For some people (aka my wife), bread is everything. I enjoy bread but mostly see it as a vehicle for other foods and flavors. Especially most of the more bland store-bought breads out there. One great way to elevate bread is to make it yourself. So, here’s my best quick crusty bread recipe for making at home in a dutch oven.

I’ll admit that quick is a relative term. This is still bread. And it does take time for tasty results. But this has become my go-to bread recipe.

The smell of this bread alone is enough to keep you coming back for more – not to mention its delightful taste and texture. This loaf is a drastic difference in flavor and texture from my brown Irish soda bread from a few years ago.

The secret is using a Dutch oven to trap in moisture and provide the hot, steamy environment needed to develop that crackly, golden crust. This crusty Dutch oven bread is my new gold-standard bread recipe – soft with a delightful chew inside yet crusty outside.

Making this crusty bread recipe consists of just a few simple steps and some time waiting for it to rise.

Dutch Oven Bread Ingredients

Let’s get our essentials together for this scrumptious crusty bread recipe. We’ll need yeast for the perfect rise, plus water and sugar to activate it. Don’t forget the salt for a flavor boost, and a good quality olive oil to give our creation a rich, moist crumb. Finally, we’ll need flour – the backbone of our bread. Let’s dive in and transform these humble ingredients into something truly tasty.

Yeast

Most breads use yeast as a leavening agent. It gives bread the bubbles and rise.

We’re using active dry yeast for our bread, and it’s important to note that it needs to be activated before use. In simpler words, you need to wake it up from its dormant state. Don’t worry, it’s not complicated. All it takes is a little warm water and voila – it’s ready to work its magic!

Sugar

Granulated white sugar is our little secret for adding an unassuming sweetness that complements the savory notes of the bread. It’s not just about the sweet flavor though, it will also affect the final texture and have a little bit of a preservative effect.

If you are truly trying to cut sugar out of your diet altogether, you can omit the sugar without huge changes to the loaf.

Water

Water is a simple and necessary ingredient in all homemade dutch oven bread recipes. You don’t need any fancy kind of water, you just need to focus on its temperature.

It’s all about activating the yeast and helping the bread rise properly.

Too hot and you’ll kill the yeast, too cold and it won’t wake up. It can seem daunting. But don’t worry, there’s a fairly wide band of temperatures that work well for this. Aim for water around 105-115°F (45-46°C). Warm to the touch, but comfortable and not hot. Yeast begins to die off at around 120°F and will basically all be dead by 140°F. But those water temperatures are truly hot. Use an instant-read thermometer if you’re really nervous about getting temperatures right.

Salt

Salt enhances flavor.

I typically use kosher salt for bread-making. It is usually helpful to use the same kind of salt for consistency. But, we’re also doing this dutch oven bread baking by weight rather than volume. So, in the end, most any salt should work when baking this way.

Olive Oil

I’m partial to extra virgin olive oil for this recipe. My main reason for including it here is for a bit of added flavor. It’s got a lovely flavour that’ll subtly infuse your bread.

The oil helps to create that delectable, tender crumb we all adore in artisan-style breads. It does slightly impede the formation of gluten, but I think the trade-off is worth it. A little goes a long way, so it’s a relatively small amount.

Flour

The main substance of bread – flour. The choice of flour can affect the texture and flavor of your bread. For our crusty bread recipe, I suggest using bread flour. Now, you might be wondering why bread flour?

It’s higher in protein than all-purpose flour. The protein found in flour is responsible for creating gluten in your dough. So bread flour results in more gluten formation. This increased gluten leads to a dough that is more robust and elastic, essential for achieving a lofty and light bread loaf. It absorbs slightly more water too, making this higher-hydration dough a bit easier to work with.

However, if you don’t have bread flour on hand you can substitute all-purpose flour. You may need to add a little more all-purpose flour.

Mix the Crusty Bread Dough

Now, let’s move on to making the initial dough. Activate the yeast. It’s a simple step, but crucial for a good rise. Next, we’ll combine the activated yeast with our other ingredients to form a shaggy dough. Don’t worry if it’s not perfect, it’s supposed to look a bit rough around the edges!

Activate the Yeast

Grab your yeast and 100 grams of warm water. The warmth is essential here; it’s like a cozy blanket that helps our yeast feel safe and ready to grow. Mix them together and let them sit for about 10 minutes.

Watch as the yeast comes to life right before your eyes, bubbling up and creating a frothy top layer. It’s fascinating, isn’t it? This activation process is crucial as it’s the yeast that’ll give our bread its beautiful rise and fluffy texture. Keep in mind that the yeast should be frothy after 10 minutes; if it’s not, your yeast may be too old, and you’ll need to grab a fresh packet.

Combine into Shaggy Dough

It’s time to get messy!

Once the yeast has started bubbling up, it’s ready to go. Add in all of the remaining ingredients. Then, start mixing until everything comes together. You’re looking for a shaggy, fairly sticky dough. Don’t be alarmed if it doesn’t look perfect – it’s not supposed to at this stage!

Now, the important thing to remember here is not to over-mix. You’re not aiming for a smooth dough but rather a shaggy, rough one. At this stage, it will not be a smooth dough. It will also be a bit sticky still and not the easiest to work with, but trust me it is worth it.

How to Treat the Dough

Cover the Dough in a Bowl

With the dough initially mixed, we’re now gonna cover it up. Leave the dough in the bowl you mixed it in. Cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel. You may also use plastic wrap to cover the dough.

Covering the dough prevents it from drying out and keeps any unwanted particles from settling on it. It’s like tucking it in for a little nap, ensuring it stays safe and cozy. Let it rest, covered, in a warm area for an initial 15 minutes. This is the start of its rise.

Stretch and Fold

We’re now stepping into the stretch and fold technique. I can’t stress enough how crucial this step is.

Here’s what you’ll do: After your dough has rested for 15 minutes, uncover it and gently grab one side. Then, stretch it upwards, fold it over itself towards the center of the dough, and place it down on top of itself. Rotate your bowl 90 degrees (a quarter turn) and repeat. Then repeat two more times until you’ve done this for all four sides of your dough.

Why do this, you may ask? This technique helps develop the gluten structure in your dough without the need for heavy kneading. Through some sciency magic, the gluten is strengthened with this process. This will help ensure the loaf rises up in the oven rather than just spreading out and staying flat. Better gluten structure means more gasses are trapped as bubbles in the bread.

After your first stretch and fold session, let the dough rest for 30 minutes. Repeat this process, wait another 30 minutes, and repeat it again. You will have done 3 full sets of stretch and folds.

Let it Rise

This is where the magic truly happens. Where your dough transforms from a simple mixture to potential bread. You’ve covered your dough, you’ve given good stretches and folds, and now, it’s time for it to rest and rise.

Keep it covered snugly for about an hour and 45 minutes. During this time, the yeast is working its magic, creating gas bubbles that will give your bread its deliciously light and airy texture.

Remember, patience is key here. So, kick back, relax, and let your dough rise. Trust me, the waiting will be worth it when you see the final product.

Shape the Dough

Once we’ve got our dough, it’s time to give it shape. We’ll turn it into a round loaf (don’t worry, it’s not hard!) and then let it sit in a banneton. This is a special kind of basket – a regular bowl can work in a pinch. After that, we’re gonna let it rise again. This is a crucial step, so don’t rush it. It’s all part of the magic of making your own homemade dutch oven bread.

Shape into a Round Loaf

The dough is risen, with a nice airy texture. So now we need to turn it out, shape it, and let it rise again. Try to be as gentle as possible in the next steps, we don’t want to deflate all that lovely air we’ve worked so hard to incorporate.

First, turn your dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Now, use a bench scraper (if you don’t have one, use your flattest spatula) to push the bottom edges of the dough toward the center, rotating as you go. Keep going around and around until you’ve got a nice, round ball.

See my gif above for an example. You can see that the dough is fairly elastic and bounces back, so it takes a little bit of coaxing to help it keep its shape. You’re almost stretching the top down and underneath to make the top kind of taut.

Place in Banneton

With the dough shaped, it’s time to introduce your dough to a new cozy home – the banneton.

A banneton is a special basket used in bread baking, admired for its ability to give the bread a gorgeous pattern. It’s not just for show, it also helps your dough maintain its shape during the final proofing stage. You can also use a bowl with a lightly floured towel. Note that some people like to use rice flour for dusting for better non-stick properties.

Gently pick the dough up using the bench scraper and place your dough into the banneton with the seam side up. Cover it with a damp towel or plastic wrap.

Rise Again

Shaping the dough – no matter how gentle you are – does beat it up a little. So it needs a little more time to rise again.

During this final rising stage, you’ll want to keep your dough in a warm spot. Give it 35 minutes to rise again. It should look nice and puffy when this step is done.

Preheat the Dutch Oven

While the dough is rising, it’s time to turn on the heat and get things ready to bake. We’ll put the whole dutch oven into the oven so that it can heat up and be ready to go. The heat that builds up within the Dutch oven will create a fantastic environment for your dough to bake.

Use a round 5 and 1/2 quart dutch oven. I use an enameled Le Creuset dutch oven but you can do this in any dutch oven you have available that fits the large loaf.

Place your dutch oven, with its lid on, into your oven. Crank up the heat to 450°F (232°C) and let it sit there, accumulating heat. I usually do this as soon as I have set the dough aside to rise again. But the time it takes will depend on your oven, so if it usually takes longer or heats up quickly you can adjust as needed.

You want your dutch oven to be piping hot to get the best results. So, give it time. Let it preheat completely while your dough rises. Using the dutch oven with its lid on allows a lot of moisture to build up inside as it bakes. Then we can take the lid off and let the crust fully form.

Bake the Dutch Oven Bread

Finally on to baking this crusty bread recipe we’ve worked so hard to make. Let’s score the dough – a very importan step, trust me. Next, place the dough in our preheated dutch oven, cover it with a lid, and let the magic happen. After a while, we’ll lose the lid and let it bake a bit more. Finally, the hardest part – waiting for it to cool. Patience is key here, guys.

Prepare and Score the Dough

With the dough risen again and the oven preheated, it’s time to bake. Now it’s all about scoring the dough, which in bread-making terms, means making shallow cuts on the surface of the dough. The cuts can be fancy or complicated but they don’t need to be. Simple works.

