Jelly Cookies and Valentine’s Day

February 11th, 2011
Raspberry Jelly Cookie

Sugar Cookie, Raspberry Jelly and another Sugar Cookie. Doesn't get much better.

It’s February! And I haven’t posted in a very long time. That’s not to say I haven’t been baking. I figured with Valentine’s Day around the corner I’d post one of my favorite cookie recipes. This cookie is loved for sure. Always a big hit and referred to as simply “Dad’s Favorite” by my mother. They’re white and pink and can even be cut out into heart or cupid shapes. This recipe has been likened to Manna from Heaven and Angel Wings. I’d say it’s the perfect cookie for the occasion.

So VDay. It’s coming up. Next week even. Are you ready? Are you as excited as I am? I don’t even have plans and I’m excited for it. I love Valentine’s Day. I don’t care if it was created by greeting card companies, I don’t care if it’s cheesy. In fact, I kind of love the cheesy factor. I love the red, pink and white. The crazy amounts of hearts and cupids. It’s just so dang cheerful. I probably shouldn’t like it as much as I do. I’ve never had a legit Valentine. While I DID, however, receive a kick-ass Ninja Turtles Valentine card in the mail a couple years ago, I’ve never had an actual date/card/gift/boyfriend-style Valentine’s Day. That’s not a complaint or invitation to a pity party. Just a fact. Stated. Just hasn’t ever worked out that way.

I feel society says I should be sitting at home this year with a pint of Ben and Jerry’s and Soft Rock. I should be grouchy and complaining about men. I should be disgruntled with a hardened heart and a bad attitude. Not the case. Instead, I’ve created a habit over the years of showering my friends with VDay goodness. I love my friends, I love making stuff and I love baking. Just kind of works out. My freshman year of college I made little cards with male underwear models on one side and a lame poem on the other for my fellow single girlfriends. Another year I made pop-up cards for my friends, male and female alike. Last year I actually sent out cookie care packages to a couple best friends and even a friend’s mom! I treat myself to an annual and amazing homemade dinner and some years I’ve even thrown dinner parties. I make Valentine’s Day playlists every year, chock full of Diana Ross and cheerful music. It’s just how I roll.

So without further ado I give you the recipe for cut-out Raspberry Jelly Sandwich Cookies. Consider it my Valentine’s gift to you. And who knows. Someday, I’ll have myself the man of my dreams and he’ll be the one on the receiving end of homemade cookies, pot roast and make-out sessions while watching Jurassic Park, Princess Bride or Star Wars (What can I say, I dream big). Until then, make these for your significant other. You won’t regret it and neither will he (or she).

Jelly Sandwich Cookies

Try cutting these out with a heart shaped cookie cutter. They'll be delicious, festive AND adorable!

Raspberry Jelly Cookies

Makes 24 cookies.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 c. shortening
  • 1/2 c. butter, softened
  • 1 c. sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp.baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 3 1/4 c. flour plus more for rolling out
  • 1 jar raspberry preserves (or fruit filling of your choice)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400º and line a few cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda, stir a bit with a fork to evenly mix.

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or you can do this with a handheld mixer, whichever), add in the butter, shortening and sugar. Mix on low until all three are just starting to incorporate then increase the speed to medium and cream the butter/shortening/sugar. It should look light and fluffy. Cloud-like, really.

Add in the eggs and vanilla and mix on low speed until evenly combined.

Add in the dry ingredients and mix until a soft dough forms. If it’s too sticky, add in a little flour, but not too much or it will dry out when it’s time to roll them.

It helps at this stage to form the dough into a ball, wrap in saran wrap and put it in the fridge for a half hour to firm up a little. It will just make it a bit easier to roll out.

Take a bit of flour and dust the counter top. Take a handful of the dough (I like to roll out a small bit at a time, keeps the dough from drying out too fast) and turn it onto the floured surface. Flour your rolling pin and roll out the dough to a rectangular-ish shape, about 1/8” thick. For crispier cookies, roll them thinner, for softer cookies, roll them out thicker. They don’t rise really so whatever thickness they are is about where they’ll stay.

Using a cookie cutter (preferably something round since they’ll be filled, but you could use a star, heart, snowflake. Really whatever suits your fancy or what you have on hand). Using a spatula, transfer the cookies to a cookie sheet. You’ll need to repeat this several times until you have used up about half of the dough.

