a balloon.
   
6. Ask them how they think you could get all those little holes into the bread. Hint about the yeast, if someone has not already guessed (someone guessed immediately today). If necessary, explain that if you put the yeast into the dough, they will blow it up, making the holes they can see in the bread, and that the yeast will also blow up the pretzels.
   
7. Show them the pretzel dough, in a large bowl, puffed from its first rise. Tell them this is the dough you made for them to make pretzels out of, and that it is already puffed up. Make sure that everyone is watching. Slap the top, and let them see it sink to less than half the size. Usually they find this pretty cool.
8. Show them a sample pretzel, if you have one, and say they will be making one today. Demonstrate rolling the rope, twisting the pretzel, boiling, and salting it.
   

Steps (Set up stations before the discussion):

1. Dough Station: Using the dough knife, cut dough into enough pieces for your class, up to 32 pieces. Place them on a sheet of parchment, on a cookie sheet. Get each child a piece of dough, after they wash their hands.

2. Shaping station: Set up tables with silicon mats, a ruler, and a copy of the pretzel-shaping chart, below. If the mats are large, two children may share a mat. I like to have room for four kids to work at once, with two helper moms.

Each child will roll a long rope. Use the ruler to make sure ropes are about 15", and use "pretzel shape" picture for shaping steps.

Some kids may mash the pretzels, or pick them up; this should be discouraged. The moms will need to coach most of the kids on how to roll the ropes out evenly and long. Roll the dough gently, starting with hands together in the middle, spreading your hands apart as you roll. For each child, cut a square of foil and indent the child's name in the foil with a pen. Spray it with the cooking spray. Take the foil and pretzel to the boiling station. Place any "extras" for teachers and helpers onto a parchment sheet, or sprayed foil.









3. Boiling station: Get six cups pf water boiling in a pot or deep saute pan. I prefer a portable induction burner. Whisk in baking soda. Next to the pot, have a timer and a spider/large slotted spoon. Also set up a baking sheet lined with paper towels, and a cooling rack on top. Spray the rack with cooking spray. Have extra water nearby to replenish as it boils off.
Boil the pretzels for 1 minute, placing up to four pretzels at a time in the pot. If you let the kids put them in, place the pretzel on the spoon and lower gently; don't splash the boiling water. Take care to remember which belongs to whom. Use the slotted spoon to scoop out the pretzels onto the rack, and have the pretzel salt ready to sprinkle on wet pretzels. Let the kids put on the salt after watching them boil, then place the pretzels on the named foil squares.











4. Baking Station: Preheat a portable oven (preferably convection) to 450. Nearby, set up a cookie sheet with cooling rack inside. Have hot pads, timer, and a spatula handy.
















Place the pretzels, foil and all, onto the oven's baking sheet. Fit as many as reasonable. Convection ovens can bake multiple trays at once. Bake until nicely browned on top, 12 min (6 if it's a convection oven). You may need to rotate the pans to get even browning. When done, use the spatula to move pretzels to a cooling rack.