Cinnamon Rolls

Um, sorry you can scarcely see them under all that delicious frosting!!!

So I've made lots and lots and lots of cinnamon rolls in my day. They were all vaguely terrible. Dry-ish and a little flavorless and they'd totally fall apart because of the spiral-roll shape (not in a good way). So when my friend Megan, one morning after we'd beaten ourselves to pieces with a Jillian Michaels workout, mentioned that her house happened to be full of freshly baked cinnamon rolls and would we like to come try one? I was like, "Um... is the Pope Catholic?" We HAD just worked out, after all. We'd earned those cinnamon rolls. Wow. Best. Cinnamon. Rolls. I-have-ever-tasted.

Luckily, she was kind enough to send me the recipe.

This one is from Beauty and Bedlam, but I halved it and adjusted some of the ingredients so they would be slightly less than nearly 600 calories per roll! (Yes, I did the calculations on that because I am a masochist.) This made 9 GIGANTIC cinnamon rolls, which were definitely more than enough for my family of 5... and we ate them all day long. Really I couldn't even finish half in one sitting.

INGREDIENTS

Dough

• (1) .25 oz. pks. active dry yeast
• 1/3 cups granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup melted butter 
• 1/2 cup 110 degree water (approximately)
• 1/2 cup warm milk (must be warm)
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 egg – slightly beaten
• 3 1/4-3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Filling

• 3 Tbsp. melted butter 
• 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 Tbls. ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cups chopped walnuts, pecans or raisins – (optional)

Frosting

• 4 oz. neufchatel or fat-free cream cheese
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• About 1 Tbsp. milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp almond extract (I just realized I accidentally doubled both extracts, but it was yummy! Reduce these amounts if you're scared.)
• 2 cups powdered sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

1. For bread machine: Add water, milk, melted butter, sugar, salt, egg, flour, and yeast to bread machine bowl, in that order. Set on "dough" setting. (I did this the night before so I could just wake up and roll them out in the morning.) Then jump to Step 6.
2. Without bread machine: In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 tsp. sugar in warm water; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, mix together milk, remaining sugar, 1/3 cup melted butter, salt, and egg; add yeast mixture and 2 cups of flour to mixture; beat until smooth; stir in enough flour to form a slightly stiff dough.
4. Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface and knead for 8 minutes.
5. Place dough into a large greased bowl, cover, and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
6. Punch down dough and let rest for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, mix together 3/4 cup sugar and cinnamon.
7. Roll dough out onto a floured surface into a 15″ X 10″ rectangle.
8. Brush 3 tablespoons melted butter over dough; sprinkle cinnamon sugar liberally over dough; sprinkle nuts evenly over dough, if desired.
9. Tightly roll up dough, starting from the shorter (10") side. Pinch edges together to seal. Cut the roll into 9 slices using dental floss or thread.
10. Grease a 9″ X 9″ X 2″ baking pan. (I will say I had to squeeze them into a pan this size, and it made for gargantuan towering rolls that were a bit doughy in the middle - because they were too big to cook through evenly. I thought they were good, but you might also experiment with different pan sizes and shapes - or different roll sizes!)
11. Place cinnamon roll slices close together in the prepared pan; cover pan and allow to rise in a warm place for about 45 minutes or until nearly doubled in size.
12. Bake rolls in a 350 degree oven for 25 – 30 minutes, or until golden brown.
13. For frosting, beat together cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and almond extract. Add milk, a little at a time, until frosting reaches desired consistency. Spread frosting on warm rolls and eat until you are stuffed.

Preparation time: 30 minute(s) (plus additional rise time)

Cooking time: 25 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 9 huge rolls

Peanut Butter Granola Bars

We were video chatting with my mom today, and the topic of granola bars came up (because we were eating them), and she asked if we ever made our own, like she used to when I was little. I said I wanted her recipe, and Kate said, "You can tell it to us, and we'll write it down!" So that's what we did. My mom read the recipe while Kate took notes. (She has had a lot of practice since her class had recently compiled a cookbook, and they have been working on writing recipes for weeks.) I thought her finished recipe card was so cute, especially with the little drawing of the granola bar at the bottom. It's quite true that no one likes to make a recipe without a picture of the finished product.