Scoring is essential in baking bread to create controlled weak points in the dough where steam can escape. Without scoring, steam may burst through the crust unpredictably. This can cause strange shapes in the final loaf. Scoring guides the dough’s rise in the oven, helping it maintain its shape and maximize oven spring.

So, transfer your risen dough onto a sheet of parchment paper or a round silicone baking mat (what I prefer). Use a bread lame or a sharp knife and make a few shallow cuts on the top of the dough. You can do a simple X or a more elaborate pattern. Don’t worry, there’s no right or wrong way to do this. It’s your bread and you can design it how you want. Here’s a website with some better ideas on dough scoring patterns.

Placing and Baking the Easy Dutch Oven Bread

Now it’s time to get the dough into the oven. Carefully, lift your prepared and scored dough using the parchment paper or silicone mat and gently place it into the hot dutch oven. The parchment paper or silicone mat will go right in with the dough and stay there the whole time as it bakes.

Cover the dutch oven with its lid. This will help to trap the steam inside, providing a moist and warm atmosphere that’s just perfect for baking bread. Bake it like this for 30 minutes. You’ll start to smell the heavenly aroma of baking bread filling your kitchen, but resist the temptation to peek! It’s important to keep that lid on to ensure the bread cooks just right. We’ll uncover in the next step, but for now, we wait.

Remove Lid and Continue Baking

After 30 delightful minutes of baking, we’re ready to remove the lid from the dutch oven. Now that the steam has finished doing its part, allowing it to escape will let your bread reach that lovely golden hue we’re aiming for.

We’re going to let the bread continue to bake for another 10-15 minutes. Keep a watchful eye on it, because we want to achieve that perfect balance of crispiness on the outside and soft, fluffy goodness on the inside. This is the part where your kitchen starts to smell like a dreamy bakery, which is always a bonus!

Just remove the bread once the outside has achieved the perfect golden-brown color.

Cool the Homemade Dutch Oven Bread

The final, yet crucial stage of our baking adventure is the cooling process. I know, you must be eager to slice into your own homemade dutch oven bread, but be patient, my friend.

Carefully lift your baked beauty out of the dutch oven and place it on a wire cooling rack. Now comes the tough part – waiting. Letting the bread cool down is essential for its texture and flavor.

I’d recommend waiting at least 30 minutes, but if you can manage to resist for an hour, it’s better. I know it’s difficult, but trust me, it’s worth the wait. It’s like giving your bread a well-deserved rest after its hot bath. So, sit back, relax, and anticipate the moment when you finally get to enjoy your labor of love.

Ways to Use this Crusty Bread Recipe

Now that we’ve mastered the art of baking our delightful homemade dutch oven bread, let’s explore some delicious ways we can put it to good use. You’ll be surprised at how versatile this loaf can be!

This crusty bread recipe is perfect for sandwiches. From a humble grilled cheese to a turkey bacon avocado to a chicken salad sandwich, this bread can handle it all. You can use it as a base for an array of mouth-watering appetizers. A simple bruschetta or an olive oil and herb dip really let the flavor and texture of the bread shine through.

And if you’re a soup lover like me, you’ll absolutely adore using this bread as a soup accompaniment. Its firm texture is perfect for dipping and it adds a delightful crunch. You could even try making two smaller loaves with this recipe and turning the bread into a bread bowl for soup. Try it with the following:

• Ham and Dill Potato Cream Cheese Soup
• Creamy Wild Rice Soup
• Roasted Garlic and Sage Soup
• Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

This quick and easy dutch oven bread is not as intimidating as you may think, and the result is always worth the effort. You’ll be amazed by the heavenly aroma filling your kitchen and the satisfaction of biting into a warm, crusty piece of bread you’ve made yourself. Happy baking!

How did yours turn out?

I’d love to hear when you try out this quick crusty dutch oven bread recipe! Take a pic of your food and share your success with me by adding it to your Instagram stories or feed, and tagging me @doyouroux, or by using #doyouroux.

Plus, leave a rating to let me know how you liked the recipe. It helps me out a lot to know how things worked out… or didn’t.

Quick Crusty Dutch Oven Bread

Recipe by Marc PetersonCourse: BreadDifficulty: Easy

Servings

10

servings

Prep time

25

minutes

Rise Time

3

hours 

35

minutes

BakingTime

40

minutes

Cooling Time

30

minutes

Total time

5

hours 

10

minutes

Make crispy dutch oven bread at home with a chewy interior and golden crust. Enjoy a simple crusty bread recipe that’s perfect for any baker.

Ingredients

• 7 grams active dry yeast

• 450 grams warm water, divided

• 25 grams olive oil

• 15 grams kosher salt

• 10 grams sugar

• 485 grams bread flour, plus more for dusting

Directions

• Mix together the yeast and 100 grams of warm water in a large bowl and let sit for about 10 minutes until the yeast has activated and looks foamy
• Add in the remaining water, olive oil, salt, sugar, and flour and mix it all to form a loose, shaggy dough
• Leave the dough in the bowl, cover it with a damp towel or plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes
• Perform one set of stretch and folds by gently grabbing one side of the dough then stretching it upwards, folding it over itself towards the center of the dough, and placing it down on top of itself. Rotate your bowl 90 degrees (a quarter turn) and repeat. Then repeat two more times until you’ve done this for all four sides of your dough. This is one set of stretch and folds.
• Cover the dough and let it sit for 30 minutes and perform another set of stretch and folds, cover it again and wait 30 minutes to repeat stretch and folds again (all-in-all you will have done three sets of stretch and folds)
• Let the dough rise, covered, for an hour and 45 minutes
• Once the dough has risen, transfer it to a well-floured surface and use a bench scraper to push the dough under itself while rotating to give it a round shape with a taut dome
• Gently put the shaped dough into a banneton or a lightly floured bowl, cover it with a damp towel or plastic wrap, and let it rise for 35 minutes
• While it rises, place a 5 1/2 quart dutch oven with its lid in the oven and preheat to 450°F (232°C)
• Once the dough is risen and the oven is preheated, turn the dough out from the bowl onto a silicon baking sheet or a piece of parchment paper
• Score the top of the bread (dust the top with flour before scoring for even more contrast)
• With hot pads, remove the lid from the dutch oven and carefully place the scored dough into the hot pot with the silicone mat or parchment paper
• Replace the lid and let it bake for 30 minutes
• After 30 minutes, remove the lid and continue baking for 10-15 more minutes until golden brown
• Remove the loaf from the dutch oven to a cooling rack and let it rest for at least 30 minutes (preferably an hour or more) before slicing

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My wife loves breakfast food and could have it for every meal. I’m not as big of a fan and usually prefer to have breakfast foods during breakfast or brunch. And when I do go for it, pancakes have long held my top spot for batter-based breakfast foods. So it took something special like this buttermilk waffle recipe to get me to make something different.

And, let me tell you, this waffle recipe is something special.

These buttermilk waffles are the epitome of breakfast perfection – golden, crispy on the outside, and irresistibly fluffy on the inside. They’re the kind of waffles that will make your taste buds dance with delight and have you craving them morning, noon, and night. Even if you’re usually someone like me who thinks breakfast is for breakfast.

Whether you’re looking to impress your family with a memorable weekend breakfast or wanting to treat yourself to a decadent brunch, these buttermilk waffles will never disappoint. They’re the perfect canvas for your favorite toppings, whether you prefer a classic drizzle of maple syrup, a dollop of whipped cream, or a shower of fresh berries.

Get ready to elevate your waffle game and embark on a culinary journey that will tantalize your taste buds and leave you craving more. Without further ado, let’s dive into the recipe and discover how to make the best buttermilk waffles you’ll ever make.

Buttermilk Waffle Recipe Ingredients

To follow this incredible buttermilk waffle recipe, you’ll need just a handful of simple ingredients that you likely already have in your kitchen. If you’re used to using premade mixes, you may not know what actually goes into making the batter. Here’s what you’ll need to gather:

• All-purpose flour, which will serve as the base of the waffle batter, providing structure and texture.
• Sugar adds a touch of sweetness and balances out the flavors.
• Baking powder provides some of the necessary leavening power, helping the waffles rise and become wonderfully fluffy.
• Baking soda will react with the acidity in buttermilk to add even more leavening power.
• Salt enhances the flavors of everything and will bring out the best in all the other ingredients.
• Buttermilk is the star ingredient that gives these waffles their distinctive tang and incredible tenderness.
• Milk to keep everything from drying out.
• Eggs, which will need to be separated because whipped egg whites are part of the big secret for perfect waffles.
• Vegetable oil keeps things moist and gives the perfect crisp to the exterior of the waffles.
• Vanilla extract to infuse the waffles with a subtle hint of flavor, warmth, and sweetness.

With these simple yet essential ingredients, you’ll be well on your way to creating the best buttermilk waffles you’ve ever tasted. So gather your supplies and let’s dive into the step-by-step process of making these delectable waffles!

Why Buttermilk Is the Secret Ingredient

You might be wondering whether it’s worth the effort to grab buttermilk for these waffles – likely one of the few ingredients you don’t already have on hand. Buttermilk is not only responsible for a slightly tangy flavor but also plays a crucial role in achieving the light and fluffy texture that makes these waffles truly exceptional.

Buttermilk is a fermented dairy product with an acidic taste. This acidity is what sets it apart from regular milk and makes it a game-changer in baking. When combined with the other ingredients in the waffle batter, the acidity of buttermilk reacts with the baking soda, creating a chemical reaction that produces carbon dioxide. The release of carbon dioxide gas forms bubbles throughout the batter, resulting in a light and airy texture when cooked.

Plus, the acidic nature of buttermilk also helps to tenderize the gluten proteins in the flour, preventing them from developing too much and resulting in a tender, melt-in-your-mouth waffle. This ensures that your buttermilk waffles have a delightful, moist interior.

The tangy flavor of buttermilk adds a pleasant and subtle tang that perfectly complements the sweetness of the waffle. It adds a depth of flavor that takes these waffles to the next level, making them far more memorable than your average breakfast treat.

Get ready to indulge in a breakfast experience like no other, as you savor each bite of these tender, fluffy, and tangy delights.

