Junior Bakers Assoc.

I am yet to meet a child who wasn't interested in a baking project especially of a sweet nature. So in a pinch, when the familiar voices intone "What's our project for today?" and nothing coherent comes to mind, I just announce "Who wants to bake?". That usually elicits an enthusiastic response in the affirmative and off we go. We usually go for the quick, not too labor intensive variety of baking recipes. So here are two of our recent successes. The first one was a very simple recipe for soft pretzels from the Tightwad Gazette. It was very quick, because it requires no rising despite having yeast in it, which is a definite advantage for junior bakers with many important things to do and places to go. The pretzels could be shaped in any way you fancy, hearts, circles, triangles and of course the traditional pretzel shape. You can also double or more the recipe successfully and when very pressed for time it could be used for challah as well. The final result has a very nice texture reminiscent of a bagel but without having to go through the boiling process. Our next successful experiment was the granola bars recipe from the American Wholefoods Cuisine. Also a very quick one both to mix and to bake. Due to allergies we replaced nuts with sesame seeds, coconut and flax seed which tasted just fine in the final product. Despite its' very healthy makeup it was pronounced a great success, the only complaint being that there wasn't so much of it, so next time I think we should make more. Enjoy!!!

Soft Pretzels

1 pkg yeast
1 1/2 cups water
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp salt
4 cups flour
1 egg for brushing

Bake in preheated oven on 425 degrees for 15 minutes.

I'll need to find the exact recipe for the granola

1 1/2 cups oats
3/4 cup combination of sesame seeds, coconut, flax seed or whatever you want
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup honey plus molasses to get to 1/3 cup
1/8 tsp salt

mix it all together and bake for 15 minute on 350.