Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls

I've tried my fair share of cinnamon rolls over the years, and while most have been pretty good, they were time consuming or make like 80 cinnamon rolls (like I really need that many). This recipe claims to taste like Cinnabon cinnamon rolls, and while they were tasty and my favorite so far, there is something about someone else making your cinnamon rolls that makes them just that much tastier :) If you find that these are just too yummy to eat just one (and therefore add to your waistline) blame Destiny - I got this off her Facebook page!

Ingredients for rolls:

1 CUP WARM MILK (make sure it's warm - if it's too hot it will kill your yeast)

2 EGGS
1/3 CUP BUTTER
4 1/2 CUPS FLOUR
1/2 TEASPOON SALT
2/3 CUPS OF SUGAR
2 1/2 TEASPOONS QUICK RISING YEAST (I just used the yeast I got from Costco - and I don't know if it's quick rising but it worked for me)

For the filling:

1 CUP BROWN SUGAR

2 1/2 TABLESPOONS OF FRESH GRATED CINNAMON (um, I just used regular old cinnamon)
1/4 CUP OF BUTTER

For the frosting (I didn't think it made enough at first, but it ended up being perfect):

3 OUNCES CREAM CHEESE

1 1/2 CUPS OF CONFECTIONER SUGAR
1/4 CUP BUTTER
1/2 TEASPOON OF VANILLA
1/8 TEASPOON OF SALT


MIXING:


PREHEAT OVEN TO 400 DEGREE'S

Take your 1 cup of milk warmed to about 100 degrees and disolve the packet of yeast, mix well into the milk making sure there are no clumps in the bottom of the bowl or on the spoon. (Mine still had clumps even though I stirred forever)

In a large bowl mix together the flour,sugar,salt, butter and eggs. Add yeast mixture. Mix well and then knead the dough until well mixed and doesnt stick to your hands. Knead this into a large ball, Using your hands lightly dusted with flour place into a bowl with a drop of oil in the bottom of the bowl and cover in a warm location to allow to double in size. Once the dough has risen for about an hour you will remove it from the bowl and place on a lightly floured surface to roll out. Take your rolling pin and roll the dough out in the shape of a rectangle. Let this rest for approx. 10 minutes. While this is resting take the cinnamon that you have grated and combine in a bowl with the brownsugar and mix in well. Once you have done this, And your dough has rested take some butter and coat the dough with enough butter to make it even and slowly sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar mix all over the dough. Once you have done this you will want to roll the dough up and seal it with a little bit of water on a paint brush to allow the seam to stick during the baking process. After you have done this cut the roll into 1/2 inch sections and place on a baking sheet and allow to rise again until doubled again in size. About another 30 minutes should be enough time.

BAKING:


Finally the last step in this recipe is the baking and the frosting of the cinnamon buns. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do.

Bake the rolls in a preheated oven until golden brown about 15 minutes, While rolls are baking, Beat together the cream cheese and butter with the confectioner sugar and vanilla and salt. You will want to spread the frosting on the cinnamon buns as soon as they have cooled but just for a few minutes as the best time to add the frosting is while they are still warm and will disolve the frosting allowing it to soak into the cinnamon bun

Mine made about 24, and they all fit on a jelly roll pan. Happy eating. Oh, and did I mention these are completely healthy?? :)

Chicken and Dumplings

I was craving comfort food this past week. Not because I'm pregnant (because I'm not!) but because I was cold and sick and didn't really want to make chicken soup... again. So this time I looked up chicken and dumpings on some websites and decided on Sisters Cafe. Celeste jokes that I'm their biggest fan, but I think their recipes are super easy and usually pretty tasty. This recipe is really easy, uses things you would usually have on hand, and was really yummy. I threw it together in no time and my family really liked it. I would have liked to see some veggies in the actual dish, so next time I might add some frozen peas and carrots to it.

Chicken and Dumplings

3 c. cooked chicken, cut into large pieces (I cooked mine with salt, pepper, and garlic powder)

½ c. unsalted butter

1/3 c. flour
½ tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
3 c. chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup (98% fat free variety works great)

Dumplings:
2 c. flour
3 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp celery seed
¼ c. oil
1 c. milk

Blend butter, flour, salt and pepper in saucepan (I used the same pan as I cooked the chicken in for more flavor). Add chicken broth and cook until thick. Stir in cream of chicken soup and add cooked chicken. Put in a 9x13 pan. To prepare dumplings, mix all ingredients together and stir until moistened. Drop rounded spoonfuls onto chicken and gravy. Bake at 425° for 20-25 minutes.