Mixing Up the Batter

Now that you have gathered your ingredients and understood the importance of buttermilk, it’s time to mix up the batter for your delectable buttermilk waffles. Follow these simple steps to achieve a smooth and luscious batter:

In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients: the all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix the dry ingredients together until they are well combined and evenly distributed.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the majority of the wet ingredients: buttermilk, milk, vanilla extract, and 1/2 cup of vegetable oil. Make sure to whisk until the wet ingredients are thoroughly blended and the mixture is smooth.

Now, gently crack open the eggs and separate the yolks from the egg whites. Add the yolks in with the wet ingredients and mix them together. Put the egg whites into a separate bowl. Use a hand mixer or whisk to whip the egg whites until they form stiff peaks (it is much easier with the hand mixer…).

Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients – keeping the whipped egg whites separate for now. Gently whisk the ingredients together. Be careful not to overmix, as this can result in dense waffles. Some lumps in the batter are ok, so just mix until everything is generally combined and there are no longer pockets of dry ingredients.

Now add the whipped egg whites into the same bowl. Gently use a spatula or wooden spoon to fold the egg whites into the batter. We do this gently to help keep the air in the egg whites that’ll make sure our batter is light and fluffy when baked.

Once the batter is well mixed, let it rest for about 5 minutes. This resting period allows the flour to fully hydrate and ensures a better texture and structure in your waffles.

Now that your batter is prepared, it’s time to move on to the exciting part – cooking the buttermilk waffles!

Preparing the Waffle Iron

The key tool for making waffles is the humble waffle iron.

And before diving into cooking your buttermilk waffles, it’s essential to properly prepare your waffle iron to ensure optimal results. Use the following steps to get your waffle iron ready for action.

Preheat the Waffle Iron. Turn on your waffle iron and allow it to preheat according to the manufacturer’s instructions. This step is crucial as it ensures that the waffle iron reaches the right temperature for even cooking and a crispy exterior.

Wiping with Vegetable Oil. Once the waffle iron is heated, it’s time to give it a light coating of vegetable oil to prevent the waffles from sticking. Grab a pastry brush or a folded piece of paper towel. Dip it into a small amount of vegetable oil. Gently brush or rub the oil onto the cooking surfaces of the waffle iron, and try your best to cover all the nooks and crannies. I repeated this step once in the middle of cooking to make sure nothing would stick.

Follow the Manufacturer’s Instructions. Every waffle iron is different, so it’s crucial to refer to the specific instructions provided by the manufacturer. They may have additional guidelines or recommendations for preparing the waffle iron that are specific to your model.

By preheating your waffle iron and applying a light coating of vegetable oil, you’re setting the stage for waffle success. Now, it’s time to pour that delectable buttermilk waffle batter onto the hot iron and transform it into golden, crispy waffles.

Step-by-step Instructions for Making Buttermilk Waffles

With the batter ready and the waffle iron hot, it’s time to make our perfect, golden waffles. Here’s how you can achieve waffle perfection:

Pouring the Batter: Take a measuring cup or ladle and pour the batter onto the center of the preheated waffle iron. The amount of batter needed will depend on the size of your waffle iron, so refer to the manufacturer’s recommendations. For mine, it ended up being a little over half a cup. But the size and depth of your iron can change that dramatically. Be careful not to overfill the iron, as the batter will spread and rise during cooking. It is better to have a smaller waffle than a full waffle with tons of wasted batter running out the sides.

Cooking the Waffles: Close the waffle iron and let the magic happen. Note that some waffle irons (including mine) need to be turned over after closing them. This helps spread the batter around and typically activates the timers that are built in. Allow the waffles to cook according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The cooking time typically ranges from 4 to 6 minutes. Make sure the waffles are beautifully golden brown and crisp on the outside.

Removing the Waffles: Once the waffles have reached your desired level of doneness, carefully open the waffle iron. Use a fork or tongs to gently remove the waffles, ensuring that you don’t damage their shape or texture. Serve the waffles immediately or keep them in a warmed oven until all are ready.

Remember to exercise caution while handling the waffle iron, as it will be hot.

Now that your perfectly cooked buttermilk waffles are ready, it’s time to savor the moment. Serve them warm and enjoy the heavenly combination of crispy exteriors and fluffy interiors.

Toppings and Accompaniments for This Buttermilk Waffle Recipe

When it comes to enhancing the flavor and enjoyment of this homemade buttermilk waffle recipe, the options for toppings and accompaniments are endless. Here are some delicious categories to explore:

Sweet Delights:

• Syrup – warm maple syrup, my Triple Berry Syrup, or any other you prefer
• Fresh Fruits (sliced strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, or bananas)
• Whipped Cream
• Powdered Sugar (a light dusting to look real fancy)

Decadent Indulgences:

• Caramel Sauce
• Chocolate Sauce
• Nutella
• Peanut Butter
• Cookie Butter
• Chopped Nuts (walnuts, pecans, or almonds)

Savory Flavors:

• Sausage
• Crispy Bacon
• Candied Bacon
• Fried Eggs
• Fried Chicken -to make chicken and waffles

Feel free to mix and match from different categories, experiment with flavors, and create your own unique combinations. Get creative by trying combinations like fresh fruits with whipped cream, caramel sauce with chopped nuts, or bacon with a fried egg. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination.

So, explore and create to your culinary heart’s content with waffles as your canvas. Have a lot of toppings available and let everyone choose to top as they please.

Tips for Making the Perfect Buttermilk Waffle Recipe

To ensure your buttermilk waffles turn out absolutely perfect every time, here are some valuable tips to keep in mind:

1. Don’t Overmix the Batter. When combining the batter and the whipped egg whites, gently fold them together until just combined. Overmixing can lead to tough and dense waffles. It’s okay if there are a few lumps in the batter; they will disappear during cooking.
2. Preheat the Waffle Maker and Lightly Oil with Vegetable Oil. Before pouring the batter, make sure your waffle maker is preheated to the desired temperature according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Lightly oil the waffle maker with vegetable oil to prevent sticking and ensure easy release. This also helps in crisping the outside of the waffles.
3. Serve the Waffles Immediately or Keep Them Warm in the Oven. For the best eating experience, serve the waffles immediately after cooking. Their crisp exterior and fluffy interior are at their prime right off the waffle iron. If you must wait, place them on a wire rack set in a 225°F (110°C) oven. This will help maintain their crispness while you finish baking.
4. Experiment with Cooking Times. Waffle irons vary, so it’s essential to experiment with cooking times to achieve your desired level of crispness. Start with the recommended cooking time, but adjust it if you prefer a lighter or darker waffle.

By following these tips, you’ll be well on your way to making the perfect batch of buttermilk waffles. Enjoy the process, embrace the art of waffle-making, and delight in the delectable results. These tips will ensure your buttermilk waffle recipe is a delicious success.

Variations and Add-ins to Try with Buttermilk Waffles

While classic buttermilk waffles are a delightful treat on their own, why not explore different variations and add-ins to elevate your waffle game? Here are some delicious ideas to inspire your creativity:

Pancakes with chocolate chips are common. So why not try mixing in chocolate chips or cocoa powder into waffle batter? The melted chocolate will create pockets of gooey goodness, making your waffles irresistible.

Add a burst of freshness and natural sweetness to your waffles by incorporating fruits directly into the batter. Consider adding blueberries, strawberries, diced apples, or sliced bananas.

For a delightful crunch and a boost of protein, try adding chopped nuts or toasted coconut to the waffle batter.

Infuse your waffles with the comforting flavors of warm spices. Add a dash of ground cinnamon, nutmeg, or a pinch of cardamom to the batter. Or put maple syrup directly into the batter itself to create waffles with a cozy and aromatic twist.

And if you want a fun, savory twist, experiment with add-ins like grated cheese, cooked bacon bits, or finely chopped herbs such as chives or parsley. These savory variations will make them a perfect base for a savory brunch.

Remember, the possibilities are endless when it comes to customizing your buttermilk waffles. Don’t be afraid to get creative, experiment with different flavors, and make your breakfast or brunch a memorable experience. Whether you prefer sweet or savory, enjoy the journey of creating your perfect buttermilk waffles.

How did yours turn out?

I’d love to hear when you try out this buttermilk waffle recipe! Take a pic of your food and share your success with me by adding it to your Instagram stories or feed, and tagging me @doyouroux, or by using #doyouroux.

Plus, leave a rating to let me know how you liked the recipe. It helps me out a lot to know how things worked out… or didn’t.

The Best Buttermilk Waffle Recipe

Recipe by Marc PetersonCourse: Breakfast, BrunchDifficulty: Easy

Servings

5

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

25

minutes

Total time

40

minutes

It’s time for the ultimate buttermilk waffle recipe. Learn how to make the best buttermilk waffles ever. Fire up the waffle iron now!

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 tablespoons sugar

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1 cup buttermilk

• 2/3 cup milk

• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, divided

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 2 eggs, separated

Directions

• Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, milk, vanilla extract, and 1/2 cup of the vegetable oil
• Separate the egg yolks and whites, adding the yolks to the wet ingredients and whisking
• In another bowl, use a hand mixer or whisk to whip the egg whites into stiff peaks
• Mix the wet ingredients (except the whipped egg whites) into the dry ingredients, be careful not to overmix – some lumps are helpful
• Gently fold the whipped egg whites into the mixture, do not overmix but they should be incorporated together
• Preheat the oven to 225°F (110°C), plug in the waffle iron so it can warm up, and wipe the waffle iron with some of the reserved vegetable oil
• Fill the bottom of the waffle iron with batter – the amount will depend on your specific waffle iron but for me was a little over half a cup
• Close and cook until golden brown, based on your waffle iron instructions (about 5 minutes)
• Remove and serve or place in the preheated oven and continue until all of the batter is used

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The post The Best Buttermilk Waffle Recipe You’ll Ever Make appeared first on Do You Roux?.

The idea for this chocolate dessert pizza comes by way of a local restaurant chain called Pizzeria Limone. They offer something similar to this recipe named the Divino pizza. It is delicious in its own right (and so are a lot of their other offerings – try it if you’re ever in the Salt Lake City, Utah valley area). It’s a great way to end a meal and treat yourself.

