Giant Gooey Cinnamon Biscuits

This whole marriage/relocating/reorganizing thing has really put a damper on my time in the kitchen.

As some of you know, breakfast is my favorite meal of the day and this past weekend was the first time I've actually had the time energy to bake anything since we moved from Texas!

Our new life has definitely been an adjustment: new schedules, new house, new commutes, and new responsibilities. Mountain Man no longer gets out of work early which means I'm in charge of all the cooking now and being closer to friends and family is amazing, but that also means a lot more things to do and places to be.

All that being said, my blog has also taken a hit.

I still plan on sharing all my yummy creations with you all, but there may be a little more lag time in between posts. But please, please, please, don't give up on me..because I still have plenty of sweets to share.

Cinnamon Breakfast Biscuits
recipe from The Kitchn
Makes 4 large biscuits
Oven: 425 Bake time:

2 cups AP flour
1 TBS dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups heavy cream*, divided
1/2 cup cinnamon chips
3/4 cup confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 425. Lightly grease 8x8-inch baking pan or line with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
Pour about 1 1/2 cups of the cream- you're looking for a thick and sticky dough- mixing until just combined.
Lightly flour the countertop and turn dough out, patting into a long, thick rectangle.
Cut rectangle into 8 sqaures.
Transfer half the sqaures into the baking pan and sprinkle with a small handful of cinnamon chips over each square. Cover chips with second square of dough and lightly press sides to seal.
Distribute remaining chips over the sealed biscuits.
Transfer to oven and bake for about 15 mintues or until lightly golden on the outside.
Use a knife or spatula and smear hot cinnamon chips on top of biscuits
Whisk together 1/2 cup of cream, powdered sugar and vanilla- lightly drizzle biscuits with glaze.

And Congrats to Roxan who won the Tate's Bake Shop Giveaway!! I hope you enjoy the cookies as much as we did!

Happy Baking!

Snickerdoodles & Ice Cream Sandwiches

A good friend of ours left for Afghanistan a few months ago.

Before he left I promised I would send him a care package a few weeks into his deployment with the essentials: VIA Starbucks coffee, nutella, trail mix, Easter candy, silly toys and homemade cookies.

What more could a boy want while fighting our nation's war in the desert? I can't think of much.

As I was getting the package put together, Dan requested his favorite cookies- snickerdoodles.  I have to be honest, I kind of got excited... mostly because they are one of my favorite cookies too and not only was I looking forward to sending him a little bit of home, but I was also looking forward to eating all the extra that wouldn't necessarily fit :)

Shortly after the package was received, I was happily informed that the cookies were gone in a matter of minutes.. I think the word "A-mazing" was used.

I did a little something extra with our share of cookies, so you'll have to read the whole post to make sure you see it!

Snickerdoodles
Recipe from Pilsbury Kitchen's Cookbook
Oven: 400 Bake time: 8-10 minutes

1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 3/4 cup AP flour
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Combine cinnamon and sugar in a small shallow bowl and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine sugar, butter, vanilla and eggs.
Stir in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt- blend well.
Shape dough into 1-inch balls (about a TBS of dough).
Roll balls in cinnamon and sugar mixture, placing on baking sheet when covered.
Bake for 8-10 minutes until cookies slightly crack.

Snickerdoodle Ice Cream Sandwiches:
Use your favorite vanilla ice cream and allow to soften.
Line cookies, in sets of two, flat side up.

 Place one scoop of ice cream on the flat side of a cookie... 

and press second cookie (flat side down) on top

There's no better way to eat a snickerdoodle!

Happy Baking!

Quick & Easy Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls

We were running late.

It was my turn to do breakfast for the weekend and we still needed to eat and make it to church by 930...it was 8am.

When I say these cinnamon rolls are quick AND easy, I'm not lying...

and they're whole wheat?? You're welcome.

They probably took me all of 15 minutes to prep, popped em in the oven for 25 and we were sitting pretty scarfing down cinnamon rolls by 850am just in time for church.