Easy Tangy Ranch Chicken

A lot of my favorite recipes have come not from the internet or from a friend, but from the back of a bottle. Have you ever seen the recipes on the back of your ranch bottle? Or on your corn meal box? I got this recipe on the back of my French's mustard bottle, and it sounded easy and yummy and cheap to make. And it was all three! My family ate is up, including my picky children and my husband, who claimed, prior to eating this, that he was tired of chicken. But even he said this was a keeper. The best part about this recipe is that you can cook it up and eat it as a main dish, or cut them up, toss them with the reserved sauce, and use it in a salad or a sandwich. And I bet you all have the ingredients on hand! Sorry for the lack of a picture. I'll add one next time I make it. Or you all can add one if you make it!

2/3 cup ranch dressing
1/3 cup mustard
1/4 cup brown sugar
4 small chicken breasts

Mix dressing, mustard, and brown sugar. Marinade chicken in 2/3 cup sauce in the fridge for 30 minutes. Grill or cook on the stovetop until cooked through. Serve with remaining sauce (which is so good, like a honey mustard sort of). Enjoy!

Chocolate marshmallow cookies

I went to a cookie party last night and made these yummy concoctions. They are sooo moist, gooey and chocolatlie, you can’t go wrong! I wish I would have thought to sprinkle crushed candy cane on top to make them festive!

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup milk
1 3/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup cocoa

1 package large marshmallows

Blend butter and sugar. Add egg, vanilla, milk and remaining ingredients, leaving out marshmallows. Scoop out cookies with mini ice cream scoop. Bake at 350 degrees for 5-7 minutes. Remove from oven.

Cut marshmallows into thirds. Push a third of a marshmallow into the center of each cookie. Bake for 2 more minutes. Let cool and frost. Makes just shy of 2 dozen with a pampered chef med. Scoop!

*frosting*

2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons milk

3 tablespoons cocoa

3 tablespoons melted butter

Whisk all ingredients together until smooth.

IHOP French Toast and Coconut Syrup

I found this gem on the Sisters Cafe site and had to try it. I bought a loaf of French bread at the store and happened to have everything else on hand. It was super yummy! My family ate it up and the syrup is oddly addicting and seriously delicious. It's a really light coconut flavor too. The website mentioned that if you don't like coconut, you can substitute vanilla extract instead. Oh, and I doubled the recipe and it was a perfect amount for a whole French bread loaf, cut thick (about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch is what I did).

(Photo courtesy The Sisters Cafe)

IHOP French Toast

2 eggs

½ c. milk
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
3 Tbsp. flour
6 slices of thick sliced French bread

First beat eggs, then add remaining ingredients with electric mixer. Dip both sides of bread and place in hot buttered pan. Flip over when browned. Serve with Coconut Syrup.

Coconut Syrup

7-8 T. butter
¾ c. buttermilk
1 c. sugar
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp coconut extract (or you can substitute vanilla, but I love the coconut!)

Place butter, buttermilk and sugar in a pot. Then turn stove on medium and stir until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil and boil one minute. Remove from heat and add soda and flavoring. It will bubble up; just continue to stir and give it a few minutes for the 'fizz' to reduce before serving.

Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup

What? We have a recipe blog??



Silly me, I almost forgot! It's been that long!



However, I made this soup, which I got from the Sister's Cafe website, and after tasting just one tiny little bite, I knew I'd be posting this. It's just that good. And easy. And good.

Tomato, Basil, and Parmesan Soup

2 (14oz) cans diced tomatoes, with juice

1 cup finely diced celery

1 cup finely diced carrots

4 cups chicken broth

1 cup finely diced onions

1 bay leaf

1 tsp dried or 1 Tbsp fresh oregano

1 Tbsp dried or 1/4 cup fresh basil

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup flour

1 cup Parmesan cheese (like the Kraft stuff)

2 cups half and half, warmed

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

In a large slow cooker, combine tomatoes, celery, carrots, chicken broth, onions, bay leaf, oregano, and basil (if using fresh oregano and basil; if using dried oregano and basil, add those two ingredients in the last hour of cooking - I used fresh basil and dried oregano). Cover and cook on low for 5 to 7 hours, until the flavors are blended and vegetables are soft.

**Sister's Cafe website suggests using a food processor to finely dice all the vegetables. After dicing them by hand, I'd have to suggest the food processor too. Mine just weren't small enough!

About an hour before serving prepare a roux: Melt butter over low heat in a skillet and add flour; stir constantly with a whisk for 5 to 7 minutes. Slowly stir in one cup hot soup from the slow cooker. Add another 3 cups of soup and stir until smooth.

