Mixing Bowl Kids

Cinnamon Banana Loaf

 Living in a large city, like Toronto, it may surprise some of you to know that there is both an outdoor ice rink and a swimming pool at my boys' school.  How fortunate and idyllic for them, wouldn't you agree? Both boys, but especially my eldest, spend inordinate amounts of time skating from the beginning of December until mid-March (this doesn't include the time spent playing hockey on a team as well!), and are so thrilled to be able to do so.

Yesterday after school my husband and I greeted the boys in the playground with some skates, sticks, a puck or two and slices of this cinnamon loaf.  Freshly baked, it was still warm to the touch and ingested at rapid speed as they walked across the field to lace up.  They were so grateful for the pre-game snack and I was happy to know they were well fueled. 

About the loaf..you can use all-purpose flour for this if you don't have the whole wheat pastry kind on hand.  This is the great thing about quick breads....ten minutes required to mix up the ingredients and everything is adaptable so you don't need to run out to the store in order to make something.  Plus, you get the added bonus of the lingering cinnamon scent through the home long after you've returned from the rink.

Have a great day!

Cinnamon Banana Loaf, adapted from The Dieticians of Canada

1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or all purpose)

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 egg white

1/4 cup plain yogurt

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup mashed banana

1 cup raisins

Topping: 1 tbsp cinnamon and 1 tbsp sugar, combined

~ Preheat oven to 350.

~ In a medium mixing bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon and set aside.

~ In a large mixing bowl blend together the sugars, egg, egg white, yogurt, oil, vanilla and banana.  Add teh dry ingredients and the raisins and mix until just combined.

~ Pour batter into lightly oiled loaf pan, sprinkle the top of the loaf with the topping and bake for 1 hour.

 

Ham Sandwiches on Sweet Potato Biscuits

As soon as I saw this recipe in the December issue of Bon Appetit, I knew it was only a matter of time until a variation of the original was posted here on Mixing Bowl Kids.  The idea of mini sweet potato biscuits was just too yummy to pass up.  Seasonal and delicious, I was drawn to the recipe immediately and dog-eared the page for a quick return - for a time when I was ready to whip up a batch of these little gems.

I spend a few days a week working outside my home in the world of food, and recently one of the recipes we've worked on is a sweet potato biscuit topped with pulled pork.  Yummy?  Definitely, but not something that I could easily make for my very hungry boys. So instead I decided to make these biscuits and stuff them with slices of ham...a perfect lunch or after school snack and oh so easily prepared.

These are easily made with the help of young sous chefs and I encourage you to get yours in the kitchen. Once the sweet potato has been cooked and mashed, your little cooks can put these together quite easily. Encourage your older children to measure the dry ingredients into a bowl (always a good math lesson) and younger helpers will be happy to combine the wet and dry ingredients together into a dough. And I don't think you'll have trouble finding a volunteer to work the cookie cutters!  Even if your little ones aren't free to assist with making these yummy bites, they'll be very grateful if you make them anyways (trust me on this one).

Have you been inspired by any recipes lately?  Magazines or cookbooks?  Come back tomorrow...we have a great, and I mean great, giveaway happening!

Sweet Potato Biscuits, slightly adapted from Bon Appetit, December 2009

**After the biscuits are made, I slice them in half , spread one side with honey mustard and stuff with ham.  If you don't have honey mustard on hand, combine 1 tsp dijon and 1 1/2 tsp of honey together to make your own version.

1 large sweet potato

1 3/4 cups whole wheat or all-purpose flour

1 tbsp dark brown sugar

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 cup butter, chilled and cut into small 1/2" cubes

1/3 cup cold buttermilk

~ Place sweet potatoes in a saucepan with salted water and bring to a boil.  Cook for 6-8 minutes or until tender.  Drain, cool and mash.

~ Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

~ Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and cayenne together in a medium sized mixing bowl.

~ Add the butter to the flour mixture and toss together with your hands until it the texture is coarse and sandy.

~ Whisk 3/4 cup of mashed sweet potatoes with the buttermilk until smooth.  Add to the flour mixture and stir together with a fork.