I hadn’t ever considered making it myself until we had a pizza night at our house one day. There was a small amount of extra dough and our group was discussing what pizza type to make. I was generally thinking of pepperoni or our cheesy garlic bread pizza. But my sister (who loves the Divino pizza) suggested a small dessert pizza.

So I took what I had in the pantry and made it work. And it turned out to be a sumptuous sweet treat to end the meal. I decided right then and there that I needed to go all in and make my own version of a delicious chocolate caramel dessert pizza.

And it doesn’t have to take a lot of effort either. This is a delicious, easy-to-make, and fun dessert that is sure to impress everyone who eats it.

What Is A Dessert Pizza?

Put simply, a dessert pizza is some kind of flat base with sweet toppings. Basically, a pizza but with sweet instead of savory toppings.

A lot of dessert pizzas use different bases instead of your typical pizza dough. I’ve seen cookie, graham cracker, and pie crust bases used for the crust in dessert pizzas. But regular dough or sweet roll dough are also common.

To fully fulfill the dessert part of a dessert pizza, you’ve got to fully load it with sweet toppings. These can include sliced fruits, chocolate, caramel, cookies, marshmallows, candy, peanut butter, Nutella, icing, cinnamon, and so much more.

Anything with a sweet flair could be a candidate for addition atop a dessert pizza. If you’re looking to create your own version of a dessert pizza, just let your inner child free.

How to Make A Sweet Pizza From Scratch

To make this pizza from scratch, we’ll go through the whole process from start to finish. Starting with making the dough to pre-baking then topping and finishing the chocolate dessert pizza. If you really want to speed things up, just buy some dough or a crust from the store and skip straight to prebaking and topping.

Just know that it won’t be quite the same experience as making dough from scratch.

As noted above, dessert pizzas can have many different things as their crusts. I decided to go with a kind of sweet roll dough that you might find with a cinnamon roll. This makes a rather sticky and at times kinda hard to work with dough. But trust me, it is worth it.

Begin by activating the yeast with the sugars and warm water. This will get the yeast all excited and ready to be the leavening agent in the dough.

Mix in milk, olive oil, and salt. Then add in the flour and mix it up. I used my KitchenAid stand mixer to whip together this batch of dough and used the dough hook attachment specifically to help mix and knead the dough. I just let the mixer run for a few minutes after everything had fully combined to knead the dough.

But this can all also be done by hand. After activating the yeast, just mix everything together until the flour is fully combined. Then pour it out onto a clean surface with a bit of flour and get to kneading by hand. Do so for 5 to 8 minutes.

Preparing the Dough

With the dough kneaded, we’re ready to give it a rise. Add the dough to a lightly greased bowl, loosely cover it with a clean towel, and let it sit in a warm spot for about an hour until it has doubled in size.

Note that if you are lacking a warm spot in your kitchen like I was this winter, turn your oven on for a few minutes and then turn it off. You don’t want it to be hot, but letting the oven preheat for a very short time should get it warm enough to help the dough rise.

After the dough has had a chance to rise, it is time to divide it and start shaping our pizzas.

Preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C). Dump the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Use a bench scraper or knife to cut the dough into two roughly equal portions.

Shape the two different portions into round balls by folding the edges away from you and pinching them together to create a sort of surface tension on the outside. Keep doing this and lightly rolling them in the palms of your hands until a smooth ball of dough forms.

Now begin shaping the crust for our chocolate dessert pizza by flattening the dough balls. With room to spread out, press down on the center of the dough ball to begin flattening it into a round crust. Then work outwards, pressing and shaping until you get a nice, thin crust.

We’ll be cooking one pizza at a time unless you have two pans and a decent amount of oven space.

Move one of the pizza crusts to a round pizza pan (I absolutely LOVE these pizza pans from Le Creuset) or a baking sheet. Put the pan into the oven and pre-bake the crust for 4 minutes. Especially since we will be working with a lot of sugar in this dessert pizza, we need to pre-bake the crust so that the crust will be fully cooked through and the toppings won’t burn.

Sugar will burn quickly at high heat, so it is very important to partially cook the crust before topping it. After 4 minutes, take the crust out.

Chocolate Dessert Pizza Toppings

After making the dough and pre-baking it, we’re ready to top our pizza with sweet goodness.

Remember that the recipe calls for toppings for two pizzas, so be sure to split the amounts in half for each pizza. To be honest, though, the amounts are mere suggestions. Just top each pizza with as much as feels right for you.

Though do note that pizzas tend to need fewer toppings than it seems. At least for my greedy eyes. Similar to over-filling my burritos, I just want to add all of the toppings onto a pizza. But it can be too excessive. Remember that things will melt and spread as they cook.

Start by placing down the white chocolate chunks, dark chocolate chunks, and mini marshmallows. Just try to get an even spread around the top of the pizza so that every bite is full of chocolatey sweet goodness.

Now, drizzle on the chocolate sauce and the caramel sauce. I usually have my sauces in plastic squeeze bottles for easy drizzling whenever I need it. But you could just as easily use a spoon to pick up some sauce and drizzle it out. Just be a bit careful with the spoon to not drop a ton of sauce in a single spot.

The only ingredient that won’t go on before baking is powdered sugar. This is just for sprinkling on top at the end and is mostly for a fancy look and isn’t really needed. It just gives it that nice extra flair. I put a little powdered sugar into a small mesh strainer and tap it while holding it over the chocolate pizza.

Where to Find Ingredients

Because this recipe is so focused on the toppings (especially the chocolate), I think it is very important to source some quality ingredients.

For the chocolate and caramel sauces, I suggest making your own. I recently made a post on how to make chocolate syrup in preparation for making this chocolate dessert pizza recipe. It is fast and easy. And a while ago I posted my salted caramel sauce recipe that I think works well here.

You could also buy store-bought dessert sauces.

For the chocolate chunks, I admittedly used some very fancy stuff. I used the same Callebaut Belgian white chocolate chunks from my white chocolate chunk cookies. I had leftovers so it seemed like a good use. The Valhrona dark chocolate I used is currently not available but I have also used this fancy Callebaut chocolate before.

You don’t need to use as fancy a chocolate. You could also use some decent-quality white and dark chocolate bars from the grocery store and just chop them up. Just keep in mind that chocolate is the central flavor of this recipe when buying ingredients.

Now that you’ve got all of the necessary ingredients, you can start preparing your dessert pizzas.

How to Cook Chocolate Dessert Pizza

Now comes the final bake of the pizza.

With the toppings perfectly spread out, put the pizza back into the oven at the same temperature. Bake it for 5 to 7 minutes until the dough has cooked through.

The mini marshmallows will puff up and brown, and the chocolate will begin to melt down (though they will roughly contain their shape and not fully puddle down). The edge of the crust should just start to become golden brown.

If anything starts to burn and/or smoke, then remove it from the oven immediately! Sugar is in high danger of getting too hot and burning. When it is finished baking, remove it from the oven and let it cool a little before slicing and serving. Repeat the process with the second pizza.

Remember the sugar will be very hot right out of the oven. Trust me, I’ve been burned.

For an especially delightful presentation, drizzle a bit of chocolate and caramel sauce onto a plate before serving a slice on it.

How did yours turn out?

I’d love to hear when you try out this triple chocolate caramel dessert pizza! Take a pic of your food and share your success with me by adding it to your Instagram stories or feed, and tagging me @doyouroux, or by using #doyouroux.

Plus, leave a rating to let me know how you liked the recipe. It helps me out a lot to know how things worked out… or didn’t.

Tempting Triple Chocolate Caramel Dessert Pizza

Recipe by Marc PetersonCourse: DessertDifficulty: Intermediate

Servings

12

servings

Prep time

40

minutes

Cooking time

10

minutes

Rise Time

1

hour 

Total time

1

hour 

50

minutes

For chocolate lovers, this triple chocolate caramel dessert pizza recipe is just what you need! A delicious, decadent, and tempting dessert that you’ll love. Note that this recipe makes two decently sized dessert pizzas.

Ingredients

• Sweet Pizza Dough

• 175 grams warm water (3/4 cup)

• 7 grams active dry yeast (1/2 tablespoon)

• 30 grams brown sugar (3 tablespoons)

• 50 grams honey (2 tablespoons)

• 70 grams milk (1/4 cup)

• 18 grams olive oil (1 tablespoon)

• 4 grams salt (1/2 teaspoon)

• 400 grams flour (2 and 2/3 cups)

• Dessert Pizza Topping

• 1 cup white chocolate chunks

• 1 cup dark chocolate chunks

• 1/2 cup mini marshmallows

• 4 tablespoons chocolate sauce

• 4 tablespoons caramel sauce

• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar

Directions

• Sweet Pizza Dough
• Stir together the warm water, yeast, brown sugar, and honey in the bowl of the stand mixer if you will use that or in a regular mixing bowl if by hand until well combined
• Let the yeast mixture sit for about 10 minutes until the yeast has activated and the mixture has foamed up a bit
• Mix in the milk, olive oil, and salt
• Slowly add in the flour while mixing with the dough hook on a stand mixer or with a mixing spoon by hand – keep adding the flour and mixing until it is all used and fully combined
• Knead the dough in a stand mixer for 5 minutes, or by hand for 8 to 10 minutes
• Pour the dough out into a lightly greased bowl and let rise, covered with a towel in a warm place for about an hour until it roughly doubles in size – then the dough is ready for the next steps
• Dessert Pizza Topping
• Preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C)
• Place the risen dough onto a work surface and use a bench scraper or knife to split it into two roughly equal portions
• Shape both dough portions into balls by pulling the edges towards each other, shaping and pinching them together, and smoothing out the dough into a ball by rolling them in your palms or on the work surface
• With each dough ball, form a flat circle by pressing down in the center of the ball and then slowly pressing down and working from the inside out to get a nice, flat crust
• Place the dough onto a pizza pan or baking sheet and pre-bake the crust for 4 minutes, then remove it from the oven
• Evenly top the pre-baked crust with half of the white chocolate chunks, dark chocolate chunks, and mini marshmallows, then drizzle half of the chocolate sauce and caramel sauce over the toppings
• Place the baking pan into the oven and bake for 5 to 7 minutes until the dough is cooked through and just begins turning golden brown on the edges
• Let it cool for a few minutes, sprinkle the powdered sugar on top for a decorative touch, and then serve
• Repeat steps 5 through 8 with the second pizza

Notes

• It can be helpful to warm the milk for the dough in the microwave for 30 seconds or so before adding it in
• If you need a warm place for the dough to rise, heat your oven for a few minutes and then turn it off before placing the dough inside

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The post Tempting Triple Chocolate Caramel Dessert Pizza Recipe appeared first on Do You Roux?.

