Cinnamon Rolls

My mom called me in a panic Friday because she couldn't find my cinnamon roll recipe. Normally when someone needs a recipe, I can just tell them I have it posted on my blog, but in this case, I didn't. And I was at the church at crunch-time of serving dinner to 50 people when my mom called, so I couldn't give it to her. I promised her I would post it this weekend.

I cut this recipe out of the newspaper about 10 years ago, and it has never failed me. I love this recipe, and so does everyone else. I have big 13x18 inch pans I make these in (like a jellyroll pan with 2" sides, but I also have made these in 2 9x13 pans. The recipe calls for making 12 huge rolls, but I usually roll the dough long-ways and make 20, putting 5 rows of 4 in the pan. Otherwise, we had a lot of unfinished ginormous rolls, where 20 still makes big rolls, but an actually eatable size.

DOUGH

• 2 packages active dry yeast
• 1 cup water (105-115 degree)
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 1 cup warmed milk
• 2/3 cup butter
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 7 cups all-purpose flour (or more if needed, up to 8)

FILLING

• 1 cup melted butter, divided
• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar, divided
• 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon

CREAMY GLAZE

• 2/3 cup melted butter
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 4 -8 tablespoons hot water

Directions:

1. 1 To prepare dough: In a cup, combine yeast, warm water and 1 tsp sugar, stir and set aside.
2. 2 In a large bowl, mix milk, remaining 2/3 cup sugar, melted butter, salt and eggs; stir well and add yeast mixture.
3. 3 Add half the flour and beat until smooth.
4. 4 Stir in enough of the remaining flour until dough is slightly stiff (dough will be sticky).
5. 5 Turn out onto a well-floured board; knead 5-10 minutes.
6. 6 Place in well-buttered glass or plastic bowl, cover and let rise in warm place, free from drafts, until doubled in bulk, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
7. 7 When doubled, punch down dough and let rest 5 minutes.
8. 8 Roll out on floured surface into a 15 x 20 inch rectangle.
9. 9 To prepare filling: Spread dough with 1/2 cup melted butter.
10. 10 Mix together 1 1/2 cups sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over buttered dough.
11. 11 Sprinkle with walnuts and raisins, if desired.
12. 12 Roll up jellyroll-fashion and pinch edge together to seal.
13. 13 Cut into 12 slices.
14. 14 Coat bottom of a 13-by-9-inch baking pan and an 8-inch square pan with remaining 1/2 cup melted butter, then sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup sugar.
15. 15 Place cinnamon roll slices close together in pans.
16. 16 Let rise in warm place until dough is doubled in bulk,about 45 minutes.
17. 17 Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
18. 18 Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until rolls are nicely browned.
19. 19 Cool rolls slightly.
20. 20 To prepare glaze: Meanwhile, in medium bowl, mix melted butter, powdered sugar and vanilla; add hot water 1 Tbsp at a time until glaze reaches desired spreading consistency.
21. 21 Spread over slightly cooled rolls.
22. 

Mint Brownies

These brownies are always a hit. You will be everyone's friend when you make these. Best of all, it takes no time, and it looks like you really care. They are perfect for parties, showers, and I even made them for a wedding reception a couple of months ago.

The hardest part of these brownies is finding the magic ingredient.

No buttery, creamy inner mint layer . Just a bag of these. You don't even have to get a bowl messy melting them. Sprinkle them on top of the hot-from-the-oven brownies, wait 5 minutes, and spread them around with a spatula.

As for the brownies, why go to the trouble of actually mixing something, when at your local grocery store, you can find Betty Crocker mixes for around $1? I use 2 boxes of Betty Crocker brownie mix, follow package instructions, and pour the batter into a large rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes at 350. Then sprinkle the green mint chips onto the hot brownies and spread.

The green mint layer must cool until hardened before you frost. To make the frosting, I use 1/3 cup of softened butter, 1/2 cup cocoa powder, 1 pound of powdered sugar, a tsp of vanilla, a dash of salt, and 1/3 cup of boiling water. Mix it all together and add more powdered sugar or water as necessary to get a good consistency. Spread it quickly over the brownies, because the frosting sets up fast!

Fruit Pizza

This is one tasty treat. I used to make this a lot back in the Omaha days for dessert for a big group. Every time I make it people go crazy. But for some reason, this recipe sat in my recipe box unused for years. And I mean a lot of years!