Add all back into the slow cooker. Stir and add the Parmesan cheese, warmed half and half, salt, and pepper (and dried basil and/or oregano, if not using fresh). Cover and cook on low for another hour until ready to serve. Garnish with Parmesan cheese and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Rosemary Potatoes

These potatoes are a perfect side to just about any dish and look fantastic. Okay, they taste great as well. My favorite thing about these potatoes though, is that they are sooooo easy and yet everyone thinks you were cooking all day! I decided to cook these with 20 minutes until dinner was served and had plenty of time! I love the microwave method and have switched up the spices many times...so good and so easy it is a new favorite. Hope you cook it up and fool your hubbies soon :)

Rosemary Potatoes

6 small red skinned potatoes, cleaned but not peeled
2T. extra virgin olive oil
1 t. chopped fresh rosemary (1/2 t. if using dried rosemary)
1/4 t. salt
1/8 t. black pepper

Pierce each potatoes a few times with a fork. Place the potatoes, in a single layer, in a microwave safe baking dish and cover with plastic wrap. Microwave on high until the potatoes are about half tender, about 5 minutes. Carefully remove the plastic wrap, it releases all the steam! Let the potatoes cool and cut them lengthwise into quarters.

Heat the oil and rosemary in a large skillet over med-high heat until the oil is hot. Add the potatoes. Cook, stirring occasionally, until crispy and golden brown, about 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve hot!

Homemade Rolls

I can't take credit for this recipe. I actually can't take credit for any of my recipes. This recipe comes from my good friend Rachel. When we lived in Cleveland, Rachel taught me a little about bread making and I've been making these rolls (and her cinnamon rolls!) ever since. If you want to make wheat rolls, use half whole wheat flour in place of the white flour. I've never done that, but either way they are delicious.



NOTE: Use the timer because this has to be exact.

4 cups whole milk warmed in microwave on high for 3 minutes. Should be luke warm to touch. (Mine is usually luke warm after 2 minutes so just warm it until the milk is luke warm)

1/4 cup yeast

1 cup sugar

**Sprinkle the yeast over the milk and the sugar over the yeast. Let sit for exactly ten minutes.

Then add 4 eggs and 5 cups flour, Beat for five minutes. Let stand for 20 minutes (covered)

Then add 1 cup vegetable or canola oil, 1 Tbsp salt, and 7 cups flour ( I would add 6 1/2 the first time you make them because you will probably use a lot of flour to roll them out and also you will most likely handle the dough more than you will when you are used to the recipe). Mix until well blended. Add 1 stick of butter (room temp). Beat for five minutes. Let rise for 30 minutes (covered). Dough will rise above bowl so keep wax paper or another non-stick cover loosely on bowl. Dump out dough on well floured large surface. Separate into three lumps. Roll each lump into pizza rounds. Then use a pizza cutter and cut as you would a pizza. Then start on the outside edge and roll in towards the middle making crescent shaped rolls. Place on a greased cookie sheet. Cover very loosely (I cover mine with saran wrap sprayed with PAM and just lookely place it on top of the rolls) and let rise until double again (about 1 hour). Cook at 350 for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

You can brush them with butter while they are still hot to make them really moist. I always do this and use salted butter since it gives them more flavor.

Plan about 3-4 hours total time for these to be done. This recipe makes tons of rolls so after you bake them, let them cool completely and then stick as many as you can (still stuck together. if they are stuck together from baking) in a large ziplock bag and freeze in the freezer. To defrost bags, just place on your counter in the morning, they should be defrosted in 1-2 hours. Or you can microwave for 15 seconds.

This is what it looked like after it has been rising for almost an hour. It actually got even bigger and started to spill over the side.

The three rounds you make after the dough has risen for an hour.

Roll each ball into a circle, not paper thin but not too thick.

Cut each with a pizza cutter. I usually cut into eighths, and then cut each of those "slices" into three triangles, so each round will make about 24 rolls (about 70-75 each batch). Some of yours will be smaller and some bigger, it doesn't matter if they are the same size.

Roll them up and place them on a sprayed cookie sheet. I counted how many cookie sheets I own. Eleven. You can also place yours closer together so they "stick" together once they double and are baked. I think it makes them not as dry if you let them stick together, I just don't usually think about it when I'm making them.

Yummy. My kids could eat these unbaked. Don't worry though, we definitely make them wait. They just end up eating three each straight out of the oven!

After they've doubled in size. My kids "helped" me roll them up so some are a little funktified, but they all turn out in the end.

Fresh out of the oven. Mine don't stick together like Rachel's do. If I put in one more row of rolls they would, but I think no matter what these are yummy!

Out of the oven and being smothered with love... I mean, butter. Same thing.