Today Brianna and I had a nice time in the kitchen. She made sweet potato pie and I made soft baked pretzels. YUM.
We did not get pictures of every step, but we got enough I think?
First, the crust. I got unbleached white flour especially for Brianna ... it's the easiest to use for crusts. Our grinder grinds the wheat berries so course and the first crust she ever tried to make did not work at all. I can get it to work fine, but for someone just starting, it might be nicer to start with unbleached white flour. As you can see, her crust turned out well :)
We did not get pictures of every step, but we got enough I think?
First, the crust. I got unbleached white flour especially for Brianna ... it's the easiest to use for crusts. Our grinder grinds the wheat berries so course and the first crust she ever tried to make did not work at all. I can get it to work fine, but for someone just starting, it might be nicer to start with unbleached white flour. As you can see, her crust turned out well :)
The filling ... I'm not sure what all I told her to put in there, but I THINK it was 6c mashed sweet potatoes, 3 eggs, 1/2c brown sugar, 1t cinnamon, 1/2t nutmeg, 1t vanilla and 1/4c butter, melted. Blend it all together and spread into the crusts.
She decided to use the extra crust dough to make decorations for the tops ...
Ready to bake ... 425 for 15 minutes and 300 till done (over 50 minutes). The filling will be firm and the crust will be golden brown.
All done!
Brianna thought to take pictures of the pretzels a little too late, so you'll have to use your imagination for the first few steps. I used my whole wheat bread recipe; I followed all the steps until the shaping of the loaves. Instead I rolled it out to about a 10" x 12" rectangle and cut into 12 - 12" long strips. Roll them out a little more with your hands, shape and put on a greased cookie sheet. Next, bake them in a preheated oven set to 475 for 4 minutes. Once done, have ready a pot of boiling water with 2T of salt added. Lower 3 or 4 at a time into the pot, boil for 2 minutes, turning once in between. Remove with a slotted spoon. Set on a towel for a minute or so to drain, and then put back onto a well greased cookie sheet.
Brush with an egg white wash - one egg white and 1T water.
Sprinkle with coarse salt.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes ... till golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. I brushed it with melted butter before taking it off the cookie sheet.
Enjoy!
