Pretzels for a Preschool cooking class?

Question

I would like to make pretzels for a preschool mommy and me cooking class I teach. We generally do not make anything that requires a stove, but I have a hotplate I can use. I measure out the ingredients into little cups and the kids dump it in a bowl and mix it up. They have a parent to help, and I have 45 minutes to fill, so I generally like to do projects that have 2 parts so I can use up some time. (We also sing and color etc) For instance make cookies, make frosting, frost cookies.


I would like to make pretzels tommorrow and shape them like pumpkins. I found 2 recipes. One is just dough that you brush with egg and sprinkle with salt.

The other requires rising, shaping, baking, BOILING and baking again.

I would rather skip the boiling water with 3 year olds, but I wondered whether anyone has ever tried the other kind. Is is just like eating a piece of bread, or does it resemble a pretzel.

Many thanks!


ps have convection oven

Answer 1

I'd skip that & make something easy like Rice Crispy treats that the kids can shape & decorate or a candy they can shape.

You could also make instant chocolate pudding & make several pans so the kids can turn them into graveyards.
Crushed chocolate wafers = dirt.
Oval cookies = tombstones.
Marshmallow ghosts, licorice lace to make spiders, etc.

Peanut Butter Worms
Recipe courtesy Gale Gand

1 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup honey
1 1/2 cups dry milk powder
1/2 cup powdered sugar
Raisins and peanuts

Place the peanut butter and honey in a food processor or mixer and combine well. Add the dry milk powder and the powdered sugar and mix again until smooth and well blended. Make into 1 long log and divide into 24 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a thick worm and place 2 peanuts or raisins at the end to look like 2 eyes. Chill 30 minutes before serving.

To serve, take a small flowerpot and fill it with balled up plastic wrap. Crumble up a leftover plain chocolate cup cake and spread that on top of the plastic wrap to make it look like a pot of soil. Using your finger poke a hole in the "soil", tuck the worm tails into the soil. Repeat this with 3 or 4 worms. Place the pot on a platter and surround the pot with the remainder of the worms

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_21204,00.html

These can be made into other shapes like pumpkins or pretzels.

You could also make cupcakes & let the kids frost them & decorate them for Halloween.

e.g. Spider Cupcakes
Recipe courtesy Gale Gand
Show: Sweet Dreams
Episode: Trick or Treat
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup unsalted butter, slightly softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
4 eggs
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and warm
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup plain yogurt or sour milk
Chocolate frosting, of choice

Decorations:
Flat chocolate buttons
Chocolate chips
Tube white frosting
Tube black frosting
Tube red frosting
Black spaghetti liquorice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift together the flour and baking soda and set aside. In a mixer fitted with a whip attachment, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Then add both sugars and continue mixing to cream them together. Add the eggs gradually and let them thoroughly mix in. Add the melted unsweetened chocolate and mix in well. Add the vanilla and 1/3 of the yogurt and mix, then add half the dry ingredients, and mix in well. Repeat alternating wet and dry, ending with wet.

Pour batter into a muffin tins, lined with cupcake papers, filling them 3/4 full. Bake until firm to the touch on the cap of the cupcakes, about 20 minutes. Let cool in the pan, then decorate.

To make the cupcakes into spiders, frost with your favorite chocolate frosting glue 2 flat chocolate buttons on the top of the cupcake as eyes. Pipe a large white dot on lower half of each button then stick on the chocolate chips, then pipe a tiny white dot on the tip of the chip. In red, pipe a smile and to make them tarantulas, pipe a red hourglass shape on its back. Cut black liquorice into 3-inch long pieces and tuck 8 of them into the rim of the cupcake cap to make legs.

To serve the cupcakes, with black frosting pipe a spider web onto a middle of a large white plate and place the spiders around the edge.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_21206,00.html

Another idea - popcorn balls.

Jello Popcorn Balls

1 c. light corn syrup
1/2 c. sugar
1 pkg. (3 oz.) Jello gelatin (any flavor)
1/2 lb. salted peanuts, coarsely chopped
9 c. popped popcorn

Bring syrup and sugar to a boil. Remove from heat and add Jello, stirring until dissolved. Add peanuts. Pour over popcorn. Mix well. Quickly form into 1 1/2 inch balls. Makes 4 dozen.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AnkcbQ.epFSnMmijpde5.abpy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20071030130043AAJSETB

Answer 2

I even have achieved the Pretzel ingredient with a yeast dough, an oven and 5year previous little ones. We made spider internet pretzels. The nighttime till now the class I made the dough. The day of the class I permit the youngsters degree, pour, blend and scent a batch of dough which I later threw away. I gave each and every youngster a bite of the dough I had made and a bite of parchment paper. the youngsters have been recommended to shape the dough it right into a spider internet on the parchment paper. I wrote each and every little ones call on their internet and baked them. It became exciting. possibly you may regulate this technique for you class.

Answer 3

Good Pretzels require yeast and that requires time to rise.