It's Monday and that means there's lots to do so I'll be keeping this post short and sweet.. just like these fabulous cinnamon treats! :)

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls
Adapted from Brunch: The Perfect Weekend Treat
Oven: 350 Bake time:30-35 minutes
Makes 8 rolls


Dough:
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
pinch of salt
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
3 1/2 oz butter, melted
2 egg yolks
3/4 cup milk

Filling:
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 TBS sugar
1 TBS butter, melted

Icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
2-3 TBS milk

Preheat oven to 350. Grease an 8-inch cake pan and line with parchment paper.
Mix flour, slat, sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl.
Whisk egg yolks, butter and milk together and combine with dry ingredients, mixing until a soft dough is made.
Turn dough out on a lightly floured surface and roll into a rectangle 12x10 inches.
Make filling by mixing all ingredients together.
Spread evenly over dough and roll up, jelly roll style, to form a log.
Using a sharp knife, cut dough into 8 even slices and place in prepared pan.
Brush with TBS of milk.
Transfer to oven and bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.
As rolls are cooling slight, make icing by stirring milk, one tablespoon at a time, into powdered sugar until glaze consistency is reached (add more milk if necessary). Drizzle over cooling cinnamon rolls.
Devour.

Happy Baking!

Chewy Cinnamon Sticks

Pastry Lesson #1: Pastries and yeast baking require time... 

lots of time.

I don't know why, but lately I've been antsy to try my hands at pastries.

I mean, what's a bakery without pastries right? I have to try them some time.. and there's no better time than now.

I knew that pastries were labor intensive, but I had no idea how much prep time really goes into them.

I woke up this weekend with all intentions to make croissants, only to be highly disappointed when I realized that if I wanted to eat breakfast at breakfast then it would be impossible- the whole process takes about a day.

Then I remembered a cookbook I recently got that had some simple sounding pastry recipes and learned quickly that even if a pastry seems simple in nature, the process still starts hours prior.

Hanging my head in defeat, I started flipping through A Passion for Baking and came upon Marcy's Chewy Chocolate Sticks. The recipe was part of the Sweet Yeast Baking section, described as 'a wonderful venue for baking, as it combines some of the attributes and appeal of bread baking with much of the appeal of pasty baking.'

It's like training wheels for pastry AND bread baking (something I also need to get better at).

We weren't feeling chocolate (weird, I know), so instead I filled the chewy sticks with cinnamon, dried blueberries and almonds.

Chewy Cinnamon Sticks
Adapted from A Passion for Baking
Oven: 350 Bake Time: 25 minutes
Prep time: 1 to 2 hours
Makes 12 pastry sticks

1 1/4 cups warm water (110-115 degrees)
1 TBS rapid rise yeast
2 eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup dry milk powder
2 cups AP flour
2 cups bread flour

Filling
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 TBS cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, softened and cut into cubes
1/2 cup raisins or dried blueberries
1/2 cup sliced almonds* optional

Finishing touch
egg white, beaten
TBS filling mixture

Line baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In a mixer bowl, mix warm water, sugar and salt until combined.
Sprinkle yeast over mixture and lightly whisk to break up yeast.
Let stand for 3-5 minutes until mixture starts to foam.
Briskly whisk in eggs, butter, vanilla, milk powder and most of flours- blending well.
Attach dough hook and knead of lowest speed for about 10 minutes, adding remaining flour to form soft dough.
Remove dough hook and spray dough with non-stick cooking spray.
Cover bowl with saran wrap and let dough rise 30-60 minutes or until it almost doubles in size*
Turn out dough onto lightly floured surface and gently deflate.
Press dough out to a 20 by 10 inch rectangle.
Blend sugars and cinnamon and scatter over dough. Dot with butter and sprinkle blueberries and almonds over dough.

Roll dough into a long (starting with longer side toward you); then flatten gently.

Using a sharp knife or dough scraper, cut into 12 sticks and place on prepared baking sheets, stretching each a little bit and twisting.

Brush pastries with beaten egg white and dust with sugar.
Cover loosely with saran wrap and let sticks rise 30-40 minutes or until almost doubled.
Preheat oven to 350. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.
Let cool in baking sheets.

Happy Baking!

Next week, no training wheels..  

Quick&Easy Cinnamon Bread

While Mountain Man was busy whipping up scrambled eggs, bacon and fried mashed potato fritters, I quickly threw together a Cinnamon Bread that I found in the Allrecipes Tried and True Favorites: top 300 recipes. It was somewhat on a whim, but proved a nice addition to the hearty breakfast we would be having.

I'll be keeping this post short and sweet because MM and I have a lot to do this afternoon.. We recently found a house to rent (that just happens to be on the lake!) and although we're not moving in until October, we have a lot of furniture shopping to do. Plus it's the weekend so I don't want to hold you up reading a post when you should be enjoying your time off.

