Christmas Cookies- not healthy

Friday's events are still on all of our minds. It's hard to think about moving on with normal life when so many are left shattered. I keep going back and forth between feeling so sad and not wanting to do anything to thinking we need to live and be happy for the sake of those lives lost and to celebrate the life that is still here. So many have said much more eloquent things but I felt like I wanted to say something, and not just ignore what is going on. Below is the post I wrote last week that was scheduled for today.

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One of the awesome things about blogging is you meet all these wonderful people, and sometimes if you are lucky, those people actually live near you! Such is the case with Tracy of Sugarcrafter, and Sarah of A Dash and Pinch. Sarah lives literally a mile from my house, and Tracy is just on the other side of town!


We decided to meet up and get our cookie making skills on! But first there was copious amounts of bread, meats and cheeses... and don't forget the marshmallow vodka to go in our hot chocolates *drool*.


Once we had our fill of chitchat and carbs we got into some hard core baking! I had just seen this recipe over at Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice and knew I had to make it. No way John would eat these butter balls so making them for a cookie exchange was the best idea out there. These things are delicious! I brought some in for my boss and he basically went through them like potato chips, kinda impressive, and scary, all at the same time.



Another great thing about baking with other bloggers is they take awesome action shots of you baking.


Thanks Sarah! So pretty!

Sarah made Chanukah Oreo Balls. So festive! Tracy made these polish/hungarian deliciousness things who's name I forget... filled with her very own delicious jam to boot! Amazing!!

Do you live near other bloggers? Ever done a meet up? What's your favorite go to cookie recipe for an exchange?



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Paying for taxes with Cookies

Yup, that's what John and I do! A good friend does them for us, his price, home made cookies. This year I asked him what kinda and he requested German Cinnamon Twists (hence my post Friday asking for a recipe). I did get a great suggestion but already had the dough rising on Saturday at that point, so there was no turning back. This recipe comes from a yeast package from the 60s. That must mean they will be good right?

RIGHT!! Sure these things have 2 sticks of butter, a cup of sugar, and a cup of sour cream... there is nothing at all healthy about them, but they ARE delicious :) As for our friend he said he had them for dinner that night and breakfast the next day and that they were perfect! Score!

If you are looking for a decadent, delicious cinnamon twist, look no further.



Sour Cream Twists
Fleischmann’s Yeast Booklet (1961) (found via Pragmatic Attic)

These cookies are yeast risen and given turns like puff pastry, only cinnamon sugar is sprinkled over the dough instead of spreading it with butter. (There's two sticks of butter in the dough though... so don't worry my butter loving friends)

Makes 4-5 dozen

Dissolve 1 pkg. yeast (2 1/4 tsp.) in 1/4 warm water
Combine the following ingredients to make a dough, then mix in the dissolved yeast, and beat the batter until it is smooth: (I used a kitchen aid for this part)
4 C. sifted flour
1 C. margarine (I cut unsalted butter into the flour)
1 C. sour cream (I used reduced fat sour cream)
2 eggs
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla

Cover dough and let rise in fridge for 2 hours to 2 days. (my dough was very sticky but don't worry all the sugar you roll it out with makes it the perfect consistency later)

Mix together 1 C. sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon (I used 2 tsp) and sprinkle some over counter or pastry board.

Roll dough over cinnamon sugar into 15″x18″ rectangle. Turn over to coat both sides in sugar. Fold into thirds, like a letter. Roll 1/4″ thick, using rest of sugar. Cut into 1″x4″ strips. Twist and place on greased sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.

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Cinnamon Raisin Tea Cake

Don't forget to enter my giveaway here!

This was one of those recipes where I saw a picture over on Kari's blog... emailed her for the recipe... and made it that same night! And I was sooo sooo glad I did! Yes, there are two, one hour rises required... but you know what... I still started making it at 6pm on a weeknight, and it was WORTH it!

