Arsip Tag: pretzel

chocolate peanut and pretzel brittle – smitten kitchen

Dipublikasi pada Desember 10, 2023 oleh pbnbigesdi

Does anyone remember Garbage Pail Kids? Can I go predictably off-course here and admit, as I just did to my husband, who is now cracking up, that I was kind of scared of them when they came out? It was 1985! I was young! I was super into Cabbage Patch Kids and definitely did not have a grasp of parody and was this… something that could happen to a Cabbage Patch Kid? I mean, was it going to happen to mine? Why did everyone find them so funny? Ahem, right, so of course I now find them dark and brilliant, which should be no surprise given that they were co-invented by Art Spiegelman, something I learned exactly five minutes ago from Wikipedia but will now pretend I knew all along.


what you'll need
cooking the sugar

I bet you’re thinking, as per usual, “What on earth does this have to do with cooking, Deb? Focus, please!” But what I’d wanted to tell you is that for nearly eight years now, I’ve an item on my Halloween To-Cook List called “Garbage Pail Brittle,” which I’d hoped would invoke the chaos of the cards but in a less haunting to elementary school kids format. My theory was that, sure, peanut, almond and fancy seed brittles are lovely and elegant, but you know what would be even more awesome? Rice crispies. Potato chips. Pretzels. Because everyone knows that salt, crispy snacky stuff is aces against caramel, butter and chocolate.

pretzel-only brittle
scatter the chips
spreading the chocolate

Well, the good news is that I finally got this item off my to-cook list so you don’t have to. The bad news is that potato chips and crispy rice? Just okay in brittle. I mean, nobody hated it, but it wasn’t as special as the eight-year build-up warranted. Pretzels, however… you need to do this. Pretzels are deeply delicious when brittled. They even more spectacular when mixed with salted peanuts. They’re even more insanely good when lidded with melted dark chocolate, smashed into chunks with a hammer and tucked in a container that is, thankfully, about 15 feet outside my reach right now or I’d be one of those wicked, wicked people who lies to children, such as my own, who I lectured this morning about why we can’t have candy for breakfast. I mean, phew.

chocolate peanut and pretzel brittle
chocolate peanut and pretzel brittle

Something new and wonderful is coming next week! For the last 9 years, we’ve had a pretty barebones newsletter system on Smitten Kitchen; new recipes/posts arrive in your inbox the morning after they’re published. They’re pretty fugly; little has changed in the last decade. For some time, as newsletter technology has vastly improved, I’ve been dreaming of creating a better email, one that is a true weekly digest of all the delicious new and worth revisiting cookery on Smitten Kitchen and at last, that day is here! The new newsletter will include not just new recipes, but seasonal picks and weekly archive highlights, carefully tailored to what we all want to be cooking right now. Sounds good? Enter your email address below and your first weekly email will arrive next week:.

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Chocolate Peanut and Pretzel Brittle

A few notes: You can replace the peanuts with pretzels if nut allergies are a concern. I have only made this with corn syrup and/or golden syrup but theoretically, honey and/or maple syrup (early comment responses on maple syrup: not positive) as a replacement should work as well because the quantity is so small. I didn’t do it here, but thought it might be fun to play around with replacing the water with beer (you could use up to 1/2 cup) for a more grown-up flavor.

1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup or golden syrup
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup broken-up chunks of thin salted pretzels
3/4 cup roasted salted peanuts
3/4 to 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Either grease a large cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Get all of your other ingredients ready; you’re going to need to add them quickly in a few minutes, and you won’t have time to hunt and measure.

Combine sugar, corn or golden syrup and water in a medium saucepan, stirring just until sugar is wet. Attach a candy thermometer and heat over medium-high heat, without stirring, until mixture reaches between 300 and 305 degrees F. If you don’t have a candy thermometer, you’re looking for a small amount of the mixture dropped into cold water to separate into hard, brittle threads. This takes exactly 9 minutes on my stove.

Remove from heat and quickly stir in butter (until it melts), baking soda, peanuts and pretzels until all are coated. Pour quickly out onto prepared pan. Use a spatula or, even better, two forks to pull and stretch the mixture as flat as you can get it, working quickly. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and let rest for 5 minutes so that they soften. Once they are all soft, use a spatula to spread them over the brittle.