~ Knead the dough until it comes together.  Spread a small amount of flour onto the counter.  Place the dough ball on top of the flour and pat our into a 1" thick circle.

~ Using a floured 1" cookie cutter, cut out biscuits and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.

~ Bakes for 8 minutes or until tops are golden brown.

Chocolate Chunk and Sea Salt "Foccacia"

This is the last of the bread posts for this week and I'm tickled to know that they were so well received. I'm so excited by how interested you, lovely readers, are in making homemade bread!

This simple, sweet and speedy take on foccacia, isn't exactly like the great Italian bread, but it's very nice all the same.  I wanted something that was beyond easy to make - something I could let my nine year old work on independently should he choose to do so.  I was also looking for something that was adaptable and while I knew this would work with some nice sea salt and fresh herbs added to the dough (and please feel free to do that for it's equally as delicious), I wanted to experiment with this, which is how I came to the chocolate chip version you see above.  Do note though that this is not a sweet bread at all, despite the addition of a bit of chocolate.

Taking less than 15 minutes to assemble, I'm happy to have found another easy bread recipe to add to my repertoire, and whether I serve it a sweet or savoury snack, it will surely be enjoyed just the same.   

I'll be back again tomorrow with one last post for the week...something that doesn't involve flour and yeast...and then I'm looking forward to a nice, warm-weather weekend with my family.

Have a great day, friends!

Chocolate Chip and Sea Salt "Foccacia"

1 tsp honey

2 1/4 tsp yeast

1/3 cup warm water + 3 tbsp warm water

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup chocolate chunks

Topping:

olive oil

sea salt

~ Place the yeast in a medium sized mixing bowl and cover with 1/3 cup warm water and the honey.  Allow to rest for 10 minutes, or until foamy.

~ Add the flour, olive oil and salt and mix well.  Add the remaining water, one tablespoon at a time until the dough comes together.  

~ Add the chocolate chunks and lightly knead the dough.  Place in an oiled bowl, turning to coat on all sides.  Allow to rise for 30 minutes in a warm spot.

~ Pre-heat the oven to 475 degrees.  Remove the dough and roll out onto a piece of parchment paper.  A circular or rectangular shape is fine.  Lift the parchment, with the dough on top of it, and place on a rimmed baking sheet.

~ Dot the dough with your fingertips making dimples on the top.  Brush olive oil over the dough and sprinkle with sea salt.

~ Bake for 8 - 10 minutes (depending on if you want the dough to have a crisp to it or not).  Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

~ Enjoy!

Maple, Oatmeal and Wheat Bread

I'm home nursing a feverish, sickly nine year old, so I'm going to have to let the pictures (and there are many!) do the talking for me today. I tried another bread - a delicious and soft maple, oatmeal and wheat version.  This bread is perfect for mornings. Warm or toast a slice and serve with jam or honey. And peanut butter would be utterly delicious here as well.  

(Speaking of peanut butter - for those of you in the U.S., did you know Jiff was sponsoring a Most Creative Peanut Butter Sandwich contest?  How fun is that?  I can't think of a better way to get your creative kids into the kitchen to create the most unusual peanut butter sandwich they can think of.  Last year's winner made a Peanut Butter Chicken Cheesesteak sandwich, so as far as I'm concerned the possibilities are endless.  The winner of the contest receives a $25,000 Scholarship Fun and contest rules and regulations can be found here )

This recipe is made the same way as the other loaf, I've just changed up the ingredients.  I've yet to meet a child that doesn't enjoy kneading dough, so please get your kids involved in the process.  They will be so proud to take a sandwich to school, on their very own homemade bread.  I've used several photos to illustrate the bread-making process without a bread-maker or stand mixer.  Let me know if you have any questions and enjoy!

Add yeast to a large mixing bowl

Add oats and water and allow to rest for five minutes

Add oil, maple syrup and salt.

Then add the all purpose flour.  Mix well, cover with a tea towel and rest for 15 minutes.

When the 15 minutes are up, add the whole wheat flour and mix well with your hands.