Ta-da!! This is a combo of a recipe her grandma made and another she found online (the main takeaway is she subbed the white sugar in the bread her grandma made for honey, creating a moist, NOT DRY, tea cake) Although I guess the point of tea cake is it's dry and you dunk it in tea... but who's counting! Of course I can't leave well enough alone so I subbed in 1/2 whole wheat flour, and 1/2 bread flour. I also used smartbalance instead of the butter, since again, that's what I had on hand. Oh and I only made 1/2 the recipe... which is what I'll write up below, it makes 1 cake instead of 2... I didn't need 2 tasty cakes sitting around, that's just asking for trouble!

Go make this... tonight... it's worth it... and eating it warm you don't even need the icing. YUM.

Tasty Cinnamon Tea Cake
recipe by Kari's Grandma, with a little tweaking by Kari, and then a little more by me

Ingredients:
Dough
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup smart balance
1-pkg active yeast dissolved in 1/4 cup warm water
1 cup whole wheat flour
about 1 cup bread flour (man need more when kneading)
1 large egg

Filling (sprinkle till it looks good)
Cinnamon
Succanat (she used white sugar)
Raisins

Icing
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp water

Instructions:
Combine the yeast and warm water until it looks creamy and let sit for 10 minutes.

While you're waiting for the yeast, combine the milk, butter(smart balance), egg, and honey in a separate bowl. Add to yeast mixture and slowly stir in 1 cup whole wheat flour, slowly add the 1 cup bread flour, 1/2 cup at a time.

Place dough on a lightly floured surface and kneed for around 8 minutes adding flour as necessary.

Place dough in a floured bowl and cover with a damp towel, placing in a warm dry place to rise for about an hour. I like to microwave a rice filled heating pad for one minute and then place the bowl on top of it in the microwave, it keeps it nice and warm :) (don't microwave the dough... just the pad...)

Take the dough and punch it down. On a floured surface, roll out. Cover in sugar, cinnamon, and raisins. Kari's grandma used to tell her to, "give it a dirty face," when she wasn't putting on enough cinnamon.

Then roll the dough and form into a circle. Place the dough in a greased cake pan. Using a sharp knife or kitchen shears, make cuts every inch or so along the circle, cutting only 3/4 of the way through. Twist each section slightly so that the rolls fan out.

Cover with a damp cloth and place in a warm dry place to rise for another hour.

Preheat your oven to 375. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden. Remove to a cooling rack.

After your tea ring is cooled, you can ice them. Simply mix all of the icing ingredients and drizzle it on your ring.

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Pull Apart Loaf

The smell of yeast and cinnamon filled the house while I was making this bread. I think people should stop buying air fresheners and just start baking bread at home. There is nothing compared to this smell out there. PLUS you get to eat tasty bread at the end of it... can't say that about an air freshener!


You start with a yeast based dough and roll it out thin. 1 Tbs melted butter or oil brushed on top, along with 1/3 cup sucanat and 2 Tbs cinnamon.


Slice into long strips and stack them up. This part was the hardest part... sucanat was falling all over the place, but I think it still turned out looking pretty awesome.


Slice your long strip into sections and stack them into a loaf pan. Let rise 30 minutes, then bake for 30. Unmold, and have fun pulling the pieces apart and enjoying! I felt like this needed some icing to make it more dessert like... but if you are having this as a more breakfast treat it's perfect as is.

*drool*

I followed along with this recipe via Naturally Ella. I didn't have almond oil or milk on hand though so I used melted butter and fat free milk (making these not vegan) but since everyone at the party was a carnivore I wasn't worried :) I also made this in a loaf pan whereas she used a jumbo muffin tin for individual serving sizes.