Once you have about 6-8 cookies on each sheet, spoon about a teaspoon of jelly on the center of each cookie. These are the bottom cookies. Repeat the last step, rolling and cutting out the top layers. Gently press a top cookie onto each bottom cookie, lightly pressing the sides down to seal.

Bake the cookies for about 10-12 minutes or until just golden on the edges. If you have a small oven or one that’s older or cooks unevenly, you might want to switch pans and oven racks about halfway through.

Transfer to wire cooling racks. Enjoy!

Posted in Cookies, Dessert | No Comments »

Biscuits and Molasses

October 31st, 2010
Biscuits and Molasses

These flour biscuits are a delicious, comforting, cold-weather treat.

If you’re looking for a golden, light and fluffy, Southern-style buttermilk biscuit, look somewhere else. You’re not going to find any of that sissy stuff here. This recipe hails from my Auntie Donna, who learned it from my grandmother, who probably learned it from her mom and who I’m sure probably baked these regularly for my mom, aunt and uncle up in Nova Scotia. Regardless, these are a Northeastern treat. This biscuit isn’t a cloud made for carrying your bacon, eggs and cheese. Not that that variety of biscuit isn’t delicious, it’s just a different breed. These biscuits are on the short side, slightly crisp on the outside, soft, dense and crumbly on the inside. A lightly salty, rich and wonderful vehicle for butter and molasses, or even honey, maple syrup or jam. You could even just go with straight up butter or dip them in the broth from a pot-roast fresh from the oven. For those of you who don’t know how to make a real pot-roast in an oven and not a crock-pot, I shake my head at you. Make your grandma proud! Maybe one day I’ll share directions on here.

I strongly suggest making these on a cold day or evening. These are a perfect biscuit to go with a roast or stew and equally perfect as a nice warm breakfast after coming in from shoveling snow. Or a perfect comfort food for a random night, just because it gets dark out early and you feel like you need something that will stick to your ribs. As mentioned multiple times already, molasses is my topping of choice. That dark, strong sweetness with a little bit of salted butter on a soft, warm biscuit. And the best part? They’re super easy, take no time, and you probably have all the ingredients on hand right now. Yes. Please.

Flour Biscuits
From my Auntie Donna

Makes about 10 or so biscuits

  • 2 cups flour
  • 3tsp baking powder
  • 1tsp salt
  • 3/4 c. shortening
  • 1c. milk

Preheat the oven to 375º

Grease a baking pan and set aside.

Cut the shortening into small pieces, roughly 1″ maybe. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and shortening in a bowl. Mix together until it resembles coarse crumbs. Pour in the milk and mix together with a spatula until it comes together to form a dough.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Pat it down or roll it out. I like to fold it over itself a few times, patting it down before each fold. This just makes a flakier biscuit, which I prefer. On the final roll or pat-down, you want the dough to be a rectangle-ish shape, about 1-1.5″ high. These biscuits don’t rise a whole heck of a lot so you want the dough to have some substantial height.

Using a round cookie or biscuit cutter, cut out your biscuits. You can also use a drinking glass in lieu of a cookie cutter. The amount of biscuits this recipe yeilds depends on how thick the dough is and what size your cookie cutter is. This recipe isn’t an exact science, you really can’t mess them up.

Put the biscuits in the pan and bake those bad boys for about 20 minutes, or until lightly golden on the edges.

You can wait until they cool a little, if you’re good at being patient. Or if you’re like me, cut one in half, cursing how hot it is, slather a little butter, drizzle on a few spoonfuls of molasses and pour a glass of milk. Make sure they’re warm when you eat them, that’s when they’re best. I also won’t judge you if you happen to accidentally eat half the batch. Just saying.

A twist! Literally!

Growing up my mom also liked to take this dough, roll it out into a thin rectangle, brush with butter and cinnamon (or raspberry jelly), and roll up jelly-roll style. Then cut them into little cinnamon-roll type cookies. Little bit like Rugelach, but not as dainty. I suggest you try that version too. Especially if you can’t stomach the idea of a biscuit not being of the Southern variety.

Posted in Bread, Breakfast/Brunch | No Comments »

National Apple Betty Day

October 7th, 2010
Apple Betty

Apple Betty, cooling old school style on the window sill. I wish I had thought to grab a picture of the insides before it was completely consumed, but it just went so fast. Even if I had thought to shoot, I wouldn't have been quick enough!

