Cinnamon Rolls

My brother-in-law, C, has made the claim that these are the "best cinnamon rolls in the UNIVERSE". In fact, that is the official name of this recipe per the family website:-) After making and tasting these rolls I would have to agree, they are delicious. The recipe itself isn't too bad but make sure you give yourself enough time to make these amazing treats.

Recipe:

Dough: 

2 pkg (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast 

1 cup plus 2 Tbs sugar, divided 

1 1/2 cups warm water (110* to 115*) divided 

1 cup milk 

1/2 cup soft butter 

2 eggs 

2 tsp salt 

8-9 cups flour

Filling:

1/2 C butter

1 C brown sugar

5 tsp cinnamon

In a large mixing bowl dissolve yeast & 2 Tbs of sugar in a 1/2 cup of luke warm water. The sugar helps activate the yeast.

In a saucepan, heat the milk, butter and remaining butter to 110-115 degrees.

Add the mixture from the saucepan to the large mixing bowl. Add eggs, salt, 5 cups of flour, and remaining sugar. Beat until smooth , add enough of the remaining flour to form a soft dough.

Turn onto a floured surface; kneed until smooth and elastic. About 6-8 minutes. Place back into bowl and let rise in a warm place for an hour.
Roll dough out into  a large circle and with soft butter spread over the dough until well-coated. Spread brown sugar and sugar on top of butter.

Roll dough into a log lengthwise

Using either string (or we used non-flavored floss) cut out rolls.

Placed on a GREASED baking sheet and let rise for another 10-15 minutes. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Rolls should look golden brown.

Frosting: 

2 oz cream cheese 

1/4 cup butter 

1 cup powder sugar 

2 tsp vanilla (Mexican

Add frosting to rolls while they are still hot to allow frosting to melt into the rolls.

These cinnamon rolls are (another quote from C), "Dirty good!" Thanks C for this great recipe!!

We're Back!

Okay- we haven't blogged for a while but we have a super cute and adorable excuse. Meet Baby E born in November. We've had our hands full with our sweet baby and though we've been documenting great recipes haven't had time to post anything. Well that is about to change... :-)

Angel Biscuits

Well, we have been a little slow at blogging lately. That is not to say we haven't been busy in the kitchen though. So to jump-start again I will try to catch up on some of the things we have made and just need to blog about. The first one is one of my favorite recipes. These rolls are quick and simple, and always bring back fond memories, like the first time B met my family and they decided she was in charge of making them, talk about trial by fire! :) Luckily she passed with flying colors and we love making these rolls any chance we get.

Recipe

1 Pkg yeast

3/4 C warm water

3 TBS sugar

2 C flour (I like to use half all-purpose flour and half bread flour)

1/2 tsp salt

1 TBS oil

Butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Dissolve the yeast into the warm water and the sugar. Let it sit for a couple of minutes until it becomes bubbly.

Add the salt, oil and flour and mix until it forms a soft dough, kneed 2min until smooth.

Roll out the dough to about 1/4-1/2 inch thickness and use a roll cutter or a round glass to cut into circles.

Place place a small 1tsp sized chunk of butter on each roll and fold over. The butter truly is the key in making these rolls amazing.

Grease a 9x13 baking dish with butter and add the rolls. Bake at 375 for 12-18min or until the rolls are golden brown

These rolls are best when the are eaten hot out of the oven. You can serve them with just about anything from gravy to honey, but any way you do it you will not be disappointed!

White Bean and Chicken Chili

A few weeks ago our friend made this recipe and I could't get enough of it! I got the recipe from her blog and adjusted it a little to fit my style. It was so good we ate until we couldn't move, and the best part was that we had enough left over to freeze and enjoy later.

Recipe

1 TBS olive oil

1 large onion, chopped 

6-8 cloves garlic, minced

5 cups chicken broth 

3 tsp. cumin

3 15oz. cans white beans

1-3 cans roasted green chili 

½ tsp. oregano

3 cups cooked chicken, shredded

1 cup sour cream 

3 cups shredded Monterey Jack Cheese (1/2 lb.)