Cinnamon Fantails
By: Naturally Ella

Ingredients

* 3/4 cup almond milk
* 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
* 1 tablespoon maple syrup
* 2 tablespoons almond oil
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 tablespoons ground flax seed
* 6 tablespoons warm water
* 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or regular whole wheat flour)
* 1/2-1 cup unbleached all purpose flour (I ended up adding 1.5 cups)

Filling

* 1 tablespoon almond oil
* 1/3 cup sucanat
* 2 tablespoons cinnamon

Directions

* In a small bowl combine ground flax seed and water, set aside. Heat almond milk (either in a sauce pan or microwave)- don't let it get too hot (I zapped mine in the microwave for about a minute.)
* In a stand mixer bowl, add milk, yeast, and sugar. Let sit for about five minutes or until yeast activates. Add in oil, flax seed mixture, salt, and the wheat flour. Give a good stir with a spoon and then turn on the mixer with the dough hook. Begin adding the all-purpose flour 1/4 cup at a time, letting it mix in before adding more. You want your dough to be soft (but not sticky) and the key to that is adding just enough flour so that it pulls away from the sides of the bowl but may still slightly stick to the bottom and letting it knead for 5-8 minutes.
* Once the dough is here, scoop out of the bowl, form into a ball, place back in the bowl, brush it with a oil, and let it sit in a warm, draft free spot for 1- 1 1/2 hours.
* Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and roll out into a 8 by 12 rectangle. Brush oil over surface and sprinkle with sucanat and cinnamon. Cut the dough into 6 strips (cutting the shorter of the length-it's easier to handle.) Stack the strips on top of each other and cutting downward, cut 6 pieces for jumbo muffin tins or 8-10 for regular size muffin tins. Brush muffin tins with oil and place each piece in the tin. Cover and let rise again.
* After about a half hour of rising, pre-heat your oven to 350˚. Once rolls have risen and oven is up to temperature, bake for 15-20 minutes. Fantails should be firm to the touch and golden brown. Remove from oven and eat warm! You can also add your favorite icing but these were delicious even without the extra sugar!

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Cinnamon Roll MUFFINS

Shall I continue the muffin obsession? Yes I think I shall... And since you asked so nicely on Friday for these... Here you go!


The recipe comes via Fat Free Vegan (awesome site, go check it out!). I adapted it slightly... so the one below is my version of it. I made a batch of these for Mothers Day brunch, between John myself and his parents... they were all gone by the end of brunch... so I made up another batch later in the day :) In that batch I subbed a ripe banana for the pumpkin (since I had no pumpkin left...) and had a really good banana-y cinnamon roll muffin YUM!


Cinnamon Swirl Muffins
(adapted from Fat Free Vegan)

1 cup unbleached flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (also made a version with a medium mashed ripe banana)
1 cup soy milk (or other non-dairy milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup splenda granulated (or use 1/2 cup agave nectar like she does)

4 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray muffin tin with non-stick spray. (I find it best not to use paper liners--the muffins will stick to them.)

Mix together dry ingredients (flour through flax seeds) in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, mix wet ingredients (pumpkin through splenda). In an even smaller bowl, mix the sugar and cinnamon.

Pour the wet mixture into the flour mixture and stir just until thoroughly moistened. Do not beat or overmix. Spoon about 1 heaping tablespoon of batter into each muffin cup. Sprinkle each half-full muffin with 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon sugar and fill with remaining batter. Sprinkle remaining cinnamon sugar over each muffin. Take a toothpick or thin knife, insert it into the batter and swirl gently.

Bake for 17-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool for a few minutes before serving.

If you make them this way here are the stats:

Pumpkin with a Passion

Can one really ever have too many pumpkin cinnamon rolls? Yes, probably... oh well, I made these again, and they are just too darn tasty and pretty not to talk about :) This time I added hazelnuts to the filling and sprinkled some on top... Totally a good idea :)

Did you say VEGAN cinnamon rolls?

Yes I know I've posted about these before... but they are just SO good!! And I keep playing with the recipe so... I had to post again! Plus now you can make a vegan version! AND instead of using flour to cover your working surface I used powdered sugar and eliminated the sugar from the dough! I know fun idea right? It gives them a sweeter taste and makes it so you don't have to add more flour to the dough.