Oh and for those of you on Twitter you can now stay up to date with recipes and little tweets by me :) follow me @sweetebakes. Shoot me a hello, give me a shout out, whatever you do...I'd love to hear from you!

And HAPPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!! 

Can't wait to see you next weekend :)

Cinnamon Bread
Oven: 350 Bake time: 50 minutes
Yields 1 loaf

2 cups AP flour
1 cup white sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 oil
2 TBS sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 TBS butter

Preheat oven to 350. Spray loaf pan with cooking spray and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, eggs, buttermilk, extract and oil. Beat/whisk together for about 2 minutes.
Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth top.
In a small bowl combine sugar and cinnamon and cut in butter using knife and fork until mixture is crumbly.
Sprinkle cinnamon mixture on top of batter. Use a knife and cut in a swirling motion, giving in a marble effect.
Place in oven and bake for 50 minutes- Test with toothpick.
Allow to cool for a few minutes before removing loaf from pan.

Have a great weekend

and

Happy Baking!!

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Cupcakes with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

phhheeewww...now you can breath!

Sorry for the long cupcake title, but it just didn't feel right to leave anything out..

While in correspondence with Lisa from The Lunch Box Project, she informed me of Jamieanne of The Sweetest Kitchen and her Mystery Box Cupcake Challenge.  I immediately made my way to her site and boy am I glad I did!

Every month Jamieanne hosts The Mystery Box Cupcake Challenge, where she introduces a mystery ingredient on the 1st of the month to be used in a cupcake competition. Contestants have 20 days to come up with a delicious cupcake using the mystery ingredient and the next day Jamieanne presents all the cupcakes entered for voting ...aka you need to go there on the 21st and vote for my cupcake!! And don't worry I'll remind you :)

This months mystery ingredient was White Chocolate.

So I present to you.. this month's top choice (in my opinion) for The Mystery Box Cupcake Challenge..

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Cupcakes 

with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Cupcakes

Oven: 325 Bake time: 20 minutes

swEEts original 

Yields 20 cupcakes

3/4 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2 cup AP flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325. Line pan with cupcake liners and set aside.

In a large bowl cream butter and sugars until fluffy.

Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.

In a small bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.

Add vanilla extract to buttermilk.

Mix dry ingredients into butter/sugar mixture, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

Using an ice cream scoop, fill each cupcake liner with one scoop of batter.

Transfer to oven and bake for 20 minutes or until cupcakes bounce back to touch or toothpick comes out clean.

Immediately turn out onto table and place on cooling rack for at least 30 minutes before frosting.

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8oz package of cream cheese

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

4 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup whipping cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup white chocolate, melted

1 TBS crisco

In a large bowl, cream butter and cream cheese until smooth and creamy.

Slowly add sugar, whipping cream and vanilla extract- beating until smooth and creamy consistency is reached.

Melt white chocolate and crisco using a double boiler or in the microwave* make sure to watch your white chocolate as it is much more finicky than its darker counterpart. If microwaving stop to check on it every 30 seconds or so and if using a double boiler constantly stir until crisco melts in.

Allow white chocolate to cool slightly before adding it to icing mixture.

Add melted white chocolate to frosting mixture and beat on high for a few minutes.

Place frosting in fridge for a few minutes before using.

Use piping bag to frost cupcakes.

For garnish:

Cook one tortilla cut into small triangles in skillet over medium heat (with 2 TBS oil).

Make cinnamon-sugar mixture and place in small bowl.

Place cooked tortilla triangles in cinnamon-sugar mixture and mix to coat.

Don't forget to vote for me on the 21st!

Happy Baking!  

The winner of August’s Mystery Box Cupcake Challenge will receive prizes from:

• Bake It Pretty; $5 electronic gift card
• Beanilla; 3 Indian + 3 Tahitian vanilla beans & a jar of Ground Vanilla
• CT2Designs; a cupcake ring
• Miss Kitty Creations; a cupcake charm of your choice
• Sweet Cuppin Cakes; a prize pack worth $25

Thank you to all our prize sponsors!

Sunny's Cinna-nilla Cookies

When my friend Sunny discovered my blog she wanted to know why I hadn't made her anything. Of course, I looked at this as an opportunity to try out a new cookie creation and to create my own recipe. Needing a starting place and a little bit of inspiration, she gave me three flavors she enjoyed: cinnamon, vanilla and chocolate (insert creativity here).

