Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels

When I was at high school, it became tradition when spending an afternoon in the city to head to the Auntie Anne's pretzel stall and treat myself to a cinnamon sugar pretzel. Now I've not eaten one of these for years but found myself this week with an inexplicable craving for a soft, buttery pretzel that just would not go away. With no way of getting into the city to buy one, and the craving not going away no matter what I tried, I decided to make them myself.

I wont lie to you, this is not an 'easy' recipe, but its not impossibly difficult either, its just very fiddly - I can promise you though that the extra effort is so worth it. This recipe needs at least three hours from start to finish, but at the end of that time you'll have yourself a batch of delicious soft pretzels that taste even better than the ones you can buy in store (sorry Auntie Anne, but its true!) Anyway, I've rambled on long enough here, lets get on with the recipe. 

Ingredients:

Pretzel dough:

300ml warm water

1 x 7g sachet dried yeast

2 tbsp brown sugar

350g plain flour

150g bread flour

1 heaped tsp salt

Baking soda wash:

40g baking powder

400ml warm water 

Cinnamon Sugar:

40g butter, melted

6 tbsp caster sugar

1 heaped tbsp ground cinnamon

Makes 12 pretzels

Method:

1. Place the yeast into a large mixing bowl, add the warm water and sugar and stir to combine. This is to activate the yeast - set the bowl to one side for about 10 minutes or until the yeast has proved. You'll know its done when it looks like the picture below

2. Add the flours and salt to the bowl and mix well - first with a spoon and then with your hands as the dough comes together.

3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. This will take somewhere between 8-10 minutes and is one hell of a workout! Once the dough has been kneaded place in a lightly oiled bowl, turning so the dough gets a covering of oil. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave in a warm place for an hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.

Before...

...and after

4. When the dough has finished rising, mix the baking powder with the warm water and pour into a deep dish or tray, set to one side.

5. Turn out the risen dough and cut into 12 equal pieces. The easiest way to do this is to cut the dough into quarters,  and then cut each quarter into thirds. 

6. Now its time to make the pretzels. First up take a piece of dough and roll it into a long, thin sausage about the thickness of a pencil. DO NOT USE FLOUR here, don't flour your hands or the surface as it makes rolling the dough impossible - the dough shouldn't stick anyway, but if it does then use a tiny bit of oil to stop it. Twist the dough into a pretzel shape, here's how I did it:

7. Quickly dip the pretzel into the baking powder mixture, making sure its completely covered. After dipping, blot the underside of the pretzel on a piece of kitchen paper - this will stop the bottom cooking quicker than the top

8. Place the dipped pretzel on a tray lined with baking paper. Repeat for all pretzels then leave to rise for about 30 minutes. 

9. Preheat the oven to 230°C. When the pretzels have risen, bake for 8-9 minutes or until they are risen and golden. 

10. Place the cinnamon and sugar in a bowl and mix well until fully combined. Pour into a shallow tray.

11. Take a cooked pretzel and brush the top with the melted butter. Then take the pretzel and dip it butter side down into the cinnamon sugar (I used tongs to hold the pretzel - its far less messy!). Lightly shake the pan to ensure the whole pretzel gets a good coating.

 Tap of the excess and leave one a wire rack to cool. Repeat for all pretzels. 

These are best enjoyed on the day of baking, but if they do last longer than that - and I'd be amazed if they did as they're so moreish - then reheat them in the oven at about 200°C for five minutes before eating. 

If cinnamon sugar isn't your thing, you could always dip these in vanilla sugar, chocolate sauce, anything that takes your fancy really! If you prefer savoury pretzels, just sprinkle with coarse sea salt before baking and voila!

Cinnamon Raisin Buns

I've wanted to make these buns for ages but haven't had the time to give them a go.  I woke up this morning with nothing planned so it was the perfect time to try them out and I'm so pleased I did! These buns are the perfect cross between sticky and sweet, packed full of raisins and cinnamon. I'm a total novice when it comes to bread dough but I found the recipe simple and easy to follow - the original recipe can be found here, but I adapted it for myself by switching the mixed fruit for sultanas (I can't stand the peel in mixed fruit - urgh) and adding a LOT more cinnamon - its my favourite!