Continue mixing until most of the flour is absorbed.

Place the dough onto a floured counter-top or cutting board and knead until soft and smooth.

Place the kneaded dough back into the bowl, sprinkle with flour, cover and allow to rest for 1 hour.

After the hour is up, remove the dough from the bowl and place on a counter-top.  Punch down until the dough is smooth. 

Place the dough ball on a parchment-lined baking sheet and allow to rise for another hour.  Bake in a pre-heated oven for 35 minutes.  Cool and enjoy!

Maple, Oatmeal and Wheat Bread

1 1/3 cups very warm water

2 1/4 tsp yeast

3/4 cups oats

2 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp pure maple syrup

1 tsp salt

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

2 cups whole wheat flour

~ Warm the water in a pot on the stove or in the microwave, until very warm but not hot to the touch. 

~ Place yeast in a large mixing bowl, sprinkle the yeast over, cover with oats and allow to sit for five minutes until it becomes bubbly.

~ Add the oil, maple syrup, and salt.  Cover with the all purpose flour and stir until smooth.  Allow to rest for 15 minutes.  

~Add in the whole wheat flour and stir to form a stiff dough.  Turn the dough out onto a floured cutting board or counter top and knead with you hands until it is smooth and springy. 

~ Cover the bowl and let the bough rise for one hour.

~ Turn the dough out onto the counter, punch dough shape into a round loaf.  Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Cover and allow to rise for another hour.

~ Bake in a pre-heated 375 degree oven for 35 minutes.  

~ Cool on a wire rack and enjoy!

Beer and Mustard Wheat Bread

Eleven months ago I started making homemade bread every few days, and with the exception of the odd purchased loaf, we've been noshing on this home-baked goodness all year.  My reasons for making our bread come from nothing more than I love doing it, and when using this tried and true method it takes less time to make a loaf than it does to buy one.  Add in how economical it is, and how good for you it is, and the reasons to make homemade bread are just too ample not to do it.

But like all good things in life, too much of a good thing can become a little boring, so it's time to switch up the bread recipes.  I'm in the process of experimenting, and I'd like to share some of our new breads here in this space if you don't mind.  

 The first loaf I tried this past weekend was a beer and mustard wheat bread. And was it ever tasty.  The beer is heated, which removed the alcohol from it, and when combined with the remaining ingredients, I was left with a soft-crumbed, simple loaf.  We toasted it up and spread it with hummus for breakfast, and I would also use this as a vehicle for a meaty sandwich or to accompany a warm bowl of soup.

Stay tuned for more bread recipes this week, and tell me, do you make bread? Why or why not?  How do you do it?  

Have a great day, friends!

Beer and Mustard Wheat Bread, adapted from Beatrice Ojakangas' Whole Grain Breads

1 1/3 cup dark ale
2 tsp active-dry yeast
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp Dijon mustard
3 tbsp honey
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp thyme leaves (or rosemary)
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour

~ Warm the beer in a pot on the stove or in the microwave, until very warm but not hot to the touch.  Place in the bowl of a stand mixer, sprinkle the yeast over and allow to sit for five minutes until it becomes bubbly.

~ Add the oil, mustard, honey, salt, thyme and the all purpose flour and stir until smooth.  Allow to rest for 15 minutes.  Add in the whole wheat flour and stir to form a stiff dough.  Knead the dough in the mixer with a dough hook until it is smooth and springy. 

~ Remove the dough hook, cover the bowl and let the bough rise for one hour.

~ Turn the dough out onto the counter, shape into a round loaf and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Cover and allow to rise for another hour.

~ Brush the loaf with some water, cover in coarse salt and bake in a pre-heated 375 degree oven for 35 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack and enjoy!

V is for Vegetable Pancakes

Last Friday, I made my weekly trip to the Farmer's Market with a friend of mine.  We walked around and around the stalls in wonder at the colour, smells and selection we had before us.  Apples were available in abundance, peppers were sold by the half-bushell and the tomatoes, unfortunately speckled with small black marks as a result of this past summer's substantial rainfall, were begging for someone to take them home.  All were appealing to me, but none as much so as the butternut squash. 

