P.S. Halloween is in a few weeks and we surely need a few treats, food or otherwise. October is also Oktoberfest and I want to share a pretzel recipe with you:
Soft Pretzels
Ingredients
for 8 servings
- 1 ½ cups water, warm
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 packet active dry yeast
- 4 ½ cups flour
- 3 tablespoons oil, divided
- ⅔ cup baking soda
- 2 eggs, beaten
- coarse salt
Instructions:
- In a bowl, mix water, salt, and sugar until combined. Add yeast and let rest 5 minutes until yeast starts to foam.
- Add flour and 2 tablespoons of oil and mix thoroughly until a dough forms.
- Remove the dough and use the remaining oil to cover the bowl.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place for 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 450°F (230°C).
- Cut dough into 8 pieces and roll them out into thin ropes, twisting the two ends to form a pretzel shape.
- Add baking soda to a large pot of water and bring to a rolling boil. Boil each pretzel for 30 seconds per side.
- Transfer pretzels to a baking sheet, brush with egg wash, and sprinkle with salt. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until golden brown.
- Enjoy!
Now for something sweet:
Pumpkin Bread
Ingredients
for 12 servings
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup oil
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- ⅔ cup honey
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 ¾ cups whole wheat flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- In a large bowl, combine the eggs, oil, pumpkin, honey, and water, and whisk until thoroughly combined.
- Sprinkle the whole wheat flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, baking soda, and salt over the wet ingredients and fold until the batter is well combined.
- Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan and smooth the top into an even layer.
- Bake for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Let the loaf cool in the pan for 10 minutes before carefully unmolding.
- Let the loaf sit at room temperature for at least 1 hour before slicing.