Zoe's Famous Treats

Zoe is my oldest daughters BFF.

She is a really sweet girl, they make a great pair!

 (A dance performance of The Ugly Duckling at a retirement community a few years back. They are the two swans on the left. It is my duty as her mother AND a blogger to share embarrassing things! *sorry girls*)

Her speciality are these little treats- Maddy made them with the younger Herdlings and it was the perfect activity for them to do together!

What you need:

Square pretzels, ROLOS and M&M's. That's it!

heat your oven to 250. Line your pretzels up on a baking pan and unwrap your candies.

Even the littlest dude got to help!

 ... and "helping" always means eating! Reminds me of when my grandma would send me out to pick blackberries!!

(One for me, one for the bucket. One for me, one for the bucket!)

Seriously though... how can you not think that is the cutest thing EVER?!

The boy loves chocolate.

I can't blame him!

Anyway- after you get your chocolates unwrapped, place one on each pretzel.

Make sure the little well on the top of the ROLO is facing up!

That is where the will M&M's go!

Put them in the warm oven.

And WAIT until they are soft. This is the hard part.

waiting.......  waiting....... waiting.......

Texting..... texting..... texting...... (probably with Zoe!)

Once they are nice a soft, take them out of the oven and put an M&M in each little well

And GENTLY press down, squish them a little bit.

This is something everyone in the Herd was able to participate in, with supervision of course!

Then all you have to do is wait (again- ugh!) for them to harden back up. Although, I think they are fantastic warm too!

Such a simple idea and so many people love it! They are salty, sweet, crunchy, gooey!

Every time Zoe makes these for Maddy it makes her feel SO special! (remember what I say folks, food is love!)

**This blog is dedicated to Zoe, and her parents, for being so awesome. We love you guys! Thank you for everything you do and being such greats friends to my baby girl!**

Pretzel Wrapped Hotdogs

Hot dogs are a staple for the young people in our house. They would probably eat them every day if we let them!

The Hubster, like a lot of Americans, LOVES hotdogs.

Me, not so much. Don't get me wrong- I will eat a hotdog if I am hungry. But you won't ever hear me say, "Man! I could really go for a hotdog right now!" (Except for when we are roasting hotdogs in our fire pit- THAT is good!)

I know gourmet hotdogs are a huge trend right now but it still doesn't lure me into craving the jumbled-meat-mush. But wrap them in soft pretzel and you may just may have me hooked! We all know the famous pretzel places offer pretzel dogs at the mall- but how do you know what is really in them? And, what if you are not at the mall and want them for dinner!?

Introducing the recipe that will change your hot dog loving/not loving world!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups
• 2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
• 16 hotdogs
• Vegetable oil, for pan
• 10 cups water
• 2/3 cup baking soda
• 1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
• Pretzel salt (or kosher salt)

Most homes will have everything on hand except, maybe, for the yeast. You can find it in small pouches in your grocers baking isle for .89-1.25. I buy 4 at a time and keep it in my fridge.

Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer (or in my case, a bread machine) and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam and smells yeasty

.

 Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. *Again- I did all of this in my bread machine*

Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size. (I used cooking spray, dumped my beautiful dough in and covered with the lid it came with)

 The pressure from the yeast gases caused our bowl to "burp"! Imagine the Herdlings delight! Ha ha ha!

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.

Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.

 In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 16 equal pieces.

 Roll out each piece of dough into a rope. Wrap your hotdogs in the dough, taking care to pinch the ends do they are secure. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.

 Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula.

 Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt.

Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

I made some small (using half of a hotdog) and some full size. I rolled the left over dough into one inch balls and followed the same cooking process and got some incredible pretzel-poppers that are screaming for a filling. Cheese maybe? Little cheddar smoky joes would be killer in these too! I will also be playing with dipping sauces!

The process was a little messy (we have decided that the best stuff is always messy) but I think as I make them more I will learn to control the mess better. I am always on the hunt for tasty-goodness that is versatile, can be made in bulk, freezes well and is a crowd pleaser and folks- this is going on my master list! I will never again buy frozen pretzel appetizers!!

Besides wrapping hotdogs, try making the pretzel bites, traditional twisted pretzels or sticks, plump dinner rolls or thinner ones for a sandwich!

This recipe has a Head of the Herd stamp of approval for simplicity, wholesomeness, and convenience with out the store!

**CREDITS**

My food hero- Alton Brown

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/homemade-soft-pretzels-recipe/index.html