Heat the oil in a large pot. Sauté the onions and garlic until the onions are translucent. Add the chicken broth and beans, and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to low and simmer for 10min.

Add the shredded chicken and simmer for 20min. Then add the oregano, cumin and green chili and simmer for another 30min. I like to use the "hot" chili because it has more flavor, and if you only use 1-2 cans it doesn't add too much heat.

Just before serving, add sour cream and shredded cheese and stir til it melts.

Now that you have been smelling this simmer for the last hour it is finally time to enjoy it! You can serve it with some tortilla chips, or we like to eat it with a baguette. Anyway you do it, you will love it!!

Cupcakes

One of our favorite things to find in is a great cupcake shop. This past week we found a great cupcake shop called, "That Takes the Cake" thank you to groupon.com. We fell in love with their "Prom Queen" strawberry cupcake and can't wait to try their other amazing flavors. Check out their link for locations and menu :-) Other favorite cupcake places include: Kara's Cupcakes especially their "Sweet Vanilla". Yumm!!

Do you have a favorite cupcake shop in the Bay Area? Let us know! Seriously, tell us where their located and we will check them out!

Almond Cake

My amazing friend and college roommate K-love used to make this all the time. It was one of my favorite things she would make and when I moved out it quickly become a favorite of mine to bake as well. It is super quick to put together and chances are you have all of the necessary ingredients in your kitchen right now. Here's the recipe:

1 C Sugar

1 C Flour

2 tsp Almond extract

1/2 C butter (melted)

2 Eggs

Almonds or Clear standing sugar (optional)

Preheat over to 325 degrees. In a bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients together

Add the butter, extract and eggs

Stir well :-)

Place in a greased round cake pan or as you see I used a pie pan. Both work well!

K-love would sprinkle sliced almonds on the top before baking but as most of you know I'm not a huge fan of nuts. In fact, Katie would leave part of the batter uncovered of almonds just for me :-) I do sugar on the top of it to give it a yummy glaze on the top. Not normal sugar, I use the big sugar crystals that you can find in specialty stores.

Bake at 325 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

The end product is so delicious. It's a great snack item if you're looking for something a little sweet but not overbearing. It's also easy to make when you're going to someone's house for dinner or having company over

Enjoy!!

Repost: Feather-Light Donuts (with pictures)

Last month my amazing sister M informed me that June 4th, is National Donut day and we have the best recipe for you. Unfortunately, the first time we posted this recipe we had no pictures to post. But last Sunday I was really "craving" these delicious treats, so K was super sweet & made them for me. These donuts are so delicious as well as light & fluffy. You will just fall in love with them! Secret ingredient- mashed potatoes.

Recipe:

2 pkgs active dry yeast

1 1/2 C warm milk

1 C cold mashed potatoes

1 1/2 C sugar, divided

1/2 C vegetable oil

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

2 eggs

5 1/2- 6 C flour

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Oil for frying

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm milk. Add potatoes, 1/2 C sugar, oil, salt, vanilla, baking soda, baking powder, and eggs.

Add enough flour to form a soft dough.

Place in a greased bowl for an hour turning once after the first 30 minutes. We could definitely tell our dough was rising because the seran wrap started bubbling out :-)

Punch dough down and roll on a flat surface. Cut into holes and place on a greased baking sheet.

Let rise for another 45 minutes.

Heat oil to 350 degrees. Be careful not to overheat your oil as you may burn the outside of the donut but leave the inside still very doughy. (Burned donuts = yucky smelling smoke!)

Fry donuts until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Roll in cinnamon or/and sugar while still warm. You can also drizzle your favorite icing.

This recipe makes about 2 1/2 dozen deliciously amazing donuts!! I love, love this donut recipe and so do our neighbors, friends, doorman... pretty much anyone who is around when we make these.

I had a hard time taking pictures because they just smelled so delicious. It's best to eat them right away but you can also store them for a day. If you're eating them the next day, warm them up for 5-10 seconds in the microwave and re-dip them in sugar. Enjoy!!