Yesterday, October 5th, was National Apple Betty Day. Did you know such a day existed? I had no idea until the day before, and was of course all in for baking one. How could I not? I didn’t even know what it was.

I had never made an Apple Betty and it was the EASIEST recipe ever. It’s kind of like a pie, kind of like Apple Crisp, or maybe it’s the same as Apple Crisp? I have no clue. I looked up some recipes and some started to get pretty complicated. I checked out one in an old church cookbook as well as an Old-Fashioned cookbook, but they all seemed to require a little more effort than I was about to put forth. Homemade breadcrumbs? I don’t think so. Not that I’m above such things, but I made this at 6 o’ clock in the morning. And then there’s the whole fact that I had no bread. So after a bit of Googling I found a random recipe. I really don’t even remember which site it was from, but I modified it regardless, so I don’t feel too bad posting it without credit. Thankfully, this is the perfect early morning recipe. Requires minimal effort aside from slicing apples and isn’t half as hard as making an actual apple pie. And don’t worry, I WILL be making an apple pie sooner than later, and you can expect a post when the time comes.

A word of warning, if you bring this treat in to work fresh from the oven, grab yourself a piece first. I know, I know, that feels so selfish. But I am telling you, this Apple Betty wasn’t even out of the oven for a full hour before it was demolished. I sent an email to my co-workers letting them in on the National Holiday Celebration and by the time I hit send and wandered back to the kitchen I almost missed out! I’ve never seen a dessert go so fast. Ever. Crazy I tell you.

The top crust gets all crunchy, crisp and sweet and has all those great spices while the butter melts down and mixes with the insides, making it all gooey, appley and delicious. Appley is a word, I swear! And if you have vanilla ice cream or homemade whipped cream (if you resort to Cool Whip, I will never forgive you), top that sucker while still warm. Makes it that much more heavenly.

So here is the recipe. Make it. You won’t regret it. Unless you eat the whole thing yourself, which even still, you probably won’t regret it.

Apple Betty
modified from an online recipe

  • 5 medium apples of your choice (I used Gala, cause that’s what was in the crisper)
  • about 1/4 c. of lemon juice
  • 3/4 c. flour
  • 1/2 c. butter, chilled and cut into pieces
  • 3/4 c. white sugar
  • 1/4 c. brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
  • pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 375º

Grease a 9″ pie plate and set aside.

Peel and core the apples then slice into fine pieces. You could probably cube the apples, but I like thin slices. You want smaller pieces so they cook up and get soft, but not mushy. Put the slices in a bowl and sprinkle with lemon. Make sure to mix up the slices so that the lemon juice kind of coats all the apples.

In a bowl or food processor, pour in the flour, sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and butter. Either cut by hand with a fork, or pulse the food processor a few times until the mix forms coarse crumbs. Don’t go too far, you don’t want powder, but you also don’t want it to look like pebbles. Somewhere in between.

Dump the apples in the pie plate and sprinkle with the dry mix. Bake in the oven for about 45 minutes until bubbly. Then turn the heat up to broil and cook for about 2 minutes until the top is crispy, but not burnt. When you get to the broiling point, WATCH IT. It will burn fast. Let it cool for about a half hour to set. Patience is a virtue. This baby will be scalding, so if you actually want to taste the awesomeness and don’t trust yourself to wait around, go take a nap or something first.

Make yourself a pot of coffee, grab yourself the crosswords or a good book, a slice of Apple Betty and have yourself a goooood morning.

Posted in Breakfast/Brunch, Dessert, Pie | No Comments »

Tandy Cake

August 23rd, 2010

A heavenly combination of rich cake, creamy peanut butter and smooth chocolate. Really can't go wrong.

August is on it’s way out and I can’t really say I’m sad to see it go. This summer’s been a toasty one. I haven’t been outside to play or hike and even worse, I haven’t been baking either. All this hugging of my air conditioner created a level of homesickness that is usually reserved for holidays. I missed mild, rural PA summers (of course, I took the nice mild weather for granted growing up). I missed cookouts with my parents, playing in creeks with my sisters, the town pool, fireworks and half-assed badminton games in the backyard, freeze pops and thunderstorms on the porch, laying in the grass on the hill on cool nights stargazing, cool nights in general. I was in a bad state.