Vegan Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
Servings: 8

These cinnamon rolls are an adaptation/abstraction based on a recipe from the cook book Quick Recipes which was put together by the people at Cook's Illustrated.

Filling / topping
1/4 c packed splenda blend brown sugar (or 1/2 c packed dark brown sugar)
2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 c pumpkin puree

Dough
2-1/2 c whole wheat flour
1-1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 c lactaid (fat free) (you can use regular fat free milk if you don't care if these are vegan, it works) (so just realized lactaid isn't vegan... I'll have to try again with soymilk! sorry about that!)
2 T melted smart balance ( 2 Tbs butter also works )
powdered sugar for work surface

Heat oven to 425 degrees.

Spray a 9-inch round non stick cake pan (or in my case a square one)

Make filling
Combine sugar, spices and salt. Add pumpkin puree and stir until combined, set aside

Make dough
Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. whisk lactaid and 2 Tbs melted smart balance in a measuring cup or small bowl. Add liquid to dry ingredients and stir until liquid is absorbed (dough will look very shaggy). Transfer dough to lightly floured (with powdered sugar!) work surface and knead until just smooth and no longer shaggy.

Pat dough with hands into 12 x 9- inch rectangle. Sprinkle evenly with filling, leaving 1/2 inch boarder of plain dough around edges. Press filling firmly into dough.

Using bench scraper (i used a plastic spackle spatula that we bought at home depot and never used... I claimed it for the kitchen... John wasn't too pleased hahahaha), loosen dough from work surface. Starting at a long side, roll dough, pressing lightly, to form a tight log. Pinch seam to seal.

Roll log seam side down and cut evenly into eight pieces. With hand, slightly flatten each piece of dough to seal open edges and keep filling in place.

in the pan before they get slathered with more pumpkin

Place one roll in center of pan, then place remaining seven rolls around perimeter of pan. They should touch, but not be crammed. Using the remainder of the filling, spread to cover the top of the rolls.

Bake until edges are golden brown, 23 to 25 minutes. Loosen with a spatula. without separating, slide buns out of pan onto greased cooling rack. Cool about 5 minutes before chowing, otherwise you'll burn yourself... i would know :)

chow!

Pumpkin cinnamon rolls with hazelnut cream cheese

So I made these pumpkin cinnamon rolls a little while back and everyone went nuts over them, they are one of my most visited recipe pages! (I need to add it to the readers favorites list in the right column) Anyway I had wanted to make them again except roll the dough out thinner and double the filling... so I did, and then we spread hazelnut cream cheese on top.... AMAZING!!!

Here's the new fangled version of the recipe!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
Servings: 8

These cinnamon rolls are an adaptation/abstraction based on a recipe from the cook book Quick Recipes which was put together by the people at Cook's Illustrated.

Filling
1/2 c packed splenda blend brown sugar (1 c packed dark brown sugar)
3 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 c pumpkin puree

Dough
2-1/2 c whole wheat flour
1 T splenda baking blend (2 T granulated sugar)
1-1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1-1/4 c buttermilk
2 T melted butter
1 T melted butter (to drizzle on top)

Icing
I used hazelnut cream cheese from Panera... YUM!


Heat oven to 425 degrees.

Spray a 9-inch round non stick cake pan (I used a silicon cake pan and it worked great, no spray needed)

Make filling
Combine sugars, spices and salt. Add pumpkin puree and stir until combined, set aside

Make dough
Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. whisk buttermilk and 2 Tbs melted butter in measuring cup or small bowl. Add liquid to dry ingredients and stir until liquid is absorbed (dough will look very shaggy). Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface and knead until just smooth and no longer shaggy.

Pat dough with hands into 12 x 12- inch square. Sprinkle evenly with filling, leaving 1/2 inch boarder of plain dough around edges. Press filling firmly into dough.

