{recipe} Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

These are DELICIOUS! And now my go-to cinnamon roll recipe. They are also great for night-before prep. The best!

PUMPKIN CINNAMON ROLLS (GoodLifeEats)

DOUGH:
1/4 cup warm water (not hot, about 110 degrees)
1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
1/3 cup warm milk
1 large egg, beaten
3/4 cup pumpkin puree, either fresh or canned
1 tablespoon melted butter
2 cups (approximately) All-Purpose Flour
1 1 /4 cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour (I've made with regulary whole wheat flower and also all AP flour. Still good both ways.)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom (I've made these twice and didn't have cardamom either time. Still good.)

FILLING:
1 stick butter
2/3 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon each of allspice and ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cloves

In a large bowl, stir yeast into water to soften. Let rest for 5 minutes before stirring. Add milk, eggs, pumpkin, butter, 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cardamom to yeast mixture. Beat vigorously for 2 minutes.

Gradually add remaining flour (all purpose), a little at a time, until you have a dough stiff enough to knead. Start with about 1 1/2 cups and increase if necessary. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead, adding flour as necessary, until you have a smooth, elastic dough.

Put dough into an oiled bowl. Turn once to coat entire ball of dough with oil. Cover with a towel and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Combine the white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, nutmeg and cloves in a small bowl, set aside. Transfer the risen dough to a lightly greased work surface, and pat or roll it into a 16" x 12" rectangle. Spread softened butter over dough and then sprinkle with the sugar mixture.

Roll the dough into a log the long way; it'll stretch to about 20" long as you roll. Using a very sharp knife, slice the log into 15 slices. In order to cut down on drag, it helps to rinse the blade in hot water, and wipe it off, between slices. Place slices in a greased 9x13 inch baking pan (or in two 8 or 9 inch round cake or pie pans). Cover with a towel and let rise until almost doubled, about 45 minutes.

Bake in a preheated 375°F oven. Bake the rolls till they're brown around the edges and beginning to turn golden brown across the center, about 20-30 minutes. While rolls are baking, make cream-cheese frosting. Frost while still warm.

FOR NIGHT-BEFORE PREP: Prepare the rolls up to the point where you roll and place in the pan. Then, cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, remove the pan from the fridge and proceed with the instructions where you left off. Rising time may be slightly longer than noted in the recipe due to the dough being cold vs room temp. (This is how I've made the rolls both times. I take off the plastic wrap, cover with a towel, and place in an oven set to Warm. Works great!)

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:
4 ounces cream cheese
1 stick (4 ounces) butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon lemon juice
2 cups powdered sugar
While rolls bake, prepare the cream cheese frosting. Add the cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and lemon juice to a small food processor. Blend until smooth. Add the powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time, blending in between, until well mixed and desired consistency is reached.

*The original post on GoodLifeEats includes tips for baking with yeast, including how to know when your dough has fully risen to double-size.

{recipe} Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Weekly Test Recipes - week 43!

I made some Pumpkin Scones last week, and had to use up the rest of the pumpkin. Had this recipe bookmarked and it was perfect - between the two recipes I used exactly one can of pumpkin.

PUMPKIN CREAM CHEESE MUFFINS (Erin'sFoodFiles)

Muffins:
1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour (can use AP, I used wheat)
1 c. all purpose flour
1 c. white sugar
1 c. brown sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 1/3 c. canned pumpkin
1/3 c. olive oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Topping:
1 (8 oz) pkg. cream cheese
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 Tbsp. brown sugar

Steusel Topping:
4 1/2 Tbsp. white whole wheat flour (can use AP - I used half and half)
5 tsp. white sugar
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
3 tsp. butter
3 tsp. chopped pecans

*You will need all three layers ready at the time you fill the muffin pans*

For muffins:
In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Make a well in the center of flour mixture and add eggs, pumpkin, olive oil and vanilla. Beat together until smooth.

For cream cheese:
In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese until soft. Add egg, vanilla and brown sugar. Beat until smooth.

For streusel:
In a medium bowl, mix flour, sugar, cinnamon and pecans. Add butter and cut it in with a fork until crumbly.

TO ASSEMBLE:
Preheat oven to 375F*.

Fill greased or lined muffin tins 1/2 to 2/3 full with pumpkin batter.

