Soft Pretzels Buns and Sugar & Spice Pretzel Bites

It's like the last 9 months up until now was practice for being quarantined. As a freelancer and an introvert, I spent a lot of time at home (where I live alone), so I had a daily routine down, learned how to fill up my time, and how to (more or less) motivate myself to be productive.

Now, in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, I get to put all of those skills to good use. Although relatively little has changed in my life compared to other people's lives, quarantine still sucks. There's less work, less freedom, less social time, and as time goes on, a growing feeling of apprehension.

I've found that for me, apart from being active and facetiming with friends and family, one of the best ways of dealing with, well, everything, is baking. So the other night I had a friend over, and we had a baking and bingo night. On the menu: sloppy joes on soft pretzel buns, and sweet and spicy pretzel bites.

The pretzel dough is a relatively quick yeast dough, although it is very hands-on as there are a number of steps involved. Keep in mind that not only are these pretzels delicious, so you'll want to eat all of them as soon as you make them, but you should eat all of them immediately because they taste best fresh!

Using the pretzel roll recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction, we split the dough in half. From one half, we shaped six rolls, and from the other half, we made pretzel bites by rolling ropes, cutting them into pieces, and rolling the pieces into little balls.

After boiling, we baked the pretzel rolls per Sally's instructions.

After boiling the pretzel bites, we baked them for 10 minutes, then brushed them with melted butter and rolled them in a half recipe of the sugar mixture before baking for 5 more minutes. Below is the recipe for the sugar & spice topping, and the link for Sally's recipe. Enjoy!

Sugar & Spice Topping

1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbs butter, melted

Boil pretzels per Sally's instructions. Bake for 10 minutes; remove from oven. Brush with melted butter, then roll in sugar & spice mixture. Bake for another 5 minutes.

*Note: This mixture is enough for the full pretzel recipe from Sally. If making half of the dough into rolls and half into pretzel bites, only use half of the sugar & spice topping.

Sally's Pretzel Rolls
https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/easy-pretzel-rolls/#tasty-recipes-67648

Garlic Parmesan Kale Chips

Today, it's -12ºF, feels like -36ºF. Just in case you're wondering how us midwesterners are faring. Luckily, school is cancelled, so I get to stay home and play in the kitchen.

The other day I bought some kale, planning on eating it in salads. When I looked in the fridge, I didn't like my dressing options, so I ended up coating the leaves in strawberry jam to take away the bitterness. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad tasting--but it did kinda defeat the point of kale. Today, I decided to experiment with the rest of the kale. It turned out great, so I now present to you...garlic parmesan kale chips!

As these were baking, everyone (I'm currently staying with a friend at her parents' house) wondered what the nice smell was. But when I pulled kale chips out of the oven, Emmie was not happy that it was just a flavored "bush." But it's a healthy bush, I reminded her! That did not help.

In the end, I'm the only one that liked the chips. But honestly, what's not to like? They're lightly crispy, quite garlicky, and very healthy. I literally ate half the pan before I had to force myself to put the rest in a box for later!

So, you'll just have to decide yourself. Are you team nasty bush or tasty bush?

Garlic Parmesan Kale Chips

1 bunch of kale
Olive oil
Garlic powder
Salt
Pepper

Fresh or dried parmesan, grated

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line a jelly roll pan with tin foil.
Wash, dry, and de-stem the kale; rip into 1-inch sized pieces. Pour a little olive oil over the kale, and mix with hands until all of the kale is lightly coated. Do not drench.
Spread kale evenly in one layer over the pan. Sprinkle on garlic powder, salt, and pepper to taste. If using fresh parmesan, sprinkle it on now. If using dried parmesan, sprinkle on after removing from oven.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, until slightly crispy. Do not let brown.