Ingredients:

Bun dough:

500g strong white flour

1tsp salt

1x7g sachet fast-action dried yeast

300ml milk

40 unsalted butter, softened

1 egg

vegetable or olive oil, for greasing

Filling:

25g unsalted butter, melted

75g soft brown sugar

3tbsp ground cinnamon

150g raisins or sultanas

Glaze:

2tbsp milk

2tbsp caster sugar

Method:

1. Sift the flour and salt together into a large bowl, make a well in the centre and add the yeast

2. Warm the milk and butter in a pan over a low heat until the butter melts and the mixture is lukewarm - keep an eye on this as its heating and don't let it boil!

3. Add the milk mixture and egg to the flour and stir until the ingredients come together to form a soft dough - you might need to add a little extra flour

4. Turn the dough onto a well floured surface and knead for about five minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic and stops feeling sticky - you might need to add a fair amount of flour to make this happen so don't worry if this is the case. If you've never kneaded bread before BBC Food has a great guide here - the main thing to keep in mind is that you can't be too tough on the dough - its a great stress reliever!!

5. Lightly oil a bowl and place the dough in, turning it so it also gets a light covering of oil. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave in a warm place for an hour, or until the dough has doubled in size. 

6. Knock back the dough (this means knocking all the air out of it, basically give it a good punch) and turn out onto a floured work surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle about ½cm thick, brush with the melted butter and sprinkle over the sugar, raisins and cinnamon.

7. Tightly roll up the dough to form a long sausage shape. Cut 4 cm slices and place them onto a lightly oiled baking tray. Cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm place for 30 minutes.

Before...

..and after

9. Preheat oven to 190°C, bake the buns for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven but leave the buns on the tray

10. To make the glaze heat the sugar and milk in a saucepan until boiling, then reduce the heat and simmer for 3 minutes

11. Brush the buns with glaze then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

These do take a while to make, but don't let that put you off - they really are worth the effort. I can't put my finger on what it was exactly, but I found making these to be a really enjoyable experience! 

Tried and Tested: Hummingbird Bakery Blueberry Crumble Loaf

I'm always on the lookout for a new recipe book, and when I spotted the Hummingbird Bakery: Cake Days in The Works for a bargain price I just couldn't resist snapping it up!

The Hummingbird Bakery are famous for producing amazing cupcakes, and while they do have a recipe book dedicated to these favourites, Cake Days provides recipes for all the different treats the Hummingbird Bakery provide. In this book you'll find all sorts, from cheesecakes to tea loaves, snack bars to whoopie pies and of course a few cupcake recipes thrown in for good measure.

I had a belated BBQ/Tea Party for my 21st birthday (I just couldn't make my mind up so we went for both!) and wanted to try out some new bakes for the occasion. This loaf had caught my eye the first time I flicked through the book and it was the first one I thought of when deciding on the bakes for the day. 

The recipe was beautifully straightforward to follow, and the cake turned out to be just lovely! It was quite a moist loaf, but the crunchy crumble topping kept it light. Although I'm not a fan of raw blueberries, as soon as they're baked into something I can't resist their squidgy texture and slightly sharp taste which contrasted nicely with the sweetness of the cake mixture. This cake was so tasty and different from what I usually bake - I know I'll definitely be making it again. 

♥

The book doesn't include this, but if you're baking something with fruit or chocolate chips in the mixture, lightly toss them in flour before you add them to the batter - this stops them from all sinking to the bottom during baking! 

Double Chocolate Lava Cookies

These cookies really are quite something. They're a bit of a brownie-cookie hybrid in that they have a cakey texture, a rich taste and a secret melting chocolately middle. They're also a little bit massive, but as I was making them as a thank you gift I figured the bigger the better! This recipe does have quite a few steps but don't let that put you off - if you're after a seriously chocolately treat they're definitely worth the extra effort!

Ingredients:

250g plain flour

50g cocoa powder

1tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2tsp salt

200g margarine (I like to use stork when I'm baking, but any old marg' would do)

150g caster sugar

50g light brown sugar

2 eggs

2tsps vanilla extract

100g white chocolate chips 

A jar of chocolate spread, Nutella etc. (I had an amazing Chocolate Duo spread from Asda and it tastes like heaven!)

Makes 12-14 cookies

Method:

1. The first thing you'll want to do before you start is to put your chocolate spread in the fridge - its much easier to work with when its a bit more solid. Next, mix together all your dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt) until they are well combined. Set aside.