 Butternut squash is my favourite vegetable (although it is technically a fruit) of the Fall season, and this weeks obscenely large squashes had finally made their appearance at my weekly market.  And for just two dollars - yes, that's right, two dollars - I brought home a squash large enough to feed my family twice.  How wonderful is that?

So, with my butternut squash peeled and ready for use, I set out to make a savoury pancake after hearing all about them last week on this show.  With the exception of blinis and latkes, I don't have much experience with this type of quick-bread.  My pancakes are usually glistening with some maple syrup or honey, fresh fruit and nuts.  But this version used two kinds of vegetables, spices and sour cream - and I think I now prefer them to the former variety I loved.  

Delicious when served warm, with a topping of sour cream or plain yogurt, these little flapjacks also make for a great addition to the school lunchbox.  Use whatever vegetables you have on hand, or the ones I've used in this recipe, and I don't think your little chefs will be disappointed. Encourage them to help you with this one by allowing them to grate their veggies.  My guys love using the box grater - it seems to make everything more fun.  To protect their little fingers, try piercing your veggies with a fork and move the veg along the blades that way so fingers don't get caught on the surface.

I might suggest making these other market goodies, while they're still in season and available.  How about zucchini and carrots or sweet potato and red onion?  Maybe even Yukon gold potatoes and celeriac or squash and apple?  I think all of these combinations would work nicely as well. Do you enjoy savoury pancakes?  How about your children?  I'd love to hear your thoughts and wish you all a great day!

**For the winner of the book giveaway please scroll down to yesterday's post!

Vegetable Pancakes, adapted from this Paula Deen Recipe

1 cup grated butternut squash

1/2 cup grated white onion

2 tbsp butter

1/2 whole wheat or all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1/4 cup milk

oil for the pan

~ Melt the butter in a saucepan set over medium high heat.  Add the squash and onion and cook until golden, approx. 10 minutes.
~ While the veggies are cooking, combine the flour, baking powder, garam masala and salt in small mixing bowl.  Combine the egg and milk in a glass measuring cup and blend well.  Set aside.
~ When the veggies are finished cooking, add them and the egg mixture to the dry ingredients.  Combine well.
~ Drizzle a small amount of oil into the pan the veggies were cooking in.  Add large spoonfuls of the pancake mixture to the pan and cook for 2 minutes on each side.  Serve with sour cream or yogurt.
~ Enjoy!
 
 

R is for Raisin Bread

We've been enjoying raisins in our home lately.  Not that we haven't before, but it seems as though they were consumed in mass quantities of mini-boxes when the boys were younger and, after a few years hiatus, they are back in the rotation of favourite foods.  At least for my eldest son.   

When chatting this past week about our return-to-raisins, my husband mentioned raisin bread and fondly remembers eating loaves of it as a child.  His mother would toast it and spread a thin layer of butter over the bread, which would melt into the raisins.  I had that a few times as child myself, and while I'm not incredibly fond of raisins I do remember loving that bread.  It was a great snack, especially after school on a cool Fall or Winter day.

Of course, all this reminiscing led me into the kitchen this weekend to try and create some good old-fashioned raisin bread. Easily put together with both little and big hands, I slightly adapted a recipe which called for the combining of some simple ingredients and a lot of time to allow the bread to rise. We were able to get everything mixed and then carried on with our day while the yeast worked it's magic.  I can say this was very well received by the family, even if the youngest member removed his raisins before munching away.

I hope you all enjoyed the weekend.  We experienced some perfectly sunny, cool days which made the Apple Festival we attended just perfect.  Don't forget to leave comments with your "R" foods for the lunch-box.  This feature will be completed next week and I'll draw some names for a fun food prize pack. Enjoy the day, friends....

Cinnamon Raisin Bread, adapted from The River Cottage Cookbook

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 1/4 tsp yeast

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup warm water

1 egg

3 tbsp orange juice

1 tbsp honey

3/4 cups raisins

~ Place the raisins in a small mixing bowl and cover with the orange juice. Set aside.

