Soft Pretzel Bites with Cheese Sauce

Oh, how I love Pinterest! I am always looking for a good homemade cheese sauce, and this one is great with these pretzel bites!  With the leftover cheese sauce I also made nachos, yum!

Pretzel Bites:


1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp kosher salt
2 1/4 tsp instant yeast
22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups
2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
Vegetable oil
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
2 tbsp butter, melted
Pretzel or Kosher salt


In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together the water, sugar, yeast, and salt on low speed for 10 seconds.  Switch to the dough hook and add the flour and butter.  Mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl and transfer it to a well-oiled bowl. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and set it in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an wide 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.
In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Slice each rope into 1-inch pieces.  Place a lightly damp towel over the pretzel pieces to prevent them from drying out while you roll and cut the other pieces.
Using a slotted spoon lower a handful of the pretzel pieces into the boiling water and boil them for 30 seconds, flipping them around in the water with the spoon a couple of times. Remove the pretzel pieces from the water using the spoon, drain as best you can, and place them on the baking sheets. Brush the top of each pretzel with the melted butter and sprinkle with the pretzel/Kosher salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 10 – 12 minutes. Brush with remaining melted butter before serving. Serve warm.

For the Homemade Cheese Sauce Recipe Click HERE!

Enjoy on a cool fall afternoon :)

Zucchini Bread

Do you see the trend?? Yes, I have had zucchini coming out my ears!  This is also the first recipe I have adapted from PINTEREST!  It turned out great...I did double the recipe because the crazy amount of zucchini I have...AND did not add nuts.  I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did :)

Here is the link on pinterest if you're interested :)

Philly Cheesesteak Calzone

My favorite red meat is probably flank steak, which is why this recipe is veryyyy tasty! 

• 1 pizza crust, cut slices in edges to wrap over...

• 1 medium onions, sliced thinly
• 1 medium green pepper, sliced thinly

• 3-4 oz steak, sliced thinly (I used flank steak) 

marinate steak in 2 cloves of garlic sliced thinly, Worcestershire sauce, teriyaki sauce, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and olive oil.  (grill or bake)
• 1/2 C shredded mozzarella cheese and provolone cheese mixture

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  Meanwhile, slowly caramelize the onions and green pepper over medium heat.
Top with the caramelized onion, peppers, cheese and steak.  Finish off with a sprinkle of cheese, and a little salt and pepper. 

 

 Make an egg wash (1 egg and a splash of milk) and lightly brush over dough.  This will give the dough the golden color!

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the crust is golden!

Spinach and Sun Dried Tomato Bread

This is a great appetizer on the go!  I made spinach and sun dried tomato bread and pepperoni bread for the super bowl party Jason and I went to this year.   They were delish!

1  bread dough

1 bag of fresh baby spinach

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/3 cup of diced sun dried tomatoes

1 cup mozzarella

1 cup provolone

1 egg

1tsp. milk

Preheat Oven to 375 degrees.  In a skillet, saute spinach garlic and sun dried tomatoes.  Roll out dough into a large rectangle.  Spread the filling evenly over the dough.  (You don't need a thick layer because you roll the dough up)  Layer the cheeses over the spinach mixture.  Roll the dough up.  Place bread on cookie sheet with the seal on the bottom.  Mix egg and milk for egg wash.  Lightly coat dough.  Cut three or so slits on top of dough to let out air or else you may have large air bubbles!  Bake for 45-50 minutes. Enjoy!

Meatball Calzone

Sunday nights are usually sauce nights in the chilly months of the year, but tonight, I made a massive meatball calzone!  Homemade meatballs and sauce inside delicious dough with lots of cheese, sounded perfect to me!


Roll out dough on a large pizza pan.  I heated up my meatballs and sauce, because I froze batches of homemade sauce earlier this month. Half the meatballs so they are in smaller bite size pieces.

Layer cheese (mozzarella, provolone, parmesan mixture) on half of the dough, then meatballs and sauce, then more cheese.  Fold over the other half of the dough and pinch the ends together.


Brush egg wash over the dough, this will give the calzone a pretty color.  Be sure to cut a few small slits to let out steam while baking!


Bake for 25-30 minutes at 375 degrees.  Let sit for 5-10 minutes before cutting it open.


Enjoy :)

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Has your freezer ever accumulated too many frozen bananas? Well, last week I need to make some freezer room and saw about a half dozen bananas and decided it was time for...Banana Bread!  If you don't know what to do with over ripped bananas, just throw them in the freezer and take them out the night before you want to make some delicious banana bread.

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

3/4 cup ripe bananas (about 3 bananas)

1 1/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cream shortening and sugar.  Add eggs one at a time beating well after each.  Stir in mashed bananas.  Mix dry ingredients together, then slowly add in mixer, until just blended together.  Add chocolate chips.  Pour bread mixture into greased and floured bread pan.   Bake for 50 to 55 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.  

ENJOY :)

Pancetta, Spinach and Ricotta Calzone

Ingredients:

1 frozen or fresh pizza dough (let dough rise in fridge overnight and roll out at room temperature)

2 Tb. olive oil 

3/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes 

1 bag of baby spinach uncooked

1 cooking onion (diced)

2 large cloves of garlic (minced)

1 cup of pancetta or prosciutto (cubed)

1 small container of part skim ricotta cheese

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

1/2 Parmesan cheese

1/2 Tb parsley 

1/2 Tb basil

1/2 Tb oregano

1/2 Tb garlic powder

2 eggs

salt

pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Brush olive oil on the pan, under the dough.  Roll out dough on large baking sheet.  Make as large or thick as you would like.  (remember dough does puff up!)

In a frying pan add diced onions and 1/2 tsp. of olive oil.  Once the onions start to brown, add the pancetta or prosciutto to pan.  Fry until onions and meat is lightly browned.  Place in a bowl to the side.

In the same pan, add 1/2 tsp of olive oil, garlic, sun dried tomatoes and spinach and a pinch of salt and pepper.  Saute until spinach is fully cooked.  

In a bowl, mix the cheeses and herbs and 1 egg.

On on half of pizza dough, spread a think layer of the cheese mixture, next the meat and onion saute, another layer of the cheese mixture, next layer the sun dried tomato and spinach mixture, then add any cheese mixture left to the top.  Fold over the other half of the dough.  Beat the other egg in a small bowl.  Brush the top of the dough and pinch edges of dough together with the egg wash.  Cut three small slits on top of the calzone.

Bake for 25 -30 min. Let rest for 5 - 10 minutes so the ingredients don't all run out when you cut open the delicious calzone!  ENJOY :)

©2010 Sara-Everyday Cooking