None of us has time or patience for waiting for these to cool, right? I put them directly in the freezer for 20 minutes, after which point the chocolate is firm, the base is cold and I get to bash the brittle into bite-sized chunks. (I like to lift pieces up onto the rim of the baking sheet and use something heavy to break them from there. I do not advise breaking it up with your hands, the warmth of which will make a mushy mess of the chocolate.)

Store in a container at room temperature, far out of your own reach.

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Ditulis pada judi | Tag , , , , , | Tinggalkan komentar

salted caramel pretzel blondies – smitten kitchen

Dipublikasi pada November 19, 2023 oleh pbnbigesdi

One of the most frequently asked questions about my go-to blondies is “where’s the baking powder?” I don’t think brownies or blondies should have baking powder in them; I don’t like the slight cakeiness. But remember? This is your kitchen, you should make things in the way that brings you the most joy. I’ve also tested them with an added 1/2 teaspoon baking powder (add before the flour and mix well) and it works well, if that’s your preference.
    Caramel
  • 1/3 cup (65 grams) granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons (30 grams) unsalted butter
  • Flaky sea salt
  • 2 tablespoons (30 ml) heavy cream
    • Blondies
  • 8 tablespoons (4 ounces or 115 grams) unsalted butter
  • 3/4 cup (145 grams) light or dark brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt, or 1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt
  • 1 cup (130 grams) all-purpose flour
  • 2/3 cup (115 grams) dark chocolate chips or chunks
  • 1/2 cup thin salted pretzels, lightly crumbled
Make caramel: Cover a medium-sized plate or small tray with parchment paper. Lightly butter or coat the parchment with a spray oil, just as an added security measure.

In a medium, dry saucepan over medium heat, melt your sugar; this took me exactly 4 minutes every single time. By the time it is mostly melted, it should be a nice deep copper color (about 300°F to 325°F, but you do not need a thermometer to get the color right at this stage) and might smoke a little too, don’t worry. Tip and swirl the pan around to help even it out and melt any remaining sugar granules.

Remove pan from heat and whisk in butter until melted, then add a couple pinches of salt and cream, whisking until combined. Return pan to the stove over medium-high heat and cook without stirring for 3 minutes more, at which point it should be between 245°F and 250°F (the “firm ball” stage). If you don’t have a thermometer, the temperature is correct when a drop that lands in cold water will hold its shape but still be sticky when pressed with your fingers. Pour this caramel on to the prepared parchment and place in the freezer until needed. It will take 10 to 15 minutes to firm enough that it can be cut into squares.

Make blondies: Heat your oven to 350°F. Butter an 8×8-inch baking pan, or line the bottom and two sides of one with parchment paper, buttering the exposed parts. Melt butter about 2/3 of the way in the bottom of a large bowl, either over a double-boiler or in the microwave. Stir to melt the remaining 1/3 — this ensures the butter doesn’t get too hot to work with. Add sugar and whisk to combine, then egg, vanilla, and sea salt. Add flour and stir just until it disappears. Scattered chocolate chips and pretzels on batter. Remove caramel from freezer and cut quickly into 1-inch squares. Scatter all but 4 to 5 over bowl. Gently fold chunky ingredients into batter and spread in prepared baking pan, smoothing the top. Place remaining caramel squares on top.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until deeply golden at edges and mostly dry on top. [For a swirlier effect, drag a toothpick through a couple of the caramels on top about 15 minutes in.] Let cool in pan for 10 minutes before lifting blondies out by their parchment sling and cooling further on a rack. Cut into small squares and simply marvel at how popular you are.

Do ahead: These keep at room temperature for 3 days, and a week or more in the fridge.

If you’d like to ship them out: Freeze them and then pack them into your most snug, airtight container with layers of parchment paper between them. Wrap the top in plastic before putting the lid on. I sometimes go one step further and wrap the whole container in foil. Pack with peanuts or another filler in a larger box and choose the fastest shipping you can.

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Ditulis pada judi | Tag , , , , , | Tinggalkan komentar