How To Make A Cretzel: Part Croissant, Part Pretzel (Only 3 Ingredients)!

Chances are you've heard about the Cronut craze happening in NYC right now. It was Grub Street who broke the news that (brilliant) Dominique Ansel began selling these doughnut-croissant hybrids and you haven't been able to get near the bakery since—there's even a Cronut black market! 

Anyway, in the midst of the madness, my bestie challenged me to make a Cretzel: part pretzel, part croissant. It was fabulous idea—as all of her ideas are—so I decided to play around with it. But here's the thing! I wanted this recipe to be, like, the easiest thing you could ever make. The Cronut is so unattainable; cool cousin, Cretzel, should be way more low-pressure right? It's a snack after all! The answer of course was frozen puff pastry. Dress it up with melted butter and your choice of sea salt or sesame seeds and you have something delicious (and buzzy) to munch on. Here's how...

CRETZELS

MAKES: about 2 dozen

1/2 package (1 sheets) frozen puff pastry, defrosted

1 stick salted butter, melted

Sea salt or sesame seeds, for sprinkling

1. Preheat the oven to 450˚. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Lay puff pastry on a floured cutting board and lightly roll out to a 10-inch square. Cut it in half so you have two 5-inch by 10-inch rectangles.

3. Slice each rectangle, the short way, into 1/4 inch thick strips. Twist each strip into a pretzel shape and arrange on the prepared baking sheet.

4. Brush each pretzel with melted butter and sprinkle with either sea salt or sesame seeds. Bake 15 minutes or until golden. Transfer to wire racks to cool slightly.

Frantic Friday: Wait, Are You On Tumblr—Should I Be, Too!?!

Boyfriend raised a good question this morning: "Why don't you have a Tumblr account?" I've always been a Blogger girl, so starting a Tumblr in addition to this trusty ol' blog never even occurred to me. I played around with the site a bit this morning to see what's up and I'm still not sure how I feel. So I'm asking you: Are you on Tumblr? Should I be, too? Do you do it in addition to your regular blog or does it morph into your main squeeze!? So many questions! I'd love to know what you think. Also! If you have a Tumblr account, leave me the address in the comments below. I don't know who to follow—HELP!

On The GHRI Blog: 3 Homemade Father's Day Gift Ideas—Easy (Edible) DIYs!

Eeks! Only a few more days until Father's Day. Do you know what you're gifting to your pop and/or hubby yet? If not, I have a few thoughts for you: I just posted these 3 easy gift ideas on the Good Housekeeping blog and they're all winners (you can even download the gift tags for free)! Pick between Homemade Green Hot Sauce, Spicy Peppercorn Rub for steak and Salted Beer Caramels made with Dad's favorite beer, recipe below! Head over to the Good Housekeeping website for the other 2 recipes...

SALTED BEER CARAMELS

MAKES: about 2 dozen  

Cooking spray

1 stick salted butter

1 cup packed dark-brown sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

3/4 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup Brown Ale or other beer

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Line an 8-inch-square baking dish with parchment paper and lightly coat with cooking spray; set aside. 

2. Heat the butter and brown sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until melted. 

3. Stir in the corn syrup, heavy cream and beer until combined. 

4. Clip a candy thermometer onto the saucepan and continue to cook about 10 minutes or until the thermometer registers 240˚F (soft-ball stage). Immediately remove from the heat; stir in the vanilla and 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt, depending on desired saltiness. 

5. Pour caramel into the prepared pan and set aside until set but still soft, about 1 hour. Remove caramel from the baking dish using the parchment paper; transfer to a cutting board. Cut caramel into small rectangles and wrap each with parchment paper.

If any Dads out there would like to weigh in and tell us what (else) they'd really love to get for Father's Day, leave it in the comments—I'm dying to know!

Breakfast Basics: Watermelon-Raspberry Smoothie—So Summery!

We spent the weekend at our friends' house a few weeks back and they made the most scrumptious all-fruit smoothie for breakfast—lots of frozen watermelon, homemade fruit punch and a few other magical ingredients I can't remember. They inspired me! You see, despite my best efforts, I rarely eat breakfast at home (mostly because we start cooking and eating right away in the test kitchen). But I'd love to get in a big helping of fruit—and maybe eventually vegetables—first thing in the morning, how about you? It seems like such a responsible way to start the day! To ease myself into it, I whizzed up this Watermelon-Raspberry Smoothie for breakfast this morning. Super tasty! Even boyfriend had some. Here's how you make it...

WATERMELON-RASPBERRY SMOOTHIE

SERVES: 2 to 4

3 cups watermelon chunks 

2 cups frozen raspberries

1/2 cup orange juice

1/2 cup cranberry juice

Put the watermelon, raspberries, orange juice and cranberry juice in a blender with 1 cup ice. Blend until thick and smooth. Divide among glasses.