And then my youngest sister Nikki decided she would take a road trip to visit me! While I was craving a PA summer, she was tiring of the ever-constant dramas you find when cooped up with family members for too long (amazing how I always forget that part). And not only did Nik decide to come for a visit, but she came down a week earlier than expected! You have no idea how much I needed her visit. She’s been here a WHOLE WEEK and I’ll be sad to see her leave tomorrow. We’ve gossiped and chatted, gone for long walks, I’ve shared grown-up advice and she’s introduced me to the *ahem* joys of trashy reality TV. We’ve laughed too hard at dumb jokes, eaten more ice cream than humanly possible and watched cheesy movies from our youths (seeing as how we’re seven years apart, this ranged from The Goonies through The Heavyweights). It’s been a great week. And to kick off the start of this sister week, I decided to whip up a batch of Tandy Cakes to celebrate my sister, nostalgia and a taste of the rural northeast.

To those of you not lucky enough to have enjoyed growing up with Tandy Cakes, I feel sad for you. Not a potluck or school function could go by without at least one batch of these beauties. They’re similar to TastyCakes Kandy Kakes, and I’m honestly not sure which came first. Tandy Cakes rank right up there with other PA delicacies such as Middleswarth BBQ chips, birch beer, hand cut french fries with vinegar, and pierogies with onions and butter. Any Northeastern Pennsylvanian (I can’t speak for you folks west of State College) will recognize the nostalgia from any one of these treats. I figured with having Nik in town on top of the bouts of homesickness, there was no better baked good I could make than a batch of Tandy Cakes.

The magic of the Tandy Cake lies in the combination of three very simple components. A layer of cake, a layer of peanut butter and a layer of chocolate. One of the easiest, most basic recipes ever, but trust me. You will be hooked at the first bite. Having these in your life will make it infinitely better. And if you share with friends, you’ll have more than you know what to do with. Granted, they may be in it only for the baked goods, but is that really all that bad? I can live with that.

Tandy Cakes
from St. Matthew Luthern Church of Bloomsburg’s 200th Anniversary Cookbook

Ingredients:

  • 4 eggs
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • pinch of salt
  • 2c. sugar
  • 2c. flour
  • 1c. milk
  • 1tsp. baking powder
  • 2T. oil
  • 1 small jar creamy peanut butter
  • 2c. or so chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350º

Prepare the cake layer:
Beat the eggs until lemony in color. Combine all ingredients, except the peanut butter and chocolate. Beat on medium for a minute or two. Grease and flour a 9×12 cake pan. Pour batter into the pan. Bake for 15-20min. until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

While the cake is still warm, spread with peanut butter and refrigerate for 45 minutes.

Melt chocolate chips in a double boiler or in the microwave. Spread melted chocolate on top of peanut butter and refrigerate until set. Cut into squares, pour out a tall glass of milk and enjoy.

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Posted in Cake | 3 Comments »

Bad Day and Blueberry Pie

June 28th, 2010

Blueberry Pie turned Cobbler and some drippy yet delicious ice cream

Some days are just one of those days. Days where despite my best efforts, my most meticulous plans, nothing seems to go right. It happens to everyone and baking enthusiasts are not exempt.

Yesterday my friend Lauren was hosting a grill-out to watch the US vs Ghana match in the World Cup. Of course, I volunteered to bring a dessert and what goes better with watching some hot US soccer players than warm blueberry pie? Having that soccer player in the living room with you, maybe, but there’s not much else that would be better really.

I got up bright and early on a Saturday morning, which is saying a lot about my excitement for this baking venture. I’m never up early on a Saturday unless baking or hiking are involved. I showered, fed the cats and was off to the store for blueberries and while there I decided, why not make some ice cream while I’m at it? I’ve got the ice cream maker bowl in the freezer and I can whip it up and let it chill/freeze while my pie bakes. So with a few pints of blueberries, heavy cream, milk and crisco in hand, I was off for a perfect morning of baking. And then things started to go downhill.

The ice cream came along fine, but came to temperature a little too fast and didn’t quite thicken up how I wanted it too, but it still seemed to freeze fine so I didn’t worry too much. And then while making the pie, the filling just seemed a little too dry to me, but as I hadn’t made a blueberry pie before I figured it would be fine. And then the top crust fell apart and I had to whip up new crust. Again, none of these issues were major and I wasn’t too worried. The pie filling cooked up fine and the crust was gorgeous. Time to pack up and get to Lauren’s.