When we had a wedding reception at our house a few weeks ago, we had this for dessert. I told the bride to skip the cake, because nobody really likes cake anyway, and every wedding I have been to ends up with tons of leftover cake. Sure, people take a piece of wedding cake, but it seems to me that most take a few bites just because it is there, and not because it is amazingly delicious. And then the families each take home a whole layer of cake that they can't eat, and it ends up getting thrown out, or put in the freezer to be thrown out later when it is pulled out and tastes like freezer-burned cake. We opted for this beautiful and tasty dessert instead of gross cake. For the non-fruity bunch, we also had some mint brownies (next blog post).

It also is the new favorite of my Young Womens group at church. Getting teenagers to eat fruit is a good thing--even if it means they eat it on top of a giant sugar cookie.

Fruit Pizza:

Crust: 1 cup butter

1 1/2 c sugar

2 eggs

2 3/4 c flour

2 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp baking soda

Cream together all ingredients in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Roll the dough out into either 2 9x13 pans or a large rimmed cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.

Filling: 1/2 c sugar

8 oz cream cheese

2 TBSP fruit juice

Cream these ingredients together and spread over the baked and cooled crust. Then decorate the pizza with cut up fruit. Strawberries, bananas, kiwi, grapes, peaches, apples, canteloupe, pineapple, etc.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Zucchini Muffins

I have always loved zucchini muffins. I have tried many different recipes, and always been slightly unhappy with the result. But a couple of months ago I found this amazing recipe. I never could have guessed that dried cherries were the magical missing ingredient.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

3/4 c sugar

3/4 c brown sugar

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp ground nutmeg

3/4 cups vegetable oil

1/2 cup applesauce

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups shredded zucchini (about 2 medium)

1 cup shredded carrot (about 1 large carrot)

1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans

1 cup chopped dried cherries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325. Combine the flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg in a large mixing bowl. Mix the oil, applesauce, eggs, and vanilla extract in another bowl and pour into the dry mixture. Mix until thoroughly combined. Add the zucchini, carrot, nuts, and dried fruit and mix until just combined. Coat 2 muffin pans with cooking spray or use paper liners. Fill each muffin cup two-thirds full, using an ice cream scoop or a 1/4 c measuring cup. Place the pans on the center rack in the oven and bake for approximately 20 to 25 minutes, or until the muffins spring back when touched. Cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and let the muffins cool completely directly on the rack.Number Of Servings:24

Crescent Rolls

A couple of weeks ago I catered (with my YW presidency) a fundraiser dinner for Girls Camp this summer. We sold 60 tickets and put on a fancy dinner at the church. I gave myself the job of making rolls. Not just any rolls, but big, beautiful crescent rolls. The kind of rolls you can't eat just one of. The dinner itself turned out great, but I think we got the most compliments on the rolls. I take no credit for it. The amazing Terese shared her recipe with me. I just follow the instructions.

Many of you have asked for the recipe, and so I'm posting it here. Enjoy!

Terese's Crescent Rolls

Makes 24

Bake @ 375 for 12 minutes

Mix and let stand for 15 minutes

2 1/4 c warm milk (warm in microwave) must be warm like a baby's bottle, but not hot.

2/3 c sugar

2 T yeast (If you double recipe do not double yeast)

Add and mix:

2 beaten eggs

2 T soft butter

2 t salt

Mix and add one cup at a time

6-7 cups of flour, until dough comes away from the sides of the bowl and clings to dough hook

Knead 5 minutes in the mixer. Put dough into a greased large bowl. Raise until double in size and then punch down. Raise again until double in size and then punch down. Remove dough from bowl and place on floured surface. Cut into 3 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a large circle. Work on a floured surface and flour your rolling pin. Cut like a pizza into 8 triangles with a pizza cutter (for smaller rolls cut into 12 triangles); dough will be quite thin. Roll each triangle starting with the large end. Bend slightly to shape into a rescent. Make sure the end of the triangle is tucked under roll. Raise again for about 40 minutes. Bake on greased sheets at 375 for an about 12 minutes, until golden (not dark) brown. Let the rolls cool and then turn them over so that the bottoms don't get soggy; or place rolls on a rack to cool.