I’m curious, are you a smoothie person? If so, what’s in your morning mix? I’d love to know! xo Erin

Summer Hostess Gifts, Like Olive Oil Granola—My Latest On Refinery29!

Good morning, all! Quick question for you: Do you have any big summer plans? I feel like summer always slips away before I can plan anything! Does that happen to you, too? Or do you already have some incredible trips, events, adventures lined up—I'd love to know! 

With summer travel in mind, I just wrote a post for Refinery29 about homemade edible hostess gifts. I'm never quite sure what to bring to a weekend away but one thing's certain, you can't show up empty handed (especially when a gracious friend's offering to host you)! If you'd like to take a look, these 3 DIY gift ideas are all easy to make, inexpensive and much more personal than just a bottle of rosé...though that does sound appealing, too! I've shared this Olive Oil Granola recipe with you before but here it is again, in case you need a fresh copy. Head over to Refinery29 for detailed packaging ideas! xox

SUPER-EASY GRANOLA

MAKES: about 8 cups 

3 cups old-fashioned oats

1 cup pepitas 

1 cup sunflower seeds

2 cups walnuts and/or almonds

3/4 cup real maple syrup

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 to 2 cup dried cranberries 

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚. Line a large rimmed baking sheet—or two smaller baking sheets—with parchment paper. Mix all ingredients (except for the cranberries) in a bowl to combine. 

2. Spread on the prepared baking sheet and bake until golden and slightly dry, about 1 hour. Stir in the cranberries and return to the oven for 15 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheet, then store in an air-tight container. 

Hit The Bottle, Ladies: The Glass Sipper (Saint Germain Spritzer)!

Happy Friday, all! What are you gals up to this weekend? We're staying around Brooklyn (have a few busy weekends away coming up!) and I'm really looking forward to watching the Tony Awards. I came up with a few cocktail recipes for the occasion, all inspired by nominated musicals. "The Glass Sipper" (above) was a favorite of the ladies in the test kitchen. It's really just a Saint Germain spritzer—1 bottle of wine, elderflower liqueur and soda water—so it's super refreshing and easy to make. I'd love to try this recipe with rose wine, too. Let me know if you try it out!

THE GLASS SIPPER

SERVES: 6 

Clear sanding sugar, for the rim

1 cup Saint Germain Elderflower Liqueur

1 (750-ml) bottle cold white wine

2 cups cold club soda

Dip the rims of 6 flutes in water, then press and roll in sanding sugar to coat. Stir together the Saint Germain, white wine and club soda in an chilled pitcher; divide among the prepared flutes.

Oo, you know who has some absolutely fabulous Saint Germain cocktail ideas? Leah Bergman over at Freutcake! Worth a look if you're interested in more delicious things to sip this weekend! xoxo 

Summery Sweets: Pink Grapefruit Icebox Cookies with Grapefruit Glaze!

There was some pink grapefruit leftover from our "signature" Negroni contest last weekend. I got the idea in my head that pink grapefruit shortbread cookies would be amazing—turns out its true! 

It had been ages since I made simple icebox cookies—similar to shortbread in that they're buttery, dense and crumbly—so that's the approach I took. You usually see icebox cookie recipes during the holidays but they're perfect for summer, too! Especially these babies: They're sweet, tart and rosy (thanks to a little food coloring). My recipe calls for self-rising flour but if you don't have it, replace the self-rising flour with 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

PINK GRAPEFRUIT ICEBOX COOKIES

MAKES: about 3 dozen cookies

FOR THE COOKIES

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 1/2 cups self-rising all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon grapefruit zest

3 to 4 drops pink gel food coloring, if desired

FOR THE GLAZE

1/3 cup fresh pink grapefruit juice

2 cups confectioners' sugar

1. Make the cookies: Beat the butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and beat until smooth, scraping down the bowl as needed.

2. Turn off the mixer. Add the flour all at once and beat, increasing the speed gradually, until combined. Beat in the vanilla, grapefruit zest and food coloring, if using. Scrape dough onto a piece of parchment paper or plastic wrap; roll into a 2-inch-thick log. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.

3. Preheat the oven to 350˚. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Slice cookie dough into 1/4-inch-thick rounds; arrange on the prepared baking sheets. Bake 10 to 12 minutes until golden. Transfer to wire racks to cool.

4. Meanwhile, make the glaze: Whisk the grapefruit juice and confectioners' sugar together until smooth (add more sugar if the glaze is too runny). Dip cookies in the glaze and let set on wax paper 30 minutes.

These cookies with be such a fun hostess gift, by the way! Pack up a few and take 'em with you for your next weekend away :) xo Erin