After a few hours spent online researching baking websites (including Fahrenheit 350 blog)I figured out what I needed to do to start creating my own recipes for cookies and cakes. There is actually a lot of science that goes into baking; making sure you have the right ratios and correct proportions of ingredients. Alton Brown's book "food+mixing+heat=baking, I'm Just Here for More Food" is actually a great start if you're interested in a simple breakdown of the science behind baking.

Back to Sunny's cookies! I thought and thought about how I could combine all her requested flavors into one cookie and came up with Cinna-nilla Cookies complete with a white chocolate drizzle. These cookies are actually made by using two doughs and then twisting them together.

Being my first attempt at an original recipe, I definitely have some kinks to work out :) Now let me first say that these cookies definitely taste great (almost like a cinnamon roll in a cookie form). However, there are a few changes that need to be made to the recipe for the presentation to work.... OOPS! :)

Cinna-nilla Cookies
A swEEts Original

Bake: 350 Time: 12 minutes

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup white sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

Cream butter, sugar and egg until just blended. Separate mixture into two different bowls.

Bowl #1: Vanilla

Add 1/4 white sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 TBS vanilla pudding mix

1/2 cup flour

-Combine with hand mixer

Bowl #2: Cinnamon
Add 1/4 brown sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup flour

-Combine with hand mixer

Topping:

1/2 cup white chocolate morsels

-Melt morsels in the microwave for 1 minute, mix until smooth

Make dough into 2 individual balls, cover with saran wrap and place in refrigerator to chill for 45 minutes. Once the dough is chilled, use floured hands and a floured surface to roll each ball of dough into two long strands. *I found it easier to break it into smaller pieces and work with dough rolled out to about a foot long strand* Once you have two strands combine the top and braid/twist together (as shown in the the picture).

Then cut these strands into 4 smaller cookies, place on parchment paper lined baking tray, cover with saran wrap and place back in the freezer*. After 20 minutes, immediate place in the preheated oven for 12 minutes. Let the cookies cool and drizzle with melted white chocolate.

*This is where I made a mistake.. I didn't place the cookies back in the freezer before baking, which ended in the blobbed mess of cookie that I got. If you don't want cookies to spread it is important to freeze or chill them first so they will maintain their shape better.

* You could also try chilling the dough and making the cookies more like a cinnamon roll. Start with the vanilla dough- with a floured rolling pin (on a floured surface) flatten the dough into a long rectangle. Do the same thing with the cinnamon dough. Once those are flattened take the cinnamon dough and place it on top of the vanilla dough. Start on the edge and roll up making a log. Cover the log with saran wrap and place in the freezer to chill for 20 minutes. Once chilled you can slice the log (just like you would with slice-n-bake cookies).

Happy Baking!

Super Simple Crunchy Oat Bars

With only 4 main ingredients these are the easiest homemade Crunchy Oat Bars (and of course delicious). They whipped up in a matter of 15 minutes and need only 30 minutes of bake time. When I saw this recipe the first time I knew it would be easy enough to add all sorts of goodies to the simple base. I decided to try a couple different additions this first time around. The first batch were made with a special friend in mind- I planned to make these as a part of a care package, and he loves coconut so these are Cranberry-Coconut Crunchy Oat Bars (these are the bars featured in the photo). The second batch I made for myself and they happen to include apples and my favorite, cinnamon. 

As I cleaned up the kitchen, surrounded by the faint scent the cinnamon and coconut baking in the oven, I found myself conjuring up different variations to try for next time.

Super Simple Crunchy Oat Bars

325 degrees, 30 minutes

2 sticks of butter

1 cup brown sugar

2 TBS corn syrup

3 cups Quick Oats

On the stove top, use a pot to melt butter, adding sugar and corn syrup.

Once ingredients are blended, turn heat off and mix in oats.

This is your base.

Grease a cookie sheet (I lined mine with parchment paper-a baker's best friend). Press mixture into the cookie sheet, flattening with a spatula.

Cranberry-Coconut Variation

Add: 3/4 cup dried coconut

         1/2 cup dried cranberries

Apple-Cinnamon Variation

Add: 1/2 apple, chopped

        1 tsp white sugar  

1 to 2 TBS cinnamon (depending on how cinnamon-y you like them)

*Feel free to add more of the 'extra' ingredients if you wanted more of the flavor to pop. You just want to make sure there is enough of the base to keep the ingredients together.