2. Cream together margarine and both sugars until mixture is light, pale and fluffy

3. Add in the eggs one at a time, adding the vanilla extract with the second egg. Mix until well combined and smooth.

4. Add in the dry ingredients mix a little at a time, mixing until just incorporated with each addition. Stir in the chocolate chips - the dough you will have now will be quite wet and sticky so chill the mixture in the fridge for an hour.

5. Preheat the oven to 180°C, line two baking trays. Take the dough out of the fridge and place spoonfuls of the mixture on the tray, spacing each cookie about 2 inches apart to allow room for spreading. Using the back of a wet spoon (run it under cold water, it'll stop the spoon sticking to the dough) flatten the dough.

6. Place a half-teaspoon of chocolate spread in the middle of each cookie - this is just a guide amount, if you've made big cookies you can use more, smaller cookies use less - and place another spoonful of cookie dough on top. Using a wet finger, or back of a spoon, smooth the top and bottom of the dough together encasing the chocolate spread inside. Make sure there are no gaps or the chocolate spread will escape during baking! 

7. Place in the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes, until the cookies have risen and are slightly crisp to touch. These look a bit monstrous when first out of the oven, but fall during cooling. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes then enjoy warm for luxurious melty middles, or wait until cool (if you can wait that long...) for a gooey, fudgy cookie. 

These are probably a bit rich to eat everyday but are a great treat and provide an alternative to a regular cookie. They'll last for about 2 days if kept in an airtight container. 

Quick and Easy Cheese Scones

There's something about a warm cheese scone and butter that I find lovely and comforting, especially on a cold, grey, Autumn day. This recipe can be mixed, baked and eaten in less than 30 minutes, which makes these scones the ultimate in super fast comfort food!

Ingredients:

225g self raising flour
pinch of salt and pepper
1tsp paprika
55g butter
55g mature cheddar cheese, grated (plus extra for on top)
150ml milk

Makes 6-12 scones depending on size

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 220 °C, Line and lightly flour a baking tray

2. Mix together flour, salt, pepper and paprika. Rub in the butter until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs and no big lumps of butter remain

3. Stir in the cheese and milk to make a soft dough

4. Turn out onto a floured work surface and lightly knead. Press mixture out to a round about 2cm thick.Use a cutter to stamp out rounds and place on the baking sheet (it doesn't matter what size cutter you use so pick whichever size you want - if you don't have a cutter then you can easily use the rim of a glass to cut out rounds, just make sure to lightly flour the rim first!).

5. Brush the tops of the scones with a little milk and scatter some grated cheese on top. You can also sprinkle some herbs or seasoning on top too - I like to sprinkle a little bit of paprika on the top of mine to give them a lovely colour and a bit more interesting flavour.

Bake for 12-15 minutes until well risen and golden. Cool slightly on a wire rack but not for too long - everyone knows scones are divine when served still warm with a generous scraping of butter!

These are best eaten on the day of making, but will last for 2 days when stored in an airtight container.

Peanut Butter Jelly Cookies

I know, I know, another cookie recipe containing peanut butter within a week; as you can probably already tell, I just love peanut butter cookies! This recipe is based on an American favourite flavour combination and was inspired by this recipe from the Sorted boys. I've wanted to try it for ages, and finally got around to baking yesterday - I tweaked it a little by adding oats to the mixture, meaning the final cookies have a crisp outside, chewy inside and heart of strawberry jam - what's not to like?! 

Ingredients:

100g butter
200g brown sugar
2 eggs
200g self raising flour
1tsp baking powder
50g oats
100g crunchy peanut butter
jam - to fill the cookies, any flavour you fancy

Makes 16-20 cookies

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Line 2 baking trays

2. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy

3. Beat in the eggs one at a time. The mixture will look curdled at first, but after you mix in the second egg it will come back together (see below).

After adding the first egg...

After mixing in the second egg the mixture looks lovely and smooth

4. Fold in the flour, baking powder and oats to form a dough, then stir in the crunchy peanut butter. The dough will be very wet and sticky so leave to chill in the fridge for about an hour to make it easier to handle.

5. Place spoonfuls of mixture on the baking sheet, spacing well apart as these cookies spread a lot during baking. Using a wet finger make a wide shallow well in the middle of the cookie and fill with jam. Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes until they're golden all over

6. Take out of the oven and transfer to a wire rack (or a plate if you don't have a wire rack) and leave to cool slightly.

These are best eaten warm whilst the jam is still a little runny. Yum!

If you're like me and love peanut butter biscuits, why not try this recipe for Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip cookies?