I topped the pie in foil, packed up the ice cream with an ice pack, and was out the door. Going up the hill behind my place, I had the ice cream on the dash with the AC cranked and had one hand on the pie. The ice cream FLEW off the dashboard and bounced off my pie. It didn’t look like it was too devastating so I didn’t worry too much about it. The drive was all good and well until I made it within about a half mile, if that, from Lauren’s brother’s house (cookout location) which was about 15 minutes away.

I was just about to turn onto the street when the driver in front of me cut me off without a turn signal, slammed on his brakes and turned. And my pie, my precious, still piping hot, blueberry pie went flying off the front seat and crash landed on the floor of my car. I can’t even describe to you the feeling. It was slow motion, simultaneously infuriating and heart braking. I let go of the steering wheel, slamming my thighs with my fists and screamed more F-bombs than I would ever want my grandmother to know about. It’s amazing I didn’t hit anyone. I pulled over the side of the road and tried my best to save the pie. It was mostly salvageable, but looked more like a sad blueberry crisp and not at all like my beautiful pie. I even had a star cut out of the middle of the perfectly golden top crust! I was crushed!! And to top it all off, when it came time to eat said smushed-pie, while still delicious, the ice cream never re-set from its time in the hot car AND the US LOST! So smushed pie and runny ice cream were served to my friends. Luckily they seemed to enjoy it, and if they didn’t, they sure did a great job pretending, thus warming my still-broken heart.

So here I present to you my mom’s blueberry pie recipe. It is quite tasty, whether in it’s original glory or a hot mess.

Bev’s Blueberry Pie

Crust:

  • 2 c. flour
  • 3/4 c. shortening, cut into pieces and chilled
  • 1tsp salt
  • 3 T. cold water

Filling:

  • 2 1/2 pints fresh blueberries
  • 1/3 c. brown sugar
  • 2/3 c. granulated sugar
  • 1/2 c. flour
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 2 T. unsalted butter
  • pinch of nutmeg

Egg Wash

  • 1 egg
  • 2tsp. water
  • couple T. of sugar for dusting

Prepare the crust:
Place flour and salt in a food processor and pulse once or twice to combine. Add in the chilled shortening and pulse a few short times until the dough forms little balls ranging in size from peas to small crumbs. Add in 1 tablespoon of water at a time, pulsing a couple times after each and giving it a few good long pulses after all the water is added in. If the dough still seems a little dry add some water in, 1T at a time. Be careful though, it’s easy to add too much. And if you don’t have a food processor, you can mix it with a fork or pastry blender instead. No need for that much fancy.

Divide the dough into two evenly sized balls. Place one in between waxed paper or saran wrap. My mom rolls it out right on the counter sprinkled with flour, but I find the dough stays more moist and easier to work with in between saran wrap. It also helps to chill the dough sheets for a half hour or so. Once you have your dough rolled flat and chilled, take one piece and gently roll over the top of a greased pie pan, pressing into the crease and trimming the edges. Poke the bottom a few times with a fork.

Preheat the oven to 425º

Fill er up:
Pour all the filling ingredients, except the butter, in a large bowl and gently mix. Let sit for 5-10 minutes. Dump the filling into the bottom crust, making sure the dry ingredients are evenly dispersed throughout the blueberries. Top with sliced pieces of butter. Gently roll the top crust over the filling. I used a star cookie cutter to cut piece out of the center and cut a few more slits around the perimeter. Just makes it all pretty. Trim the edges and then go around the crust with a fork, pressing the tines of the fork around the outside. This presses the top and bottom crusts together and makes it look nice. Whisk the egg and water in a small dish and brush over the top of the pie. Sprinkle the whole pie with sugar.

Loosely cover the pie with foil and bake the pie for 30 minutes at 425º. Uncover the pie and reduce the heat to 375º and bake for another 30 minutes until the berry juice is bubbling out the top and the crust is a golden brown. Let cool and enjoy with vanilla ice cream. And if you must drive with your pie, and would rather enjoy your pie as a pie and not cobbler, make sure to invest in a carrying container of sorts. Hindsight is 20-20.

Posted in Pie | 2 Comments »

Banana Ice Cream with Caramel

June 23rd, 2010

Ice "Cream" made with frozen bananas. Sweet, rich and creamy without all the guilt. At least until you add the caramel sauce that is.

It’s hot outside. Really hot outside. Like heat index in the hundreds times two weeks hot. Like melt-to-the sidewalk hot. Get the picture? This means that there hasn’t been much, and by much I mean any, baking going on in my tiny kitchen lately. Too much sweat just doesn’t sit well with me from a sanitary standpoint. The solution? Ice cream!

