Homemade Dandelion Bread #recipe

My kids are hungry all the time. They are a big judgy with food. The just don't like that I'm on a binge of making so many things with dandelions. It's the season. Dandelions are free. Travis isn't working right now, nor is the unemployment money coming in. I think they are good!

Today I made bread. The first thing Mica asked, "Are dandelions in there?" I lied and said, "No! Of course not." I think my nose grew like Pinocchio's. He had it, and it won him over.

It is really easy to make! I'm always suspicious when it comes to making dough rise. in the past bread was a pain to rise, for me. I decided to try it. 

Pick lots of pesticide free dandelions. I had Isaak do this, and Mica pulled on the rest of the plant, or what some might call weed. 

Wash the flowers well, trim them off the pedals with a kitchen shears. You need 1/3 cup! That's a lot of dandelions. I had them actually pick more, for me to make Dandelion Jelly - coming up, so stay tuned. 

Heat up 1 cup of milk on the stove in a small pot. I used 2%, but I think any milk will do. Add in the dandelions. Whisk, until it is almost at a boil. Then let cool, for a few minutes. 

While you are waiting for the milk and dandelions to come to a slight boil, get out a medium sized mixing bowl. Put in 1 packet of yeast, 1/2 cup warm water, 1/4 honey. Mix, and let set until it foams. That means the yeast is active. 

Add in 2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 cup softened butter (I just microwave it for 30 seconds), 2 eggs, and the milk mixture. Mix! Start adding in the flour, 1 cup at a time. I use bread flour, but all purpose would do. It will get sticky. Keep adding a cup at a time, until you have added 5 cups. 

Put on a floured surface, and knead. Keep adding flour, and kneading until it's elastic and not that sticky. You will need more than the 5 cups of flour. 

Put in a large sprayed bowl, for 90 minutes or until it's doubled in size. I lay a damp tea towel over the bowl.

It happened! I doubled in size!

Split in 1/2, put it in 2 sprayed bread pans, I sprinkled the bottom of my pans with the flour on the surface that wasn't used. 

Bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick is poked in, and comes clean! 

Let the bread cool. Slice and eat. 

I put a little honey on the boy's. It can be used for sandwiches, toast, or plain. 

Here's a downloadable recipe with the instructions: 

Homemade Dandelion Bread by AlissaSpiehs-Apel on Scribd

Have you ever ate dandelions before? 

What ways are you trying to save during this pandemic?

Danish Dough Whisk Review

I mentioned a week or so ago that Isaak had his first Auntie Anne's pretzel, and he didn't know if it was bread or chicken. I said to Isaak, "We'll have to make pretzels similar to this at home." Isaak said, "You know how to make them?" I said, "Yep." He said, "I'd love that Mom."

I got a Danish Dough Whisk to review. I thought it was the perfect kitchen utensil to make homemade pretzels. 

Let me tell you the Danish Dough Whisk worked great!

Before I get into how to make pretzels here's a little information about the Danish Dough Whisk:

• It's rated 4 stars on Amazon. The cost is $17.90, but it's on sale for $9.95. There is a 100% satisfaction guarantee on all of Kitchen Simple products.

• It's a 13.5 Dutch Style Stainless Steel whisk with a wooden handle.

• I like that it feels sturdy! When I used it I thought it wouldn't break things up, and would make a mess. Boy was I wrong. It's great for pizza dough, pastry, bread dough, homemade pasta, pretzel dough, and cookie dough.

• You can use it for baking and cooking. Many professionals use the Danish Dough Whisk as their secret weapon. 

• It's easy to clean! Most whisks are a pain in the butt to clean. I had no trouble at all cleaning this. 

Pretzel Time:

I haven't made pretzels in years. The kids loved making them, and eating them! I imagine they are healthier for you than store bought ones. I could have attempted gluten free all purpose flour, but stuck with the gluten this time. I didn't want to risk messing up the first attempt with the kids. 

All the mixing was done with the Danish Dough Whisk. You can see there is little mess. I used to use a wooden spoon for this, but the dough would stick to the spoon. This whisk was super easy to clean up! Isaak did some of the mixing.

Pretzel Recipe:

Pretzels

I let the dough rise for about 30 minutes. I put it in the lowest setting of our oven with a wet towel over the bowl. 

Take the dough out of the oven, and turn the heat up to 425 degrees. Knead the dough with 1/2 cup all purpose flour. 

I cut the dough into 12 pieces, and they each rolled the dough in their hands. Both boys loved making the pretzel shapes. They said they were making snakes. This was their favorite part! 

We made ribbon and pretzel shapes. It doesn't matter if they are a certain shape. They all taste the same.

Mica brushed on the egg mixture: 1 egg + 1 Tablespoon of water.

Isaak sprinkled on the  sesame seeds, and I sprinkled on the course salt. 

Cook until they are slight brown. About 20 minutes. They are so good!

You could opt to make a sweet pretzel. Just paint with the egg + water mixture, and sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on them. The ones I made do taste good dipped in a cheese dip. I didn't do all that, but it's good!

Have you ever made homemade pretzels before?

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.