Bread Challenge Week 37
Maddy and I decided to take our day around the house and bake something fun. Cookies or cupcakes are fun but since I try to make all food fun we decided to make whole wheat soft pretzels using King Arthur’s Recipe.
We had fun mixing and kneading. Maddy flexed her little muscles trying to show the pretzel dough who was boss. I love teaching her that things can be made at home. Imparting to her that creating good homemade food is in her power is very important to me. I feel like a lot of skills have been lost in the generations between our grandmothers or great-grandmothers and our generation. Not everything has to come from a store pre-made and prepackaged to be ready with a few seconds in the microwave.
I like King Arthur. I’m not sure I have tried a recipe on their site that I didn’t like and this one is no different. I liked these pretzels. The recipe was supposed to make 16 pretzels but shaping pretzels with a three year old is an interesting task so I can’t say how accurate that number is but we did get a handful of pretzel shaped pretzels, half a dozen sticks and a bunch of bites sized pieces.
The recipe says it is bagel-like but I thought it would land somewhere in between bagel and soft “mall” type pretzel. I like bagels so this wasn’t an issue but I was expecting a bit more soft and less chewy.
Making pretzels with Maddy probably took longer than it would have on my own but it was a lot of fun. Working and shaping dough gave us the chance to talk about shapes and the dough’s texture. Baking with Maddy is one of my favorite things to do regardless of the amount of time it takes. Over all the pretzels took less than 2 hours from start to finish with about 30 minutes of combined hands on time.
All in all I would recommend this recipe. The different steps kept Maddy engaged and provided not only a yummy snack but also a fun activity for us to do together.To change up the flavors and experiment a little we sprinkled some of the pretzels with salt and some of the pretzel bites with cinnamon and sugar. Maddy and I froze some of them and have been thawing them here and there to enjoy as snacks.
Bottom line, we liked these.
Flavor: 4
Hands on time: 3
Total time: 4
Recipe: 5
versatility: 4
make it again: 3
Catherine: 1
Luke: 1
Maddy: 1
Total Score: 26
(what is this Bread Challenge and how are recipes scored?)
Previous Bread Challenge reviews:
Sweet Potato Bread – Week 36
Challah – Week 35
Whole Wheat English Muffins – Week 34
Pumpernickel – Week 33
Green Onion-Sesame Flatbread – Week 32
Beer Bread – Week 31
Country Seed Bread – Week 30
Cinnamon-Raisin Bagels – Week 29
Crunchy Crackers – Week 28
Ciabatta Bread – Week 27
Cornmeal Pancake -Week 26
Lemon Poppy Seed – Week 25
Sourdough – Week 24
Tortillas – Week 23
Honey Wheat Hamburger Buns – Week 22
Garlic Studded Baguette – Week 21
Quinoa Bread – Week 20
Asiago Herb and Garlic Bread – Week 19
Cranberry Pecan Rye Bread – Week 18
Rotis – Whole Wheat Unleavened Bread- Week 17
Farmhouse White Loaf – Week 16
Honey Whole Wheat Slow Cooker Bread – Week 15
The Easiest Loaf of Bread You’ll Ever Bake – Week 14
Hot Cross Buns – Week 13
100% Whole Wheat Bread – Week 12
Thin Wheat Crackers – Week 11
Irish Soda Bread – Week 10
Double Blueberry Muffins – Week 9
Oatmeal Batter Bread – Week 8
Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls – Week 7
Cheesy Pretzels – Week 6
Light Rye Bread – Week 5
Country-Style Whole-Wheat Pita – Week 4
Carrot Raisin Quick Bread – Week 3
Potato Bread – Week 2
Focaccia – Week 1
