Twisty Twirly Pretzel Bagel Buns

For want of an apt term, I let my 4 year-old sous chef suggest a name for these delicious baked goodies that started out as pretzels but took on its own identity :)

One Sunday morning, after the breakfast things were put away, we made the dough and let it rise, and then, after lunch, we set about preparing and baking these just in time for the afternoon snack. Of course, the shaping was the fun part for my 4 year-old, and me. The agave nectar and cinnamon sugar pretzels were almost as good as cinnamon buns. Almost :)

Ingredients
1½ tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp brown sugar
a pinch of salt
1½ cups 110°F water

4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp oil

1½ cup hot water
1 Tbsp baking soda

2 Tbsp Smart Balance Omega butter, melted

Optional Toppings: Agave nectar or honey or maple syrup, cinnamon sugar, coarse salt crystals, stone-ground brown mustard

Preparation

1. Add the yeast and brown sugar to the 110°F water, allow to sit for about 5-8 minutes till frothy and active
2. Add the pinch of salt, then, the flour a little at a time and knead to a smooth elastic dough
3. Grease a bowl, coat the dough with oil, place in the bowl, cover and let it rise in a warm place until doubled in volume
4. Punch down a bit, take little portions and roll them into ropes for shaping
5. Heat some water in a pan, turn off heat and add the baking soda; keep handy
6. Shape the ropes of dough as desired, dunk them one by one in the water+baking soda solution till it rises to the top, remove with slotted spoon and place on a baking tray
7. Brush with agave nectar or salt crystals as desired and bake in a 500°F oven for about 8-12 minutes till brown on the outside and cooked through on the inside
8. Remove from heat, brush with butter, serve warm with mustard, or sprinkled cinnamon sugar

Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week, or freeze for later use.

Lemon Banana Walnut Bar Cake

Appa's Birthday called for something special, but something simple and quick as well. These Lemon Banana Walnut Bar Cakes came about as we had all the ingredients handy and I had a 4 year old sous chef raring to go.

She has been exploring marbling, so, she wanted to add food colors and swirl them around to make colorful cakes. But, can leave out coloring in this recipe, if preferred.

Somehow her heart was set on making flower and heart molded chocolate decoration for the cakes. Since we don't make this often, I liked that she got me interested in taking the little extra effort... so, we melted some White Melts (not quite white chocolate, we buy it in bulk food store), added food color and poured into molds to set.




Ingredients
1/3 cup sugar
½ cup Smart Balance Omega™ Light butter
½ cup powdered walnuts
2 medium bananas, mushed
juice of 1 lemon - about 2 Tbsp
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
11/3 cup flour
Food color (optional)

Frosting: Neufchâtel cheese with some black currant jam, or strawberry jam beaten in till fluffy; or, leave out the jam for some plain topping.

Preparation

1. Beat the sugar and butter till fluffy, then beat in the eggs, lemon juice, and mushed bananas;Stir in the powdered walnut
2. Sift together baking soda and the flour and add it a little at a time to the wet mixture, stirring gently with a ladle till well incorporated
3. Fill the batter into the bar cake mold; add a drop of food color in each and swirl it around gently with a fork or small whisk
4. Bake in a 350°F oven for about 20-25 minutes, turning half way through if desired, until toothpick inserted comes out clean
5. Frost as desired and top with the chocolate mold

Simple "Marbled" Cupcake

This simple cupcake came about to cheer up the little ones at home who were feeling under the weather... nothing fancy about it, except, my 4¾ year-old helped me make it - beating the eggs with a fork, measuring the flour and sugar, adding baking cases to the muffin pan, stirring and tasting the batter, and of course spreading the frosting.

We've been trying various kids art activities some of which involved simulating the marbling-effect or "colorful swirlies" as she calls it. And so when she added a few drops of purple food color, rather than blend it in uniformly, she decided to swirl it around a bit, just enough to leave streaks of purple in an otherwise plain cupcake batter. When scooped as-is and baked, it formed nice deep swirly patterns all around. Can use multiple colors and swirl them about to form interesting patterns in the batter before baking. (The quantity here made about 8 standard size muffins)

Ingredients
2 eggs
½ cup Smart Balance Omega 3™ butter
1/3 cup sugar
½ tsp baking powder
1 cup flour
food color

Frosting: Light Cream Cheese, (home-made) strawberry jam or plum jam - beaten together till fluffy
Sprinkles optional

Preparation

1. Pre-heat oven to 350°F; Beat the eggs and keep handy
2. Blend the sugar and butter together with an electric mixer till fluffy, about 2 minutes
3. Add the beaten eggs and continue to beat another 30-40 seconds
4. Sift the flour and baking powder together and slowly fold it into the wet ingredients mixture
5. Add a few drops of food color and swirl it around with a ladle
6. Scoop the batter into each of the baking cases in the muffin mold (or, simple spray the muffin mold with vegetable oil) to about 2/3rds full and bake in a 350°F oven for about 20-25 minutes, checking midway and turning the tray around if needed
7. When cool enough, spread some frosting on top, add some sprinkles and enjoy! Or chill in the fridge for a summer time snack