Place tablespoon of cream cheese mixture on top, being careful not to let topping touch edges of liner.

Sprinkle streusel on top. Bake 375F for 20-25 minutes. Devour.

These are so yummy! I got 19 muffins out of the batter, but had extra cream cheese left over, and had to make more streusel for the last three muffins. They were highly praised at work, and are especially good with a cup of coffee or milk.

Rating: EXCELLENT!

{recipe} Blueberry Muffins

Weekly Test Recipes - week 36!

This recipe comes from Smitten Kitchen.  Check her out.  She cooks a lot of fancy things that I normally would think I'd never be able to make, but she makes it look really easy and provides detailed instructions.  She also adapts lots of recipes to make them simpler. 

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS (SmittenKitchen)

5 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
1/2 c. sugar
1 large egg
3/4 c. sour cream or plain yogurt
1/2 tsp. grated lemon zest
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 c. blueberries, fresh or frozen (don't defrost if frozen)

Combine butter and sugar with mixer until fluffy.  Add egg and beat well, then add sour cream and lemon zest.  Sift dry ingredients together and mix into batter just until flour disappears.  Gently fold in blueberries.  Preheat oven to 375* and grease muffin tins.  The batter is very thick, so use a couple spoons or an ice cream scoop to fill muffin cups 3/4 full.  I got 10 muffins out of this recipe. 

Bake 20-25 minutes until golden on top and toothpick comes out clean.  Insert knife around edges to release muffins, then cool on wire rack, or devour immediately.  I like mine cut in half with butter spread on the inside. 

I thought these were scrumptious; Tony thought they were missing something and needed to be a little sweeter.  I used sour cream because that's what I had on hand, so maybe that took away from the sweetness.  Another thing I liked was how high they got.  They were nice and tall and fluffy, not flat like other blueberry muffins I've made.  These rose nicely above the muffin tins.

Next time (and there will be a next time!) I'll use plain yogurt and see if they're a little sweeter.  Also, 3/4 c. blueberries seemed to be waaay too much when folding them in and when filling the muffin tins, but they came together nicely when baking.  These were really simple and took no time at all to stir together.  I think I'll go have another one!

Rating: EXCELLENT!

{recipe} Cinnamon Rolls

Weekly Test Recipes: week 33!

I have been searching for the best cinnamon roll recipe for a few months now.  I previously tried Overnight Cinnamon Rolls, and thought they were just okay (a bit dry for my taste).  I've read many people on various blogs raving about Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls, so I decided to try her recipe next.  CAUTION: her recipe, as posted below, makes A LOT of rolls....I made a 1/4 recipe and ended up with 16 smallish rolls.  Next time I'm going to make a 1/2 recipe and hopefully get bigger rolls.

CINNAMON ROLLS (Pioneer Woman)

DOUGH:
1 quart whole milk (I used 1%)
1 c. vegetable oil
1 c. sugar
2 packages active dry yeast (approx. 5 tsp.)
8 c. (plus 1 c. extra, separated) all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 scant tsp. baking soda
1 Tbsp. salt

FILLING:
4 Tbsp. melted butter
2 c. sugar (I prefer brown sugar)
gound cinnamon

Mix the milk, vegetable oil and sugar in a pan. Scald the mixture (heat until just before the boiling point). Turn off heat and leave to cool 45 minutes to 1 hour. When the mixture is lukewarm to warm, but NOT hot, sprinkle in yeast. Let sit for a minute, then add 8 cups of all-purpose flour. Stir until combined. Cover and let rise for at least an hour. After rising, add 1 more cup of flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir mixture together.

To prepare rolls: Sprinkle rolling surface generously with flour. Take half the dough and form a rough rectangle. Then roll the dough thin, maintaining a general rectangular shape. Drizzle melted butter over the dough.  Sprinkle 1 cup of sugar over the butter followed by a generous sprinkling of cinnamon. 

I suggest using probably twice as much cinnamon as you think you need.  Personal preferance though.  I like a strong cinnamon flavor.

Roll the dough in a neat line toward you, keeping tight.  Pinch the seam to seal it.  Cut the rolls approximately ¾ to 1 inch thick and lay them in greased 9x13 pan.

This makes me happy.