Using bench scraper (i used a plastic spackle spatula that we bought at home depot and never used... I claimed it for the kitchen... John wasn't too pleased hahahaha), loosed dough from work surface. Starting at a long side, roll dough, pressing lightly, to form a tight log. Pinch seam to seal.

Roll log seam side down and cut evenly into eight pieces. With hand, slightly flatten each piece of dough to seal open edges and keep filling in place.

Place one roll in center of pan, then place remaining seven rolls around perimeter of pan. They should touch, but not be crammed. Drizzle with 1 Tbs of melted butter.

Bake until edges are golden brown, 23 to 25 minutes. Loosen with a spatula. without separating, slide buns out of pan onto greased cooling rack. Cool about 5 minutes before icing.

CHOW!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

Cinnamon Rolls that are Ewwwey Gooey... and healthy?? wait what? really? can it be?

yes, yes it can... read on to find out how :) Oh and did I mention they are totally super easy to make??? awesome.

John's mom has been hinting to him that she misses getting to eat my various baking creations. *guess it's been a bit since I've brought something over... woops!* so this past weekend I figured it was time to whip something up for his mom and pops. She had made mention at one point that she likes cinnamon rolls, so I decided to give them a try... why is it I always try out recipes on his parents?? I've been lucky to not have any bombs yet haha.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
Servings: 8

These cinnamon rolls are an adaptation/abstraction based on a recipe from the cook book Quick Recipes which was put together by the people at Cook's Illustrated.

Filling
1/4 c packed splenda blend brown sugar (1/2 c packed dark brown sugar)
2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 c pumpkin puree

Dough
2-1/2 c whole wheat flour
1 T splenda baking blend (2 T granulated sugar)
1-1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1-1/4 c buttermilk
2 T melted butter
1 T melted butter (to drizzle on top)

Icing (I made 1/2 of the icing to put on top instead of the whole thing)
2 T cream cheese, softened
1 T buttermilk
1 c powdered sugar


Heat oven to 425 degrees.

Spray a 9-inch round non stick cake pan (I used a silicon cake pan and it worked great, no spray needed)

Make filling
Combine sugars, spices and salt. Add pumpkin puree and stir until combined, set aside

Make dough
Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. whisk buttermilk and 2 Tbs melted butter in measuring cup or small bowl. Add liquid to dry ingredients and stir until liquid is absorbed (dough will look very shaggy). Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface and knead until just smooth and no longer shaggy.

Pat dough with hands into 12 x 9- inch rectangle. Sprinkle evenly with filling, leaving 1/2 inch boarder of plain dough around edges. Press filling firmly into dough.

Using bench scraper (i used a plastic spackle spatula that we bought at home depot and never used... I claimed it for the kitchen... John wasn't too pleased hahahaha), loosed dough from work surface. Starting at a long side, roll dough, pressing lightly, to form a tight log. Pinch seam to seal.

Roll log seam side down and cut evenly into eight pieces. With hand, slightly flatten each piece of dough to seal open edges and keep filling in place.

Place one roll in center of pan, then place remaining seven rolls around perimeter of pan. They should touch, but not be crammed. Drizzle with 1 Tbs of melted butter.

Bake until edges are golden brown, 23 to 25 minutes. Loosen with a spatula. without separating, slide buns out of pan onto greased cooling rack. Cool about 5 minutes before icing.
Making icing and finish
Set rack of rolls over foil-lined baking sheet (for easier clean-up). whisk cream cheese and 1 Tbs of buttermilk in large bowl until thick and smooth. sift powdered sugar over. whisk until smooth glaze forms - add up to 1 additional Tbs of buttermilk if too thick. spoon glaze evenly over the buns. Serve warm, they dry out a bit after they cool, so eat them all up warm! :)

Next time I think I would double the filling and roll the dough out thinner so I got more spirals :)

chow!