So I was asked to make dessert, Part I…

Last weekend my Dad asked me to bring a dessert to dinner at his house. Background: my father’s chocolate cake is award winning, his desserts are creative and always delicious. So I was more than a little nervous about baking something that would meet my family’s high hopes for desserts with limited time and resources.

I glanced at Pinterest and settled on a cross between about 11 recipes. Loaded brownies seemed like a solid plan!

I started with a boxed brownie mix, a bag of chocolate chips, pretzels, peanut butter and a food processor (I borrowed and must return to Cait!)

I was about to go hard in the paint with these because I try to limit my sugars and naughty treats. I was set on over the top brownies to enjoy while watching some March Madness.

Recipe:
1 box of fudge brownie mix
1 handful of chocolate chips
Several handfuls of pretzels
1/2 melted peanut butter

Follow the directions on the brownie box. I put mine into an 8×8 and they were super thick, so if you want a thinner brownies opt for a 9×13 or 9×9. Next up, chop those pretzels! Not super fine but not huge pieces. I started with a handful and added more to ensure there we’re be several pieces in each brownie. At the same time I was melting my peanut butter on the stove. Then mix in the chocolate chips. Then I poured my batter into the pan and swirled the peanut butter. But I also think you could just mix it right in with the batter in the bowl. Either way it’s going to be legit.

 

Who doesn’t love a bagel?

I’ve thought about this first post about 1000 times. And I’ve decided to just shoot from the hip.

I don’t really eat a ton of bread because I like to save those calories for wine or spirits. But today I wanted bread…specifically of the bagel variety. So I went to town eating a sad bagel from the local grocery store and thought to myself “I can totally make these better.” I wanted a crispy bagel that was still soft and chewy inside. I took to Google while eating my breakfast and found this recipe. [Side note: I never read entire recipes because I have a short attention span and I like to make things up. But I know from 4H, home & careers and cooking school as a kid…don’t mess with baking. So I read the whole thing…twice.] First thing to overcome, they use a food processor to mix the dough. Considering my food processor is the size of my hand — I opted to throw everything in my standard mixer and hope for the best. Second hiccup, the original recipe called for 3.5 cups of flour but after several minutes my hunk of dough was still very drippy. It needed more flour in order to actually turn into a dough-ball. I threw in another half cup of flour and we were good to go!

I followed all of the steps and ended up with a great product. I just wish they were prettier. I will need to master my twist technique. I followed the videos from Cooking Dish in hopes of mastering it on my first try. If you have some feedback on getting a smoother product I’d appreciate any guidance!

Below are my edits to the recipe.

• 4 cups of bread flour (I used King Arthur  Whole Wheat White Flour)
• 1/4 ounce instant dry yeast (2 1/2 teaspoons; or 1 envelope active dry)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups, 120°–130°F
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar for my “malting liquid”
• No toppings on the first time around, just a sprinkle of salt

And so it begins.

Don’t kill your yeast, keep the water between 120-130 degrees.

Rise and shine.

One minutes in the boiling water, then pat dry.

The final product, crispy and chewy!

This guy baked together.

EDIT: I’ve been obsessing over these for the past 24 hours. I read this recipe and have decided mine failed a bit because they did not sink to the bottom of the boiling water like they were supposed to. I’ll work on it.