Soft, chewy, and packed with flavor – these homemade pretzels are the perfect snack or appetizer for parties, family gatherings, and other special events. Follow this simple pretzel recipe to make some terrific twisted baked goods for yourself.

Pretzels became my go-to lunch in middle school. I could get a huge pretzel with a side packet of cream cheese for under 2 bucks. Which, in my mind, was a deal that couldn’t be beat.

I know cream cheese sounds weird, but don’t knock it until you try it.

This homemade pretzel recipe is so chewy and delicious, you’ll want to make them for everyone in your life. These soft homemade pretzels are perfect to serve up as an appetizer or as a side alongside a large bowl of soup. Or even mix it up by making pretzel bites or buns.

So, whether you’re trying them plain, with cream cheese, or some other dipping sauce, get to mixing, baking and salting!

Steps to Making the Pretzels

If you’re looking to make homemade pretzel dough, then you should know that you can use a stand mixer to help with this process, but I used hand mixing and hand kneading. Either method will work, but you’ll want to follow these steps to get your pretzel recipe ready for baking:

1. Activate the yeast

2. Mix in the flour, salt, and sugar

3. Stir until it makes a loose, shaggy dough

4. Knead the dough on a floured surface for about ten minutes

5. Put the dough in a bowl, cover it, and let the dough rise for 1 hour

6. Bake the baking soda

7. Cut the dough into 8 even pieces, and roll and stretch them all into long, thin ropes

8. Shape and twist the ropes into pretzels, then let them rise, covered for 30 to 45 minutes

9. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and bring water to a boil in a large pot

10. Add brown sugar and baking soda to the boiling water and turn the heat down

11. Soak the pretzels in the water for 1 minute on each side then remove them to a baking sheet

12. Bake the pretzels for 10-15 minutes until dark brown

13. Brush the pretzels with melted butter and sprinkle them with salt or other desired toppings

Follow this simple pretzel recipe to get amazing results every time.

Ingredients for a Homemade Pretzel Recipe

This pretzel recipe uses many of the basic baking ingredients – yeast, water, flour, salt, sugar, baking soda, and brown sugar. Note that this recipe does use active dry yeast and not instant yeast. It just means we’ll have to activate the yeast with warm water before mixing the dough together.

We’ll also use butter and salt to top the pretzels when they’re finished baking. For the salt, you can just use some kosher salt. But to be truly authentic you can buy some coarse, crunchy pretzel salt for topping.

Baking some baking soda in the oven seems like a strange concept. But, it helps in this recipe.

Traditional pretzels are soaked in a lye bath before baking. The baking soda imitates a lye bath but isn’t as caustic. It causes the baking soda to become more alkali. By baking the baking soda, you can get results closer to what would come from using true lye.

Preparing Pretzel Recipe Dough

Pretzel dough follows the same basic steps as most bread doughs.

After activating the yeast and mixing together the ingredients to make a shaggy dough (as seen in the photo below), it takes time to knead the dough. Kneading the dough helps to form gluten and will take it from a loose, shaggy mess to a smooth, round ball of dough.

Knead the dough for 10 to 15 minutes until it forms a smooth dough that holds its shape relatively well.

Next, place the dough into a clean bowl and loosely cover it. I’d recommend using a clean kitchen towel to cover the bowl. I used plastic wrap here to get better photos and videos of the dough rising. Let it rise in a warm place for 1 to 1.5 hours until roughly doubled in size.

Once the dough has risen and looks nice and puffy, it is ready to go.

Shaping the Pretzels

Pretzel shaping is easier than you may think. They can honestly take any shape you want, but I’ll be covering the traditional pretzel shape in this post.

This traditional shape looks kind of like a bow or a knot, but to start making it we will need to cut the dough into individual pieces. Roll the risen dough out onto a lightly floured surface and use a bench scraper or knife to cut it into 8 roughly equal pieces. You can weigh the pieces for an accurate measure, but rough estimates work well enough.

Cover the divided-up dough with a clean towel and then take out one piece at a time to begin shaping. Roll and stretch them into a long, thin rope.

Then take both ends of the dough rope and begin turning them up into a ‘U’ shape. Bring the ends together and put one end over the other. Twist the two ends around each other once, and then rest them atop the base of the pretzel.

To help the ends stick down to the rest of the pretzel, you can use a dab of water underneath each end before lightly pressing the ends down onto the pretzel base. When all of the pretzels are formed, cover them loosely with a towel and let them rise again for 30 to 40 minutes until they look visibly puffed up.

Bathing and Baking Homemade Pretzels

Putting your food in a bath may seem a bit strange. But, for this pretzel recipe, it is an integral part of the process.

The brown sugar and baking soda bath create an alkaline bath that prevents the dough from springing up while baking in the way that traditional bread does. This gives pretzels their chewy texture, dark color, thicker ‘crust’, and unique density. It also helps to create the pretzel flavor.

Though traditionally this bath is done with lye, it can be a dangerous chemical and may not be widely available. So we’ll use baking soda. And, as noted above, we’ll bake the baking soda to make it even more alkaline to get closer to the traditional lye results.

Mix the brown sugar and baking soda into boiling water until dissolved and turn the heat down to a simmer. Then place the pretzels into the water and let them soak for a minute on each side. Then remove them to a parchment paper lined baking sheet.

Bake the pretzels in an oven preheated to 450°F (230°C). Bake for 10 to 15 minutes until they are dark brown in color.

Tips for the Best Pretzel Recipe

Here are a few simple tips for making the best pretzels:

Be careful when adding the baking soda to the boiling water. Use a wide, tall pot to give room for the water to boil a bit violently when adding the baking soda. And, rather than dumping it all in at once, slowly pour it in.

When soaking the shaped dough in the alkaline bath, use a slotted spoon or spider strainer to remove them from the bath and let them easily drain.

When you’re ready to top the pretzels, it is useful to set up a sort of topping station. I used a baking sheet lined with parchment paper with a cooling rack set inside it. The baking sheet will catch any dripping butter or extra toppings to make cleanup much easier.

Note that you can coat the pretzels in an egg wash before baking them to get an even darker color on the pretzels.

Variations and Toppings for Homemade Pretzels

You don’t have to make just the traditional shape when using this recipe. The dough can be formed and shaped into a variety of different foods, for example, buns, bites, and breadsticks.

Buns: Prepare the dough as directed, but when shaping form each piece of dough into a ball instead of a rope. Soak the dough balls in the alkaline bath for a minute on each side and place them on a lined baking sheet. Before baking, cut a shallow “X” on top of each bun.

Bites: Prepare, rise, and cut the dough as directed and then roll the pieces of dough into long ropes just as with regular shaping. But instead of twisting them together, cut the ropes into small one to two-inch pieces. These can then be soaked and baked with the same methods.

Bread Sticks: Prepare the dough, but cut it into twice as many (16) pieces. Roll the pieces into small logs and soak them in the baking soda bath. Then bake them as directed.

But the shapes aren’t the only options for customization, instead of the usual pretzel salt try some different flavor toppings or dipping sauces to mix things up with this same recipe.

Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel – After basting the baked pretzels with butter, generously sprinkle them with a cinnamon sugar mixture. The best ratio seems to be 1 part cinnamon to 4 parts sugar.

Everything Pretzels – After basting the baked pretzels with butter, generously sprinkle them with an everything bagel seasoning. You can find a recipe to make your own seasoning or buy a premade everything bagel seasoning.

Parmesan Garlic – Sprinkle the parmesan garlic seasoning over the buttered pretzels. My recommendation is to find a garlic parmesan popcorn seasoning to do the trick here.

For dipping sauces, try any of the following: nacho cheese, cream cheese (try it, I promise you’ll love it!), honey mustard, garlic sauce, ranch dressing, barbecue sauce, chocolate, and peanut butter.

You could even try dipping in some of the sauces or condiments we have here on the site:

• Chipotle Hot Honey
• Buttery Salted Caramel Sauce
• Brown Sugar Pumpkin Spice Butter

However you customize your pretzels, follow this recipe to make it the most delicious snack.

How did yours turn out?

I’d love to hear when you try making homemade pretzels! Take a pic of your food and share your success with me by adding it to your Instagram stories or feed, and tagging me @doyouroux, or by using #doyouroux.

Plus, leave a rating to let me know how you liked the recipe. It helps me out a lot to know how things worked out… or didn’t.

Soft and Chewy Homemade Pretzels

Recipe by Marc PetersonCourse: Appetizers, SnacksDifficulty: Intermediate

Servings

8

servings

Prep time

1

hour 

Cooking time

15

minutes

Rise Time

1

hour 

30

minutes

Total time

2

hours 

45

minutes

Follow this homemade pretzel recipe in your own kitchen for perfectly soft and chewy pretzels that are a great snack or party appetizer.

Ingredients

• 11 grams active dry yeast (1 tablespoon)

• 430 grams warm water (1 3/4 cups) (around 105°F/41°C)

• 885 grams bread flour (6 cups)

• 28 grams granulated sugar (2 tablespoons)

• 21 grams salt (1 tablespoon)

• 210 grams baking soda (3/4 cup)

• 3,775 grams water (16 cups)

• 21 grams dark brown sugar (2 tablespoons)

• Butter and pretzel salt for topping

Directions

• Preheat oven to 250°F (120°C)
• Stir together the yeast and warm water in a large bowl, and let it sit about 10 minutes until a bit foamy
• Add in the flour, sugar, and salt and mix them together to form a shaggy dough
• Pour the dough out onto a floured surface and knead it for 10 to 15 minutes until it forms a smooth, elastic ball
• Place the dough in a clean bowl and let it rise, covered for about 1 to 1.5 hours until doubled in size
• While the dough is rising, spread the baking soda onto a foil-lined baking sheet and put it in the oven at 250°F (120°C) for an hour, then remove and let cool
• When the dough has risen, divide the dough into 8 even pieces, cover them to keep them from drying out, and then take each one and roll them into long, thin ropes
• Shape the pretzels by turning the ends up into a U shape, then bringing the ends together and putting one end over the other, twist the ends around each other once, and then place them atop the base of the initial U shape – use a dab of water underneath each end to help them stick to the pretzel
• Loosely cover the shaped pretzels and let them rise for 30 to 40 minutes until noticeably puffy
• Preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C)
• In a wide, tall pot heat about 16 cups of water to a boil, add in the brown sugar and the baked baking soda, stir until dissolved, and then turn the heat down to a simmer
• Take each shaped pretzel and place them in the water bath to soak for 1 minute on each side then remove them to a parchment paper lined baking sheet – do not crowd the pot, just work in batches until all have been soaked
• Bake the pretzels at 450°F (230°C) for 10 to 15 minutes until dark brown
• Brush the pretzels with melted butter and generously sprinkle with pretzel salt – or top with other flavorings as desired

Recipe Video

Notes

• You can also make pretzel buns, bites, or breadsticks with this recipe, just look in the post above for specific shaping instructions

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The post Amazing Soft and Chewy Homemade Pretzel Recipe appeared first on Do You Roux?.

