Weekly Rewind~Top 5 Recipes Edition

This week’s rewind is all about FOOD! These are the top 5 most viewed recipes on my site.

5th Place: Kitchen Scraps Homemade Vegetable Broth-I eat a lot of veggies and end up with a lot of vegetable scraps. I like to save money every way I can and I also like to have homemade versions of convenience items as much as possible. It is super easy and economical to make your own broth. I like to use veggie broth when I cook, either because the recipe calls for it, or to add nutritional value to things like pasta, rice, and other grains.

4th Place: Meyer Lemon Blueberry Muffins-The Meyer lemon in these muffins give them an incredible lemon fragrance and flavor that is unbelievable. This recipe would be great with raspberries as well.

3rd Place: Strawberry-Goji Muffins with Mini-chocolate chips-The recipe for these muffins came from Let Them Eat Vegan by Dreena Burton. The goji berries are used in a creative way and lend a depth of flavor to this healthy muffins while the mini-chocolate chips add a delicious hint of sweetness and indulgence.

2nd Place: Soft Pretzel Bites with Sesame Seeds-These pretzel bites are reminiscent of the big soft pretzels that you can find at the mall. They are super easy to make and highly customizable.

1st Place: Cookie Butter Banana Bread-It comes as no surprise to me that this is the most viewed recipe on my blog by a landslide! In my opinion, cookie butter makes everything better and this bread is no exception. If you haven’t made it yet, I highly encourage you to make it as soon as possible!

What’s your favorite recipe on my blog? What recipes would you like to see in the future?

Soft Pretzel Bites with Sesame Seeds

I’m a huge fan of the big soft pretzels sold at the mall. I like to tear chunks off my pretzel and dip it into good ole yellow mustard. The chewiness of the pretzel and those big flakes of salt make my mouth and belly very happy.

I recently came across a copy cat recipe to Auntie Anne’s pretzels and thought, “Hey I could make those!” The recipe does take some time and planning due to the dough having to rise two times, but the wait is worth it. I decided to make pretzel bites rather than traditional pretzels.

I dunked mine in my homemade Hot Pepper Mustard, but yellow mustard would be perfect as well. I made mine savory this time around, using sesame seeds and kosher salt for the topping. These versatile little bites would be delicious as garlic, sour cream & onion, or jalapeno flavors as well. Dip them in cheese, marinara sauce or sweet mustard for a fun twist.

These pretzel bites could easily be made sweet using a cinnamon sugar blend on top, crushed almonds, powdered sugar, or add raisins to the dough! Then dunking them in caramel, fudge, or cream cheese dip.

Adapted very slightly from A Beautiful Mess

Ingredients:

Makes approximately 48-60 bites

Dough:

• 1 and 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 and 1/8 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 and 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup bread flour
• 2 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour

For dipping bites:

• 1 cup warm water
• 1 tablespoon baking soda

Topping:

• 3-4 tablespoons melted butter
• Coarse salt
• Toasted Sesame Seeds

Method:

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water, allow to sit for about 10 minutes.
2. Stir sugar and salt into the yeast mixture.
3. In a medium sized bowl, combine bread flour, all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour. Add the yeast mixture. Knead for 4-6 minutes, adding flour if the dough seems very sticky. The dough should feel elastic, soft and smooth.
4. Place dough ball in a greased bowl (use butter or non-stick spray), cover with dish towel and allow to rise for 45 minutes to an hour in a warm place. (I like to turn the oven to 200° F, then turn it off and place the bowl in the oven.)
5. When dough has doubled in size, turn out onto counter dusted with flour.
6. Cut dough into 8-12 portions. Roll portions one at a time into a rope, about 12 inches long and one inch in diameter. Cut the rope into 8-12 pieces, depending on how big you want each pretzel bite.
7. In a shallow bowl, mix 1 cup warm water with 1 tablespoon baking soda.
8. Dip each pretzel bite quickly into the water & baking soda solution then transfer to a parchment lined baking pan.
9. Place pans of pretzel bites back into a warm place and allow to rise another 45 minutes to an hour.
10. Preheat oven to 375° F
11. Brush pretzel bites with melted butter and sprinkle with coarse salt and toasted sesame seeds.
12. Bake pretzel bites for 12-14 minutes, until slightly golden on top.
13. Remove pretzel bites from oven and allow to cool (although they were pretty damn tasty warm from the oven!)
14. Store in a sealed container for 3-4 days.