Let rise for 20 to 30 minutes, then bake at 375* degrees until light golden brown, about 15 minutes.

fresh outta the oven

FROSTING: (see PW's recipe for her maple frosting...I made regular old powdered sugar frosting a la the kind you make for frosting sugar cookies, simply because I couldn't find the maple flavoring required for the PW recipe.)

1 c. powdered sugar (to start; I always end up adding a bit more as I mix)
1 Tbsp. melted butter
1/4 c. milk
splash of vanilla

Mix all together, adding more powdered sugar if too runny and more milk if too dry.  Pour and spread over still-warm cinnamon rolls.  This recipe makes enough to cover the small batch I made.  It's a pretty forgiving recipe, so these proportions are guesstimated.  Fiddle around and taste-test until you find a combination you like.

Rating: EXCELLENT, especially if using brown sugar instead of granulated sugar in the filling

I brought these to work and completely forgot to take a picture before they were devoured - just one lonely little guy left!  He didn't last long ;)

{recipe} Smoothie with a Twist

Weekly Test Recipes - Week 26! (The year is half over - GASP!)

I've fallen away from my smoothie addiction in recent weeks.  But this week we had an abundance of fresh fruit in the fridge and needed to get rid of some of the strawberries before they went bad.  On a whim, I decided to throw in some extras and use up some veggies in the fridge as well.  Similar to V8 fruit juice.  It was so good and I couldn't even taste the veggies.

SMOOTHIE WITH A TWIST* (one serving)
6 oz. yogurt of choice (I used strawberry banana this time, but usually use vanilla. Peach is good too. Any kind really!)

splash of orange juice
splash of lemon juice
1 ripe banana, sliced (freeze it first to add thickness)
handful fresh strawberries (I used 6 medium ones)
3-4 chunks fresh pineapple
*5 baby carrots (gasp, I know!)
1 Tbsp. flax seed  (optional)

Place yogurt and juices in blender and blend until mixed.  Add other ingredients a little at a time, blending between additions, until mixed.  Serve immediately. (I ended up adding a few ice cubes to this smoothie to add thickness.  If you use frozen fruit, ice won't be necessary.)  I've heard of adding spinach to smoothies as well, and have such a recipe bookmarked to try in the near future.

{recipe} Creme Brulee French Toast

Test Recipes Week 17! (Can you believe we're already 1/3 of the way through 2010??)

Last week I was in the mood for some good breakfast food, so I did a trusty Allrecipes.com search.  Coincidently, French bread had also been the freebie item at the grocery store, so I decided french toast was the way to go.  I wanted something a little special, not regular egg/milk dipped french toast.  Here's what I decided on:

CREME BRULEE FRENCH TOAST (allrecipes.com)

1/2 c. unsalted butter
1 c. packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp. corn syrup
1 loaf French bread, sliced 1/2" to 1" thick
4 eggs
1 1/2 c. half-and-half (I used milk)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. brandy-based orange liqueur (such as Grand Marnier®) (I used 1 tsp triple sec and 1 tsp OJ instead)
1/4 tsp. salt

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Mix in brown sugar and corn syrup, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Pour into a 9x13 inch greased baking dish. Arrange bread in the baking dish in a single layer. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, half and half, vanilla extract, orange liqueur, and salt. Pour over the bread.  (At this point, I spooned a bunch of the milk mixture over each slice to make sure they were nice and soggy.  All the liquid had been soaked up in the morning, so this probably wouldn't have been necessary.) Cover and chill overnight. Remove the dish from the refrigerator, and bring to room temperature. Bake uncovered 35 to 40 minutes in the 350* oven, until puffed and lightly browned. (Can place under broiler for a couple minutes too at the end.  Some people in the comments mentioned flipping the slices halfway through baking...your call, I did not.)

This recipe was very sweet, very caramel-ly, very sticky, and VERY yummy!!  I rated it EXCELLENT.  Actually, the taste was pretty much just like a caramel roll/sticky bun, just a little less dense.  Although this french toast was really yummy, I probably will not make it very often because of the richness.  Honestly, I think I like regular plain french toast with maple syrup just as much, but this was a great change of pace.  It also reheated very well in the toaster oven, which made it an easy breakfast throughout the work week.  Do you ever eat Brinner (breakfast for dinner)?  I love brinner - especially pancakes and eggs - and the leftover french toast made excellent brinner a couple days later!