For some reason a few weeks ago I got a hankering for some white chocolate chunk cookies. I probably saw some and then subconsciously needed to eat some. Who knows. But I finally got around to it and came up with this recipe to satisfy my chocolatey sweet tooth.

These homemade white chocolate chunk cookies are absolutely delicious! They’re easy to make and they’ll get you hooked on this multi-chocolate treat. I must admit that I am not the biggest baker, so it feels like a triumph whenever it ends up working out. I felt the same when I made my buttermilk biscuit recipe.

Basically, take your average everyday chocolate chip cookies and turn them up to eleven. Add cocoa to the dough, and substitute some big white chocolate chunks for the regular chocolate chips. And then bam, you’ve got a delicious new cookie to taste.

So what are you waiting for? Go ahead and give these a try!

Equipment to Make White Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Making homemade treats is fun, but sometimes you need equipment that makes the process easier. Here are some tips on how to make delicious, homemade white chocolate chunk cookie dough. The good news is that this recipe doesn’t require any equipment out of the ordinary for a general cookie recipe.

Equipment for baking cookies is generally quite straightforward.

First, we need to have a stand mixer, a handheld electric mixer, or just a mixing bowl and spoon. I prefer the stand mixer. You can definitely mix this together by hand, but it is much easier to mix using one of the electric mixing options.

Second, you’ll need all of the general baking equipment like measuring cups, spatulas, baking/cookie sheets, and an oven.

And finally, you may want a cookie scoop. A cookie scoop works well for scooping out and getting similar-sized cookies. Similar sizes will bake similarly in the oven, which is helpful. But just any regular old spoon can also be used to scoop out cookie dough.

Quality Ingredients for White Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Cookies are one of the easiest desserts to make at home. Just mix the dough, drop them on the baking sheet, and heat them up. But, to make them the best cookies possible, be sure to choose quality ingredients.

For this recipe, I recommend focusing on quality white chocolate first and foremost. Then make sure to have good cocoa and vanilla.

White chocolate can be polarizing – but I think that mostly comes down to people having low-quality white chocolate. White chocolate doesn’t have any cocoa solids that lend chocolate its distinct color but should be made with cocoa butter. A lot of bad white chocolate is made of oils and imitation flavorings instead of actual cocoa butter.

Good quality white chocolate will be smooth and silky in texture with subtle flavors that’ll depend on the manufacturer. If it is truly made with cocoa butter, then ‘white’ chocolate will actually be more of an ivory or pale yellow color. I recommend these Callebaut white chocolate chunks for this recipe. But any quality white chocolate chunks or white chocolate chips will do.

On the opposite spectrum to white chocolate is 100% cocoa powder. Where white chocolate contains no cocoa solids, cocoa powder is just cocoa solids without any cocoa butter. There are a lot of amazing unsweetened cocoa powders out there, and, though they vary in quality, will all work in this recipe if they are 100% cocoa.

I have typically used Rodelle Baking Cocoa or Valrhona Cocoa Powder when baking or cooking.

And finally, for the vanilla be sure to use real vanilla extract and not imitation vanilla.

Method for Mixing the Dough

We’ll use the same method from many cookie recipes – cream butter and sugar, mix in the remaining wet ingredients, mix in dry ingredients, and then add in the white chocolate chunks.

First of all, you need to mix together the butter and both the brown and white sugar. Creaming the butter with the sugar helps the sugar distribute evenly and adds a bit more air to the final dough.

Next, add in the wet ingredients – eggs, vanilla extract, and milk. Mix everything together until just combined.

Now, mix together all of the dry ingredients except for the white chocolate chunks. Then add those ingredients into the mixing bowl and combine until a dough forms.

And lastly, it is time to add the white chocolate – whether chunks or chips – into the dough. Just add them in and get them as evenly distributed as possible.

Make sure that everything is getting evenly mixed throughout the whole process. My mixer tends to have a few spots that need to be scraped or moved into the mix a little to make sure it is fully combined.

Cookie Scooping

Some cookie recipes call for chilling dough before scooping and baking. But I’ve elected not to do that here. Don’t ask me why, it just didn’t feel right. Maybe I was impatient. You can try chilling the dough and then cooking it. If you do, let me know how it goes.

As mentioned in the equipment section, you can use a dedicated cookie scoop or just a regular spoon to scoop out these cookies. In my estimation, a dedicated cookie scoop makes it easier to get similar-sized cookies and usually makes it easier to eject the dough out onto the cookie sheet.

Scoop between 1 and 1/2 to 2 tablespoons worth of dough into evenly-sized cookies onto a greased baking sheet. Leave 2 to 3 inches of space between the cookies for them to spread out while baking.

Gently press down the top of each cookie so that it is no longer a domed shape and is a little bit flatter. I think this helps them cook better.

Now they’re ready to transfer the cookies into the oven.

White Chocolate Chunk Cookies in the Oven

Baking cookies is at the same time very fast and excruciatingly slow.

And it can go from underbaked to burnt in seemingly the blink of an eye.

We’ll start with the oven at the typical 350°F (175°C). This is a great temperature for baking the cookies, giving them time to get crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.

Let them bake for 9 to 11 minutes until they no longer look doughy or wet.

Remove the cookies from the oven, but don’t immediately remove them from the pan.

Cooling the Cookies

It is tempting to eat the cookies immediately out of the oven. But that is dangerous. Your mouth will pay a price for such a lack of patience.

Plus, this recipe uses a somewhat unique method of baking and cooling.

Leave the cookies on the baking sheet for 2 to 3 minutes after removing them from the oven. This will keep a little more heat on the bottom and help it crisp up nicely.

Gently remove the cookies from the baking sheet to a cooling rack or a plate. The cooling rack will help them get down to safe eating temperatures quickly because it allows for airflow on nearly all outside surface areas of the cookies.

And, once they’re cooled enough to handle, they’re ready to eat! Try eating them with milk or ice cream for an extra-delicious pairing.

Fresh Is Best

I must admit that these cookies are at their best when fresh. Most baked goods are in general, but this is doubly true for these cookies.

When these come out of the oven and cool, they’ll have a crunchy exterior and chewy interior.

When I tried storing them and eating them later they were much less impressive and lost a lot of what made them uniquely scrumptious cookies. So it is important to have them the same day they’re baked.

If you don’t plan on eating all of them at once, I recommend only baking the ones you will eat that same day. Then save the cookie dough in an airtight container in the fridge.

Just remove the dough from the fridge about 30 minutes before you plan to scoop and bake them. With this method, you’ll always have the freshest, tastiest cookies possible.

So, what are you waiting for? Start making some tasty cookies right away!

How did yours turn out?

I’d love to hear when you try out making white chocolate chunk cookies! Take a pic of your food and share your success with me by adding it to your Instagram stories or feed, and tagging me @doyouroux, or by using #doyouroux.

Plus, leave a rating to let me know how you liked the recipe. It helps me out a lot to know how things worked out… or didn’t.

Homemade White Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Recipe by Marc PetersonCourse: DessertDifficulty: Easy

Servings

28

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

20

minutes

Total time

30

minutes

Crunchy, delicious two-chocolate cookies to satisfy any sweet tooth. Homemade white chocolate chunk cookies make the perfect treat for holiday celebrations.

Ingredients

• 1 cup softened butter

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 3/4 cup brown sugar

• 2 large eggs

• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 1 tablespoon milk

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 1/2 cups white chocolate chunks

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C)
• Cream together the butter and both the brown and white sugars in a mixing bowl, stand mixer, or hand mixer until slightly fluffy
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until well combined
• Mix the eggs, vanilla, and milk into the creamed sugar mixture until just combined
• Add the whisked flour mixture to the wet mixture and mix until a soft dough forms
• Mix in white chocolate chunks until evenly distributed, it may be helpful to hand-mix for this stage to get the best results
• Scoop and portion out about 1.5 to 2 tablespoons of dough onto a greased or parchment-lined baking sheet with 2 to 3 inches of space between cookies
• Place the baking sheet into the oven and bake for 9 to 11 minutes
• Remove the cookies from the oven, let the cookies sit on the hot pan for 2 to 3 minutes, and then remove them to a cooling rack

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The post Easy & Delicious Homemade White Chocolate Chunk Cookies appeared first on Do You Roux?.

I’ve got an alliteration problem. See my pesto pizza pasta salad or my chocolate chipotle chili con carne. I’m back at it again. This time with a perfect pillowy-soft puffy pita recipe. I just can’t help myself. Sorry.

I honestly wanted to make a spanakopita dip with homemade fried pita bread for dipping. And in order to make that, I would need some delicious pitas to make it possible. So, after a little trial and error, I have a delicious pita recipe. What we’re going to make today is a simple pita recipe where the end result has that perfect pillowy softness.

These are a little bit thicker and fluffier than most pitas usually are. Partially to get the soft, pillowy insides. And partially to make frying them work better for my other recipe. Trust me, this is the perfect pita bread for whatever you have in mind.

With just a few ingredients and some simple steps, it is possible to create a delicious, pillowy-soft puffy pita recipe, perfect for your next meal.