Auntie Anne's

I don't go to the mall very often, but when I do, I can never resist buying a big old pretzel from Auntie Anne's. So buttery and salty delicious. They are Zachary's favorite treat as well. When I take him to the mall with me, he will endure any length of waiting for me in as many stores as I want, because he knows he will get a pretzel when we are finished. He can gobble down an entire giant pretzel by himself.

Last night I was craving said pretzels, but I did not want to drive to the mall to get one. I decided to google, and I found a recipe for them. I printed it and gave it a whirl.

I intended to post a picture of my creations, but they were devoured before I could even say, "Cheese!" So I had to steal a picture from somebody else.

They turned out just as tasty (Aubrey says even better) than the ones from the mall. Give it a try! So delicious. And Savanna is a pro at shaping the pretzels if you need any help.

Abram and Aubrey are having a party tonight, and they requested that I make these for some of the party food. Maybe I can get a real picture tonight. This recipe only makes 12, which is a problem if you have 7 kids and they each want 2 of them--and so does their mom. Next time I will double.

Auntie Anne's Pretzels
1 1/2 cup warm water
1 1/8 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup bread flour
3 cups regular flour

2 cups Warm water
2 tablespoons baking soda

to taste coarse salt
4 tablespoons butter (melted)

Sprinkle yeast on lukewarm water in mixing bowl; stir to dissolve. Add sugar, salt and stir to dissolve; add flours and knead dough until smooth and elastic. Let rise at least 1/2 hour.

While dough is rising, prepare a baking soda water bath with 2 cups warm water and 2 Tbsp baking soda. Be certain to stir often. After dough has risen, pinch off bits of dough and roll into a long rope* (about 1/2 inch or less thick) and shape. Dip pretzel in soda solution and place on greased baking sheet. Allow pretzels to rise again. Bake in 450 oven for about 10 minutes or until golden. Brush with melted butter and enjoy!

Toppings: after you brush with butter, sprinkle with coarse salt. Or for Auntie Anne's famous Cinnamon Sugar, try melting a stick of butter in a shallow bowl (big enough to fit the entire pretzel) and in another shallow bowl make a mixture of cinnamon and sugar. Dip the pretzel into the butter, coating both sides generously. Then dip again into the cinnamon mixture. Enjoy!

*The longer and thinner you can make the dough rope, the more like Auntie Anne's they will be.

Blueberry Buckle

This recipe is great for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, mid-morning snack, brunch--whatever. I think it is better than any Starbucks pastry. Lots of carbs to kick-start your morning.

I have no idea why it is called a Buckle. I suppose I could google and figure out why, but I just know that it is like a coffeecake.

Sasha needed a recipe for a breakfast meeting this weekend, so I told her I would post this for her. Enjoy! Just don't tell Mark it has lemon juice in it. This is one of his favorite breakfasts.

Blueberry Buckle
3/4 c sugar
1/2 c butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 c milk
2 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 c blueberries

Cream together butter and sugar. Add egg, vanilla, lemon juice and milk. Mix well. Sift flour, baking powder, salt together and add to butter mixture. Mix just until blended. Fold in blueberries. Spread batter into 9- or 10-inch square pan.

Make streusel topping as follows and sprinkle over top of batter before baking:
1 c sugar
2/3 c flour
2 t cinnamon
1/2 c butter
Cut into small pieces with pastry cutter or Cuisinart until crumbly.

Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes. You can bake a thinner version in a 9x13 for 35 minutes. No matter which size, make sure the center isn't still gooey before you pull it out of the oven.

Dill-Onion Dip

I've had a few people ask me for this recipe the past few weeks, so I thought I'd put it on here. I LOVE THIS DIP! It is fantastic with Wheat Thins, and really good with veggies. I made this for a wedding that I did the food for last May, and it was a big hit. If you have a Cuisinart, that's the easiest way to make this dip. If not.....Happy Chopping!

1 1/3 c mayo
1 1/3 c sour cream
1 bunch parsley
2 TBSP red onion
1 can olives
2 tsp Seasoning Salt
1 TBSP Dill Weed (or seed)

Place parsley and red onion in food processor, and pulse until they are finely chopped. Add all of the other ingredients and pulse until olives are minced. Chill and serve.