Peanut Butter "Granila" Bars

1 cup sugar
1 cup light Karo syrup
1-1/4 - 1-1/2 cups peanut butter
4 cups rolled oats
2 cups shredded coconut
1 cup raisins
Other optional ingredients: sunflower seeds, almonds, dates, rice krispies

1 - Combine sugar and corn syrup in a medium saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil for one minute. Remove from heat.
2 - Add peanut butter and stir until melted,
3 - Stir in remaining ingredients and knead until well blended (if adding chocolate in any form, wait until the mixture is nearly completely cooled).
4 - With well-buttered hands, press into a buttered cookie sheet.
5 - Let cool, then cut into bars, Wrap or store in an airtight container.

German Pancakes

6 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
½ teaspoon salt
5 Tablespoons butter

Whip eggs until thick and lemon-colored. Add milk, flour, and salt. Melt the butter in a bundt pan. Pour the batter on top of the melted butter. Bake at 450 degrees for 20-30 minutes. The pancake should almost reach the top of the bundt pan and be browned on top. Turn onto a plate, cut and serve with syrup. You can also make this in a 9 x 13 pan – bake for 15-20 minutes.

Crèpes

(I don’t really use a recipe so these measurements are all approximates. You may have to make some minor (major?) adjustments…)

2 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 cup milk
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
¼ cup sugar
Pinch of salt
¼ cup orange juice
Some flour (I really have no idea how much. 1 cup? Just sprinkle it in until it’s the right consistency)

Combine melted butter, milk, and eggs in a large bowl. (It’s better if the milk and eggs are close to room temp. so they don’t solidify the butter.) Beat on medium speed until well blended and slightly frothy. Add vanilla, sugar, salt and orange juice and beat again. With the beater going, start adding flour slowly, making sure there are no lumps, until it is thick enough. Pour onto heated pan and immediately rotate in a circle so the batter is thinly distributed. Cook over medium heat until light brown, then flip and give the other side another 30-60 seconds or so. The first one is never good to eat so it can be a practice one to get the consistency right! And then, um, just keep going until the batter is gone. Serve with whatever you like on crepes.

Crème Brule French Toast

This recipe is from my grandma, and it is amazing. Make it the night before for an easy yummy breakfast! Sorry, no pictures... maybe next time.

Crème Brule French Toast

Melt over moderate heat and stir constantly:
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp. corn syrup
Pour mixture into 9x13x2 pan.

Cut 1 baguette into 1 inch slices and put over sugar mixture, squeezing in tightly.

Whisk together:
5 eggs
1 ½ cup half-and-half
1 tsp. vanilla
¼ tsp. salt
Pour evenly over baguette slices.

Chill 3-24 hours. Bring to room temperature before baking. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes until puffed and golden at edges. Serve hot.

Creamy Caramel-Pecan Rolls

From my Better Homes & Gardens cookbook, 12th ed.

Prep: 25 min. Rise: 30 min. Bake: 20 min. Oven: 375° Makes: 24 rolls

1 ¼ cups sifted powdered sugar

1/3 cup whipping cream

1 cup coarsely chopped pecans

½ cup packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

2 16-oz. loaves frozen white bread dough or sweet roll dough, thawed

3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

¾ cup raisins (optional) – (I used chocolate chips instead!)

1. Grease two 9x1 ½-inch round baking pans; set pans aside. For topping, in a small bowl stir together powdered sugar and whipping cream; divide evenly between prepared baking pans. Sprinkle pecans evenly over sugar mixture.

2. In another small bowl stir together brown sugar and cinnamon; set aside. On a lightly floured surface, roll each loaf of dough into a 12x8-inch rectangle. Brush with melted butter; sprinkle with brown sugar-cinnamon mixture. If desired, sprinkle with raisins/chocolate chips.

3. Roll up each rectangle starting from a long side. Seal seams. Slice each roll into 12 pieces. Place pieces, cut sides down, on topping in pans.

4. Cover; let rise in a warm place until nearly double (about 30 min.). Break any surface bubbles with a greased toothpick.

5. Bake in a 375° oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown (if necessary, cover rolls with foil the last 10 minutes of baking to prevent over-browning). Cool in pans on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Carefully invert rolls onto a serving platter. Serve warm.