Equipment to Make the Pita Recipe

One of the best parts of this recipe is that you don’t really need much in the way of equipment to make it. You can choose to use more mechanical equipment, but it actually seemed to work best when made by hand.

At its most basic, you’ll need a mixing bowl, a mixing spoon, a knife or bench scraper, a towel, and a frying pan to make this recipe. This process is simple and it involves hand mixing, hand kneading, and hand shaping of the pita dough.

You could also use a stand mixer with a dough hook to mix together and knead the dough. And you can use a rolling pin to shape and roll out the individual pitas.

But I prefer hand kneading and shaping. I think it helps, especially during the shaping, to achieve fully puffed and airy pitas. While kneading, it is also easier to tell when the dough has fully come together because you will feel it as you continue to work it.

Pillowy-soft Pita Dough Ingredients

Just six simple ingredients make up this recipe: flour, water, yeast, sugar, olive oil, and salt.

For the flour, I recommend quality bread flour. You can use all-purpose flour but it would likely require less water. Because bread flours tend to have a higher protein content, they need more water to hydrate properly. Try using about 1/3 cup less water for all-purpose flour.

And for the yeast, use active dry yeast. I prefer the Red Star Active Dry Yeast because it is good quality for a reasonable price. Unlike instant yeast, this one requires activation before mixing together with all of the other ingredients. This is accomplished by combining the yeast, sugar, and some of the warm water together and letting it sit for 10 to 15 minutes.

I recommend using kosher salt and good-quality olive oil to round out the recipe.

Pita Recipe Steps

If you want to make pita bread at home, then here is a guide that will help you get started. These general steps are all that are needed:

1. Mix the Dough

First, activate the yeast with some water and sugar. Then mix in the remaining ingredients to form a shaggy dough. Turn it out and knead it until it comes together in a smooth ball of dough.

2. Rise the Dough

Give the dough a light coating of olive oil, put it in a bowl, cover it with a towel and then let it sit for about an hour in a warm spot until it has doubled in size. Tip – warm up your oven a little and then turn it off for a warm spot during the winter.

3. Shape the Pitas

Now it’s time to start shaping the pitas. Divide the dough into eight roughly equal parts. Then, you’ll roll each part of the dough into a ball. Let those rest for 10 minutes. Then, roll or stretch the balls into thin circles roughly 8 inches in diameter.

4. Cook the Pitas

Heat up a frying pan on medium heat. Place a pita into the hot frying pan and cook it for 2-3 minutes before flipping and cooking another 2-3 minutes until done. Repeat until all pitas are cooked.

5. Top or Fill

Once your pitas are fully cooked, use them however you see fit!

How to Make the Pita Dough

Because we aren’t using instant yeast, this simple dough starts with the activation of the yeast. Remember to use warm but not hot water to activate the yeast. It’s a delicate balance. Water that is too hot can kill the yeast. If you want to be exact, use an instant-read thermometer to get water between 105°F (40°C) and 115°F (46°C).

After the yeast is activated, add the remaining ingredients. Stir it all together (I like to use a wooden spoon for this). It’ll mix together into a fairly loose, shaggy dough – see the upper left photo in the collage above.

Turn the dough out of the bowl and onto a clean, lightly floured surface. Knead the dough for 10 to 15 minutes. At first, it’ll be fairly sticky but as you continue to knead it will come together more. It’ll firm up and eventually will be a smooth, elastic ball of dough.

If you’ve been kneading for 10 to 15 minutes and it still isn’t smooth, then add a little bit more flour and knead it in.

When you’ve finished kneading, lightly coat the ball of dough with olive oil and put it in a bowl. Cover it loosely with a towel and leave it in a warm spot to rise. Let it rest and rise until it is doubled in size, about an hour.

Once it has risen, dump that dough ball out onto a floured work surface. Divide it into eight roughly equal portions. If you really want to have even sizes, you can measure them out with a scale. But it really isn’t that important. Trust me, it is okay.

Shape each portion into a ball. I like to do this by pinching it together at the back. After shaping them all, let them rest, covered with a towel, for 10 more minutes.

How to Shape A Pita

With everything divided and first shaped into eight dough balls, we’re ready to form the actual pitas. The goal here is to flatten the dough into 8-inch rounds.

You can do this by hand or using a rolling pin. I prefer hand-shaping because it is a bit more gentle on the dough, and it also gives the final results less of a completely flat surface so the pitas have a bit more character.

I start hand-shaping by pressing down in the center of the ball of dough. Then I pick it up and pinch my thumbs into my fingers and stretch it out as I rotate the pita in my hands. Feel around the pita for any thicker spots that need to be stretched out, especially towards the center or the very edges of the dough.

Note that I do find it helpful to do two final shapes. Stretch them as much as they will go at first, then set them down and keep shaping the others. Come back after it has had a couple of minutes of rest and it’ll be easier to keep stretching out to a final shape.

Try to get it to between about 1/8 and 1/4-inch in thickness.

If you’re using a rolling pin, just roll over the dough until it is flattened.

Pita Recipe Cooking

I’ve seen a few different methods for cooking pitas, including using a preheated pizza stone in the oven to help cook them. I kept it simple and just turned to a frying pan on the stovetop.

To cook mine, I simply preheated the frying pan over medium heat. Then I added in one of the shaped pita rounds.

Let it cook for a few minutes on one side and then flip and cook the other side for a few minutes until done. Each side should be lightly browned in spots, as seen in the photo above.

I didn’t use any kind of fat or anything in the pan itself. But, you could wipe the pan down beforehand with a small bit of olive oil and then between pitas if you really wanted to or found that your pan was sticking. For me, it never stuck to the pan, possibly because of a light dusting of flour that the dough had accumulated.

How to Use This Pita Recipe

This pita recipe is quite versatile and can be used in a variety of meals and appetizers.

To start off, I made this recipe initially to fry and pair with a spanakopita dip. This turned out delicious and I highly recommend giving it a try. The pita turns out deliciously crunchy on the outside and pillowy on the inside. Dunking it in the dip really combines for a unique flavor combo.

You can also try making any of the following:

• Flatbreads
• Gyros
• Pita Pockets
• Hummus Dipper

However you use it, I promise that it will be delicious.

How did yours turn out?

I’d love to hear when you try out this puffy pita recipe! Take a pic of your food and share your success with me by adding it to your Instagram stories or feed, and tagging me @doyouroux, or by using #doyouroux.

Plus, leave a rating to let me know how you liked the recipe. It helps me out a lot to know how things worked out… or didn’t.

Perfect Pillowy-soft Puffy Pitas

Recipe by Marc PetersonCourse: Baked Goods, SidesDifficulty: Easy

Servings

8

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

25

minutes

Rise Time

1

hour 

10

minutes

Total time

2

hours 

5

minutes

So you want to eat a pillowy soft puffy pita? Here’s how to make one! Learn to make the perfect fluffy, puffy pita bread in around 2 hours.

Ingredients

• 9.5 grams (2.5 teaspoons) active dry yeast

• 5 grams (1 teaspoon) sugar

• 350 grams (1/2 cup plus 1 and 1/4 cup) warm water, divided

• 500 grams (3 1/2 cups) bread flour (more for dusting)

• 15 grams (2 tablespoons) extra-virgin olive oil

• 10 grams (1.5 teaspoons) kosher salt

Directions

• In a large mixing bowl add 100 grams of warm water and stir in the yeast and sugar until dissolved
• Let it rest until the yeast is active and starts to foam up a bit, about 10 to 15 minutes
• Add in all remaining ingredients (flour, olive oil, salt, and remaining water) and stir it together until a loose, shaggy dough forms
• Turn it out onto a floured work surface and knead for 10 minutes until it becomes smooth and elastic
• Coat the ball of dough with a small amount of olive oil and place it in a bowl, loosely covered with a towel
• Let the dough rise in a warm spot until doubled, about 1 hour depending on your environment
• Pour the dough out onto a floured work surface and divide it into 8 roughly equal-sized portions
• Roll and pinch the pieces into small dough balls and let them sit, covered with a towel for about 10 minutes
• Shape the balls into flat pita rounds by either rolling them out with a rolling pin or hand-shaping by pinching and rotating until they are between 1/8 and 1/4-inch thick
• Heat a frying pan over medium heat and cook the pitas individually for 2-3 minutes on each side until lightly browned

Notes

• If your house is cold, turn on the oven for a few minutes and then turn it off again for a warm spot the dough can rise

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The post The Perfect Pillowy-soft Puffy Pita Recipe appeared first on Do You Roux?.

This holiday season, you might be thinking about adding a little extra spice to your life. So, try baking these buttery sweet holiday snickerdoodles to celebrate the season.

I love snickerdoodle cookies, and I wanted to create a cookie that was just right. So I decided on adding nutmeg and clove to the cinnamon sugar rolling mixture to give these some holiday flair. The spices add just a bit of a twist on this cookie classic.

If you are tired of pumpkin everything (see my pumpkin pie, pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, and pumpkin cream cheese rangoons), then maybe try this simple cookie makeover. With a mix of nutmeg and cloves, this snickerdoodle recipe gives you a tasty and unique flavor. From the smell of this dough to the flavor of the finished cookie, these cookies give your mouth a treat.

Try the perfect holiday nutmeg and clove snickerdoodles today! These are definitely the best holiday snickerdoodle cookies ever, and I am definitely not a biased reviewer.

What Are Snickerdoodles?

Seeming to hail from the New England area of the US, the exact origins of this cookie are unknown. Along with its unknown origins comes the mystery of its very name. It could be Germanic, could be a portmanteau of snicker and doodle, or it could just be a fun nonsense made-up name for a cookie.

I think it’s just utter nonsense for the fun of it.

Either way, snickerdoodle cookies are slightly modified sugar cookies that are rolled in a cinnamon-sugar mixture before baking. They’re placed on the baking sheet and cooked as balls, then bake into scrumptious round treats.

One of the most unique aspects of the snickerdoodle is the inclusion of cream of tartar in the baking mixture. When used in snickerdoodles, it lends a tangy flavor and also makes them more chewy.

To make these unique holiday snickerdoodles, we’ll include nutmeg and cloves along with the cinnamon.

What is Cream of Tartar?

With cream of tartar being such an integral ingredient in snickerdoodles, what even is it?