~ Place the flours, salt and yeast in a large mixing bowl.  Set aside.

~ In a glass measuring cup, combine the water and warm milk. Add the egg and beat well.  Add the raisins in juice and the honey and stir.  Add to the flour mixture and stir well with a wooden spoon.

~ Pour the mixture onto a floured surface and knead for approx. 10 minutes until soft and smooth.

~ Place the dough back in the mixing bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Allow to rise for 2 hours at room temperature in a space free of drafts.

~ When finished rising, punch down and pull dough out of the bowl.  Press into a circle on a floured work surface and roll the dough into a log.  Place the log in an oiled or buttered loaf pan, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise an additional 30 minutes.  While the dough is rising, pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees.

~ When the dough is ready, remove the plastic wrap and bake for 12 minutes.  Reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake for another 20 minutes.  

~ Allow to cool and serve warm with butter.

~ Enjoy!

F is for French Toast Fingers

I think I may be gearing up for a challenging week with this little A to Z feature I've been working on. My letters for the week are F, G, H, I and J.  Not the easiest of alphabetical symbols to cook from I realized, as I mulled over the possibilities this past weekend.  When I became stumped after a few attempts myself, I gathered the other food lovers of the house and we sat down to do some family brainstorming.  I hope you like what we've concocted for you.

We begin the week with F and both the husband and I immediately thought of French toast, which is quite interesting as it's a food that rarely graces our dining table.  We certainly don't dislike it, we just don't eat it all that often.  Traditional French toast didn't seem like a great lunch-box treat to me though, so I modified it a bit by making french toast fingers - single servings of the warm breakfast food, sandwiched with an assortment of fillings. 

We made a nutella-stuffed version and one with raspberry preserves nestled between the warm bread slices.  Lastly, we tried a mashed banana filling, which was, surprisingly, the least favourite of the group.  Served with a maple-yogurt dipping sauce this was such a fun and tasty alternative to the regular breakfast food.  Perfect for the school lunch-box - especially when you think you can't possibly make another sandwich.

Kitchen helpers can assist you with this dish and they can easily be made the night before to make the morning rush just that much easier.  I let my guys spread the filling between the trimmed bread slices and they even managed dipping the bread in the eggs and making the yogurt sauce with little guidance on my part.  I took care of the cooking and slicing and they happily noshed on the samples I provided.

I hope you try this with your family.  What are your favourite "F" foods?  Please do share...the abundance of comments last week truly made my nights as I would sit and read through each one of them.  Enjoy the day....

French Toast Fingers

yields: 2 servings

8 slices of bread

2 eggs

splash of milk

pinch of cinnamon

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

filling of choice: nutella, mashed banana, jam etc

1/4 cup plain yogurt

1 tbsp maple syrup

~ Line-up the bread and spread every other slice with one of the fillings.

~ Top each slice with a plain piece of bread and set aside.

~ Combine the eggs and milk in a shallow plate or bowl.  Dip the sandwiched bread into the egg and let soak for a minute on each side.

~ While the bread is soaking in the egg, preheat the pan to med-high heat and melt the butter and oil together.

~ Cook the bread for approx. 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden brown.  Continue with all of the breads until everything is cooked.

~ Slice the toasts into fingers and set out on a plate.

~ Combine the yogurt and maple syrup and use for a dipping sauce for the fingers.

~ Enjoy!

Grilled Zucchini and Goat Cheese Pizza

Ah, to be home.  As much as I like (or rather love) road trips and family vacations, I love the return to home just as much.  Like anything of significant importance, I think we often need to step away from something in order to realize just how much it's enjoyed and appreciated.  And boy, do I appreciate my home and all it has to offer...running water, a shower, a dishwasher and an oven.  Not to say that I didn't enjoy NOT having those things over the past week, because I truly did, but I'm so happy and grateful to be back in their company today.

Of all the items listed above the one I missed the least was my oven.  Surprised? I was.  I didn't miss it because we spent all of our time cooking with something better.  Hard to believe, I know, but said item was not only more challenging and more fun, it yielded such better tasting food that my oven-love disappeared after the first meal.  What could possibly be better you might ask?  Nothing more than the simple campfire.  