The problem with this solution? I have no milk on hand and my pants are ever-tighter due to heat related inactivity. New solution? Banana ice cream! It’s made with one ingredient.. bananas! It’s sweet, rich and creamy; high in fiber; nonfat and downright tasty. And did I mention it’s cold? Yeah, that’s the ticket.

But the problem? It’s ice cream! I need to balance out all that healthy goodness with a little sumthin sumthin. Sure, I don’t have to add a naughty factor, but with all the ingredients for caramel sauce on hand and a spare 15 minutes, I really can’t justify not going that route. I do love a good homemade caramel sauce. And to top it off, I wanted to add one more dimension. A slightly salty factor. And to bring back a smidge level of “healthy” I went with crushed up pretzel sticks. Cause for some reason that just sounded tasty.

SO there’s cold and creamy, warm and sweet, and crunchy-salty. Sounds like all the bases are covered. If this doesn’t knock me out of my summer-induced grouchfest (I didn’t mention I’ve been grouchy? Well, I have. Trust me. This ice cream is just what I need. And if you’re grouchy, it could be just what YOU need!)

Banana Ice Cream with Pretzel Bits and Warm Caramel Sauce
Serves 2

This recipe is really quite easy. The hardest part is waiting for bananas to freeze. The caramel sauce seems intimidating, but it’s definitely not. At all. You probably even have most of the ingredients on hand.

Ingredients:

  • 2 bananas, frozen (peel and cut bananas into slices and place in a tupperware container in the freezer until frozen.)
  • About 1/3 c. pretzel pieces, more or less. You could also use graham cracker pieces. That could be tasty.

Caramel Sauce:

  • 1/2 c. brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 T. water
  • 1/2 T. light corn syrup
  • 1/2 T. unsalted butter
  • 1/2 c. Heavy Cream

Make the Sauce:
I like to make the caramel sauce first so it cools a little while I make the ice cream. Plus, I like to mix some of it into the ice cream itself to warm up the flavor. Place the sugar, water and corn syrup in a heavy saucepan and stir to combine. Cook over medium-high heat without stirring until the sauce starts bubbling and turns a dark, rich amber color. This should only take about 5-7 minutes. Add in the butter and cream, this will start to bubble up and spit a little. Once the sauce calms down a bit, stir the sauce and remove from heat. Stir it til it’s nice and smooth and sauce-like. Pour into a glass measuring cup or bowl and set aside to cool a little bit so it’s not so scalding.

Make the Ice Cream:
Are you ready for this really long and complicated set of instructions? Brace yourself. Here goes. Place the frozen bananas in a food processor (a blender may also work). Pulse until the bananas form small bits, almost like Dippin’ Dots Ice Cream. Add in some of the caramel and pulse continuously until creamy. Stir in pretzel pieces. WHEW! That was hard, wasn’t it?

I like to put the ice cream back in the freezer for a while to harden it back up a bit. Transfer the ice cream into a tupperware and cover with saran wrap and cover before placing in the freezer. If you choose to eat it right away, or are like me, and only re-freeze it for all of 5 minutes before temptation gets the best of you, scoop a generous serving in a bowl and pour some caramel over it. If you’ve got some sea salt, that would make a great addition sprinkle on top with maybe some pretzels for garnish.

Indulge. Doesn’t it taste sinful? I mean sure, the caramel is indeed pretty far on the dark side, but the banana ice cream itself, sans pretzel pieces, is only 100 calories for a cup, no fat and 3g of fiber. Which means you eat less and it fills you up. Which also means you have more for later! And that also means, in my imaginary world, that the fiber scrubs all that caramel out of your system. Right? Right.

Posted in Dessert, Ice Cream | No Comments »

Cinnamon Rolls

May 21st, 2010

Some talents are sweeter than others, and I like to share my skills with my wonderful co-workers! 90 or so cinnamon rolls in all.

A few weeks ago (ok, maybe almost a month ago now) the company where I work held a Talent Show. Not just any talent show, but the biggest, funnest, most random talent show ever, which also happens to occur annually. It’s truly an event not to miss. This year’s roundup involved belly dancing, stand-up comedy, a magic act, jazz, accoustic performances, ambient/electronic experimentations, vocal imitations, and even a Hall and Oates cover band. It was spectacular.