Before researching and making this recipe, I had no idea what cream of tartar was. Even though I have used it before in a few different recipes like my homemade whipped cream.

Cream of tartar is tartaric acid. It is actually a byproduct of fermenting wine. This ingredient is commonly used in a few baking applications – to stabilize eggs (especially in meringues) or cream, and to help prevent sugars from crystallizing.

It tends to come in smaller containers because recipes usually call for small quantities. It is a white powder that can have a faint lemon-lime scent since it is an acid. Find cream of tartar in the store with the dried herbs and spices or down the baking aisle.

So, why is cream of tartar used in snickerdoodles? This is one of the ingredients that is used to create the typical snickerdoodle. The acidity of the tartar creates a tangy flavor in the cookie. It also prevents the sugar from crystallizing and so creates a chewier texture.

Mixing the Dough

Mixing the dough for snickerdoodle cookies is very easy with the right tools. I highly recommend using a stand mixer to whip up these tasty treats. But everything can be stirred and mixed by hand. It may be able to count as your workout for the dough. So plan ahead.

Before you begin to mix the dough, preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C). That way it will be ready to go when the dough is finished. Start by mixing the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl. Then add the butter and sugar into your stand mixer bowl or a separate bowl if mixing by hand.

Cream together the butter and sugar until fully combined and it looks a little fluffy. Then add in the eggs and vanilla and mix them together. At this point, the dough will be a fairly wet mixture with lumps still visible. This is expected, so don’t try to overmix it into a super smooth consistency.

Now it’s time to add the flour mixture.

Empty the bowl of flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt into the main mixing bowl and mix it until combined. This is the final mix and it should now be smooth cookie dough.

Rolling the Holiday Snickerdoodles

Let’s roll those cookies!

Snickerdoodles get their signature flavor and look from a mix of sugar and cinnamon. For our holiday snickerdoodles, we’ll be adding ground nutmeg and cloves to the mix as well.

And to get the spiced sugar onto the cookies we need to roll the snickerdoodle dough into balls and then roll it around in the sugar mixture. So, start by mixing together the sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Get everything evenly distributed. I decided to mix it together on a plate since it would be easy to roll the dough around.

Now scoop and roll the dough into balls. Use a spoon or dedicated cookie scoop on the dough. They don’t need to be perfectly round, just a good shape for rolling around.

After rolling the dough into balls, take them one by one and place them in the sugar and spice mix. Roll the dough around so that it gets coated everywhere with the spiced sugar. You may want to roll them once, let them sit for a minute or so, and give them a second roll around to get them fully coated.

The more sugar coating, the better in my opinion.

Why Nutmeg and Clove?

I’ve always had a soft spot for cloves, I just love the way they smell. But I promise that isn’t the only reason I added them to this recipe. I swear.

Snickerdoodle cookies are typically made by rolling the dough in a mixture of cinnamon and sugar. And nothing else.

But I wanted to add a little more holiday flavor into the treats – hence the holiday snickerdoodles recipe. And it made sense because cinnamon is already a pretty popular spice to use around the holidays.

So, I started thinking of all the other spices used around the holidays and what might pair well with the cinnamon. And when you think of fall flavors, you think about pumpkin spice. The spices commonly used in pumpkin pie and the ubiquitous fall flavor that takes over every year.

Included in the typical pumpkin pie spices are cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. And so this combination was born and seemed perfect for these holiday snickerdoodles.

And the combination of all these spices is delicious. But don’t take my word for it, make the recipe and try it for yourself.

Baking Holiday Snickerdoodles

After mixing the dough and rolling it all in the flavored sugar, all that’s left is to bake the cookies.

And the main goal here is just to not burn them.

Place the rolled dough balls onto a greased baking sheet about two inches apart from each other. Then pop the tray into the preheated oven. If you’ve forgotten to preheat before mixing the dough, then preheat now and wait until the oven has come to temperature to start baking.

Preheating ensures the cookies will start to bake immediately upon going into the oven.

Bake them for 8 to 10 min. when checking on them, you’ll be looking for a golden color on the cookie itself. It can be a little difficult to distinguish and differentiate since the cookies were rolled in spiced sugar.

While baking the dough balls will flatten out into perfect cookies with amazing texture. Remove the cookies from the baking sheet to a wire cooling rack.

Then eat the cookies. Store them in an airtight container after about an hour to make sure they stay soft and fresh for as long as possible.

These snickerdoodles are delicious when served warm with a glass of milk. Just make sure you wait long enough for them to cool so that you don’t burn yourself on the delicious treats.

How did yours turn out?

I’d love to hear when you try these holiday snickerdoodles! Take a pic of your food and share your success with me by adding it to your Instagram stories or feed, and tagging me @doyouroux, or by using #doyouroux.

Plus, leave a rating to let me know how you liked the recipe. It helps me out a lot to know how things worked out… or didn’t.

Perfect Holiday Nutmeg and Clove Snickerdoodles

Recipe by Marc PetersonCourse: DessertDifficulty: Easy

Servings

24

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

10

minutes

Total time

20

minutes

These soft, buttery, spicy cookies are full of clove and nutmeg flavor. Make a batch of holiday snickerdoodles to share with family and friends.

Ingredients

• 2 and 3/4 cups flour

• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup butter

• 1 and 1/2 cups white sugar

• 2 large eggs

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1/3 cup white sugar

• 1 and 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1 and 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

• 1 and 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C)
• Mix together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and set it to the side
• In a stand mixer, cream together the butter and 1 and 1/2 cups sugar until fully combined and a little fluffy looking
• Add the eggs and vanilla and mix together well
• While stirring with the stand mixer, pour in the flour mixture from step 2 and let it mix until fully combined and a soft dough has formed
• In a wide bowl or small plate, combine the remaining 1/3 cup sugar with the ground cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg
• Use a small cookie scoop or spoon to scoop out the dough, roll it into a ball, roll it into the spiced sugar mixture, set them to the side for about a minute, and then roll it into the sugar mixture a second time for a thorough coating
• Place the rolled dough balls 2 inches apart on a greased baking sheet
• Put the baking sheet into the preheated oven and bake for 8 to 10 minutes
• Remove the baking sheet from the oven and place the cookies onto a wire cooling rack

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Growing up we always called these caramel brownies. But honestly, they aren’t really like brownies in texture at all. The flavor might be similar, but they’re more like German chocolate caramel bars. And so the name has changed to better reflect the true recipe.

The main part of this is much denser than a brownie. And it involves multiple layers. The first layer is a dense German chocolate cake mix which is then topped with chocolate chips and melted caramel and finally topped with another layer of German chocolate cake mix.

At some point in my teenage years, this became the go-to dessert for my family for a while. And then once I left home I kind of forgot about them for a while.

But these were a staple in the house – especially around the holidays when we would make and give them away to friends and neighbors. And, of course, when I say we I really mean my mom and my older sister would tend to make them.

Until now! I have finally learned the secrets. The gooey caramel and chocolate secrets.

Rolling Out the Dough

In order to make this recipe, we’ll start off by melting caramels with sea salt and evaporated milk.

Next, begin mixing the German chocolate cake mixes together with just enough liquid to turn it into a sort of dough. Almost like playdough. Or, to me, it kind of looks like what tootsie rolls would be made of.

This will then be used to make both the bottom and the top layers of the caramel bars. Originally the recipe only called for one cake mix and my mom would just press half the dough into the bottom of the pan. Then for the top layer kind of hand press the dough together and lay it on top in sections.

Now we use two cake mixes and we use parchment paper to help roll both the top and bottom layers of these German chocolate caramel bars.

Just cut out two large pieces of parchment paper, place about half the dough between the two pieces, and then roll and flatten it out. Get it into approximately a rectangular shape about the size of the 9 x 13 baking dish. Place that into the baking dish.

Repeat again for the second half of the dough and use it as the top layer after putting down chocolate chips and melted caramel.

Hints for Chocolate Caramel Bars

It took a long time for me to find the caramels for this recipe. I almost resorted to trying to make my salted caramel sauce and maybe cook it to a different stage to get the right consistency. My mom ended up finding some and bringing them to me. But try looking for caramels in either the candy section or the baking aisle near the chocolate chips.

Or you can even look into buying caramels online.

You’ll want to have milk ready for this.

It is a sugary, gooey, chocolatey treat that just begs to be paired with a glass of milk to wash it down. Trust me. Or, even better, maybe pair warm chocolate caramel bars with creamy vanilla bean ice cream.

And you can add nuts to the caramel bars as an option at the same time as adding the chocolate chips to the baking dish.

How did yours turn out?

I’d love to hear when you try out these German chocolate caramel bars! Take a pic of your food and share your success with me by adding it to your Instagram stories or feed, and tagging me @doyouroux, or by using #doyouroux.

Plus, leave a rating to let me know how you liked the recipe. It helps me out a lot to know how things worked out… or didn’t.

Super Gooey German Chocolate Caramel Bars

Recipe by Marc PetersonCourse: DessertDifficulty: Intermediate

Servings

15

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking time

20

minutes

Total time

40

minutes

Gooey caramel and chocolate chips layered between German chocolate cake mixes make delicious chocolate caramel bars nobody can resist

Ingredients

• 17 ounces unwrapped caramels

• 1 cup evaporated milk, divided

• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

• 2 boxes German chocolate cake mix, 15.25 ounces each

• 6 tablespoons butter, melted

• 1 and 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C)
• In a small saucepan over low heat, melt together the caramels, 1/3 cup evaporated milk, and sea salt while stirring occasionally until fully melted
• While the caramel is melting, combine both cake mixes, 2/3 cup evaporated milk, and melted butter in a mixing bowl and mix until fully combined into a dough
• Roll out half of the dough between two sheets of parchment paper to about 9×13 size
• Place the rolled out half into the bottom of a greased 9×13 baking dish and bake for about 4 minutes until slightly puffed
• Remove the baking dish from the oven and sprinkle it with the chocolate chips in an even layer
• Pour the melted caramel mixture on top of the chocolate chips as evenly as possible
• Roll out the other half of the dough between two sheets of parchment paper to approximately 9×13 size
• Place the rolled out dough on top of the caramel, put it in the oven, and bake it for an additional 15-18 minutes
• Remove the chocolate caramel bars from the oven and let them cool completely so that the caramel can set before cutting them into squares and serving

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