For six days, two meals a day, my spatula-wielding husband and I cooked all manner of foods over nothing more than some charcoal, a few ignited pieces of wood and a small grill rack.  Breakfasts and dinners for the family were lovingly and time-consumingly cooked this way and it was completely fantastic.  Each dinner took almost two hours, from start to finish, but we didn't mind.  It was so fun and new and we had all the time in the world, that we didn't even notice just how much time we spent over that fire.  But when we ate (and we ate well) we were so happy that we had just cooked the way we did.

My favourite meal of the week was our grilled zucchini and goat cheese pizza. An early morning trip to the local farmer's market, found us home with a few pounds of the courgettes and a nice container of homemade basil/herb goat cheese from a farm not too many miles away from where we were staying. Add in a few balls of pizza dough and we were rocking a meal so tasty, and healthy, that I ate in complete silence, too happy to speak.  My boys quite enjoyed the pizza as well, and while initially hesitant to eat a pizza made of "nothing but zucchini, Mom?", in the end they were as happy as me...well, almost.

So, now we're home and I'm happily back in the company of the kitchen I have.  I don't think I could cook over a campfire for much longer than we did, for really who has that much time to make a meal. But the space I will have between those flames of last week and our annual camping trip next year, will remind me just how much I enjoy, and appreciate, cooking that way when I can.

Grilled Zucchini Goat Cheese Pizza, my recipe

2 green zucchinis, thinly sliced

2 yellow zucchinis, thinly sliced

1/2 cup herbed goat-cheese

1/4 cup olive oil + extra for cooking the zucchini

salt and pepper, to taste

big glug of light beer or white wine

whole wheat pizza dough

1 cup grated mozzarella cheese

~ Allow pizza dough to rise according to your recipe or package directions.  While the dough is rising, combine the goat cheese and oil in a small bowl and set aside.

~ Place the zucchini and a good drizzle of olive oil in a pan set over medium high heat (or low flames).  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss around with a wooden spoon, cooking until the zucchini is golden brown.  

~ De-glaze the pan with a big glug of beer or wine, whatever you have on hand, and cook until the liquid had evaporated.

~ Press out the dough onto a round pizza pan and cover evenly with the goat cheese mixture.  Top with the pan-grilled zucchini and grated mozzarella and bake (or grill) until the dough is cooked through and the cheese has melted.

~ Enjoy!

Pretzel Pizzazz

My youngest son and I spent last night holed up in the kitchen putting together a Father's Day treat for his Dad.  Deserving of so much more than some homemade goodness, my husband really does like the simple things the best, and we set out to create something specifically for him.  For some, this may be an easy task, but not for us.  My guy is not a sweet eater, or a baked goods eater, but he is definitely a savoury-foods eater, and I used that as the inspiration for creating these spicy pretzels.

A simple dough recipe, made and left to rise for less than hour, can quickly become a really tasty snack for the entire family.  We made these more dad-specific with the addition of some cayenne pepper and italian seasonings.  As you can see in the photos, my little guy was actively involved in the rolling and shaping of these baby-breads, and once baked he was so proud of his concoction.

Happy Father's Day to all of the great Dads out there...especially the Dad of my boys...we couldn't possibly ask for more.

Spicy Pretzels, Adapted from Alton Brown's recipe

1 1/2 cups very warm water

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 package active dry yeast

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tbsp Italian seasoning

2 tbsp olive oil

Olive oil for bowl  

10 cups water

2/3 cup baking soda

1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water

Salt

~ Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. 

~ Add the flour, oil and seasonings and, using the dough hook attachment, 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.

~ Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with olive oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with a cloth and let rest in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.  Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

~ Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in a large saucepan.

~ 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. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined baking pan.

~ Place the pretzels into the boiling water for 30 seconds, on at a time. Remove them from the water using a large spoon or tongs. Return them to the baking pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 13 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

~ Serve with a honey mustard or roasted garlic dipping sauce.

~ Enjoy!