In addition to the highly anticipated night of ridiculousness, a talent week was held in celebration of all the non-performance related talent in the building. Being that I’m a designer and illustrator, I naturally brought in some drawings. Yet in addition to that, I decided to showcase my non-career related talents of the baking variety and brought in cinnamon rolls. 90+ cinnamon rolls. To feed a massive group of hungover, sleepy yet still productive individuals. Not a leftover was to be found by the end of the day. I’d say they were a success.

What goes better with a hangover than fresh-from-the-oven cinnamon rolls? With sugary sweet icing that’s melted into every nook and cranny? Sure, the Chinese Buffet has been found effective at easing the pains from the night before, but homemade cinnamon rolls are way better. Plus, they go much better with coffee than egg rolls. Trust me.

While these cinnamon rolls take awhile to make, the actual act of making them isn’t all that difficult. And are totally worth it. I strongly suggest making them for loved ones, friends, a brunch, or yourself. You can even get them rolled out the night before and  bake them in the morning. It’ll save you time and they’ll be hot and fresh in no time.

Cinnamon Rolls
 adapted from Jim Fobel’s Old-Fashioned Baking Book
 serves about 24

Ingredients:

  • 1c milk
  • 4T unsalted butter sliced
  • 1/2 c sugar
  • 1c warm water
  • 2 envelopes yeast (if you’re new to using yeast, maybe pick up an extra few in case you kill it)
  • 2 large eggs at room temperature
  • 6-7 c flour

Filling:

  • 3/4 c brown sugar
  • 4tsp cinnamon
  • 4T unsalted butter melted

Glaze

  • 3T unsalted butter softened
  • 2c confectioners sugar
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 2-3T milk

Make Some Dough:
Pour the milk and butter in a small saucepan and add in the half cup of sugar minus about 1TB. Heat on low until the butter is just melted. Take it off the heat and let cool until about 110º

Put the reserved TB of sugar in a small bowl and add the warm water. Sprinkle the yeat over the mix and let soften a minute. Stir to dissolve and let sit for about 5-10 minutes until it’s foamy. You can tell your yeast is alive when you lean over you can hear it fizzing. If nothing happens after about 5 minutes, either your water was too hot or too cold. No worries, it happens. Just try again and try to keep the water below 110º, not hot, but that it registers as warm on the back of your hand.

Whisk the eggs in a large bowl and then mix in the yeast and warm milk mixture. Beat in 3 cups of the flour until fully combined and then add in the rest of the flour one cup at a time until it makes a soft, sticky dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and start kneading until it’s soft and elastic. About 10-15 minutes. It’s a little bit of an arm workout, but think of it as burning a few calories prior to the feast you’ll be having later.

Place the dough in a lightly buttered or oiled bowl and turn once to lightly coat. You’ll want the bowl (or even a pot will do) to be rather large as the dough is going to double in size. Cover lightly with a clean cloth or plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place for about an hour. In the meantime, grease two 13×9″ pans.

Mix together the brown sugar and cinnamon to make the filling.

When your dough is doubled in size, punch it down. Don’t be afraid to let out some frustrations, it’s good for you. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface.

Knead the dough a few times then cover it up and let rest for about 10 minutes. Cut the dough in half and pat each piece flat with your hands into two 12×9″ rectangles. Brush both pieces with the slightly cooled, melted butter and sprinkle each evenly with the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Take each piece, starting with the long side, and roll it up tightly, seam side down. This is what creates the swirl in the middle of the cinnamon roll. Cut each piece into about 12 equal piece and place cut-side down in the pans. Let rise until almost doubled, about 45 minutes. If you’re making the dough in advance, you can place in the fridge, covered, overnight.

Cinnamon Rolls prior to baking. They look tempting even when raw!

Get Baking:
 I like to make the dough the night before and bake fresh in the morning. You definitely want to serve these warm. Preheat the oven to 400º and evenly space two racks in the oven. Bake them for 20-25 minutes, switching the position of the pans halfway through. Turn out the rolls onto a rack, right side up and glaze while still warm. If you’ll be transporting them, you can glaze them right in the pan.

Sweet, Sweet Frosting:
 In a medium bowl combine the softened butter, powdered sugar and cinnamon. Mix until well blended. Stir in vanilla and 2T of the milk. Stir in as much milk as needed to make a smooth, yet spreadable, glaze. Spread over the hot rolls and let cool about 15 minutes.

Serve these to your friends or family while still warm and try not to eat the whole pan. Although if you do, I won’t judge you. It happens to the best of us.

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