Rosemary Sea Salt Pretzels with Rosemary Cheddar Cheese Sauce
Yield: 8 large soft pretzels
Soft homemade pretzels with fresh rosemary and sea salt. Dip them into a rosemary cheese sauce for a great snack!
Ingredients:
For the pretzels:
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
3 ounces unsalted butter, melted
2 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
4 1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
Canola oil, to grease bowl
3 quarts water
2/3 cups baking soda
1 whole egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon cold water
Coarse sea salt
For the Rosemary Cheese Sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary
Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions:
1. To make the pretzels: combine the water, sugar, yeast, and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix with the dough hook until combined. Let sit for 5 minutes.
2. Add the salt, flour, and rosemary to the mixture and mix on low speed until combined. Increase the speed to medium and continue kneading until the dough is smooth and begins to pull away from the side of the bowl, about 3 to 4 minutes. If the dough appears too wet, add additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time. Remove the dough from the bowl, place on a flat surface and knead into a ball with your hands.
3. Coat a large bowl with canola oil, add the dough and turn to coat with the oil. Cover with a clean towel or plastic wrap and place in a warm spot until the dough doubles in size. This will take about 1 hour.
4. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Bring the water to a boil in a large pot.
5. Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a flat surface. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a long rope. To shape into pretzels, take the right side and cross over to the left. Cross right to left again and flip up. Slowly add the baking soda to the boiling water. Boil the pretzels in the water solution, 2 at a time for 30 seconds, splashing the tops with the warmed water using a spoon. Remove with a large flat slotted spatula or a spider. Place 4 pretzels on each baking sheet, brush the tops with the egg wash and season liberally with sea salt. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until pretzels are golden brown.
6. Remove pretzels from oven and let cool on a wire baking rack.
7. To make the Rosemary Cheese Sauce: In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and whisk in flour. Pour in the milk and whisk until the mixture thickens. Stir in shredded cheese, stir until cheese is melted and smooth. Stir in fresh rosemary and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve with pretzels.via
http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/rosemary-sea-salt-pretzels-with-rosemary-cheddar-cheese-sauce/
Cheesecake Brownie Bites
Ingredients
For the brownie batter:
4 large eggs
1¼ cups baking cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder, mixed with 2 teaspoons water
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2¼ cups sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, melted
1½ cups all-purpose flour
For the cheesecake filling:
1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons sugar
1 large egg yolk
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, baking cocoa, salt, baking powder, espresso mixed with water, and vanilla until well combined. Stir in the sugar and melted butter until well combined, then stir in flour. Set brownie batter aside.
In a separate bowl, prepare the cheesecake filling by stirring together the cream cheese, sugar and egg yolk until well combined. Transfer the mixture to a pastry bag or plastic bag.
Grease a non-stick mini-muffin pan with cooking spray or butter then spoon a tablespoon of brownie batter into the greased cups. Pipe a generous amount of cheesecake filling atop the brownie batter, and then top off each cup with and additional teaspoon of brownie batter.
Bake for 12 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let the brownie bites cool for 10 minutes in the pan and then transfer them to the refrigerator to continue cooling, or enjoy warm!
