Cinnamon Rolls

Yummy, soft, sweet yeast rolls filled with cinnamon sugar are one of my favorite comfort foods ever. They do take time but they are so worth it.

Ingredients:

4 teaspoons instant dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 egg
2 cups bread flour
2 to 3 cups all purpose flour

2 tablespoons melted butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Add warm water to yeast and let proof for 10 minutes.
Add butter, sugar, salt, milk, egg and bread flour. Knead either by hand or kitchen aid mixer with a dough hook until combined. Add 2 cups all purpose flour and combine. Add additional flour until dough is soft yet manageable. I usually end up with about 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour total.
Knead dough for an additional 3 minutes in your kitchen aid or 5 minutes by hand.

Allow dough to rise in a bowl for 90 minutes.

Once dough has risen, move to a workable space and roll into a large rectangle, roughly 18x12 inches.

Brush dough with melted butter.
Combine sugars and cinnamon and spread evenly over dough.

Roll and cut into 18 rolls. You can bake them in two round 9 inch pans, two square 9 inch pans or one 9x13 pan.
Spray pans with non stick spray then arrange rolls.
Allow rolls to rise and fill pan(s). Should take about another hour.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.
Allow to cool for 20 minutes before frosting.

Vanilla Bean Icing

2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
2 to 4 tablespoons milk

Combine all ingredients until smooth.

Cheesecake

Holy cow people! Do I have a treat for you! The other day I woke up and thought "I need to make cheesecake better". So I did... :)

I started thinking how I could improve on the standard cream cheese/ sugar/ whole eggs/ etc recipes. It hit me. Pastry cream. Anyone who has worked with me knows that making a great pastry cream is my favorite thing in probably the entire world. So simple, so creamy, so yummy. So I merged these two together (sort of) for a superb creamy, custardy cheesecake that is neither too light or too dense. It really came out perfect. Sorry to brag but HOLY COW.

Ok, I obviously like cheesecake.........

Here's the deal: I am NOT convinced that Philly Cream Cheese is any better than regular store brand. Especially when baking. If it's on sale I'll buy it, but not under any other circumstances.

I am however, SUPER sure that the right eggs CAN make a difference. My wonderful mother supplies me with farm fresh lovelies, but for the average bear, any organic egg is great. Remember, it's more about what the chickens eat then where they sit.

Don't go on the free range soap box... don't go on the free range soap box...

Ok, I resisted it. I have a great 8 inch spring form pan I use for this, but the recipe can be made at 1.5x for a 10 inch. Also can go in a deep pie plate if you don't currently have a spring form pan.

Pan Preparation: I like my crust simply along the bottom, not up the sides at all. So I take a piece of parchment and cut it about 3 inches wide and run it along the walls of the pan. You can use a small piece of tape on the pan side of the parment to hold it at the right size and place. Then I cover the entire exterior of the spring form pan in foil to prevent leakage in the water bath. Then I press the crust in. Then I put the filling in. After it's ready I put the contraption in an oven safe pan for the water bath. I have this great sauté pan that I use because it is round and deep and has a lovely handle so I don't hurt myself. ;) Then the whole thing goes in the oven with the rack pulled out. Lastly, I pour boiling water into the water bath and slide the rack in.

Oh, DO NOT SKIP the water bath. It makes a huge difference.

Preheat oven to 300°

Graham crust:

12 graham cracker squares
Pinch of salt
3 Tbs sugar
4 Tbs butter, melted

Filling:

16 oz. Cream Cheese, room temp
1 1/3 cup granulated sugar
4 egg yolks
2 tsp vanilla bean paste (or high quality extract)
1/4 tsp salt
4 tbsp cornstarch
1/3 cup half & half

Mix all crust ingredients  in a bowl and press into bottom of pan with parchment around the inside wall. Set aside.

Now would be a good time to put 4 cups of water on to boil for your water bath.

With the paddle attachment on your mixer (or beaters if you're using a hand held) whip cream cheese until soft. Add sugar and whip for 1 minute. Add egg yolks, vanilla, salt, and cornstarch. Mix until well combined, about 2 minutes. Add half & half and mix until combined.

Transfer filling into pan with crust. Whack the pan on the counter 5 or 6 times and prick any air bubbles that surface with a knife or toothpick.

Place pan into water bath pan. Pull oven rack out slightly and place the whole thing on the rack. Pour water in water bath pan ( you want it to come up to about 80% of the pan's height). Gently slide rack into oven.

Bake for 1 hour and 40 minutes. That's a long time.. I know... When your 100 minutes is over, turn the oven off and leave the cheesecake in the warm oven for 30 minutes. Now you can pull the whole thing out. Bring cheesecake out of water bath and allow to cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for 6 hours before eating.

Maple Bacon Macarons

Are you guys as in love with the maple bacon trend as I am?! Yes!? Well here is a great recipe for some tasty maple bacon buttercream filled macarons.

The macaron cookie recipe that I used is a classic. I googled for videos that might help explain the process of making a French macaron. This one is just fabulous, follow it to a T and you will have the perfect cookie:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xJ636Y8N6E8&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DxJ636Y8N6E8

Macaron:
1 cup sliced or slivered blanched almonds or 1 cup almond flour
2 cups powdered sugar
3 egg whites (room temp)
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Filling:
4 tablespoons softened unsalted butter
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons dark maple syrup
4 slices cooked and finely chopped bacon

Line two sheet pans with parchment paper and prepare a pastry bag with a tip with a 1/2 inch opening at the tip. I use my Wilton #804.

In your food processor or blender pulse the almonds and powdered sugar until it reaches a fine powder. You can skip this step if you purchased the almond flour and just mix the two together.

Run your almond and powdered sugar mix throw a fine mesh sifter to remove large almond pieces. If you have a considerable amount of large almond pieces (more than a tablespoon) pulse the almonds left and re-sift.

Whip egg whites and salt until foamy. Slowly add granulated sugar and whip until stiff peaks. Like super stiff!

Fold almond mix into your lovely meringue. 70-75 turns will create the perfect blended texture.

Transfer mix to your pastry bag and pipe cookies about 2 inches in diameter leaving at least 1 inch between the cookies.

Bang your sheet pans on the counter 6 times to release the air bubbles.

Leave cookies on sheet trays and allow them to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Bake cookies at 300 degrees for 20 minutes after they've rested.

As the cookies are cooling, prepare your filling:

Whip butter and salt until creamy and pale. Add powdered sugar and maple syrup and beat for 30 seconds. Add bacon and mix until combined.

Put filling in a pastry bag and pipe onto one side of the cookie. Add another cookie to make a sandwich.

Vanilla Bean Creamer

I've seen a few recipes floating around Pinterest for coffee creamer so I thought I'd share how I whip up mine.
I use Vanilla Bean Paste to flavor my creamer, and if you're new to my blog you might not have heard me rant about how amazing this stuff is and how much I LOVE it! I buy mine from Amazon. (That link will take you to the exact product)  They also sell it at Sur La Table and Williams Sonoma. Amazon has the best price.

You will need:

1 16 fl ounce bottle of your choice (squeeze bottle, mason jar, whatever you have)
1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cup skim milk
1 tablespoon Vanilla Bean Paste

Whisk together sweetened condensed milk, skim milk and vanilla in a bowl.

Pour into bottle and enjoy in your coffee daily! 

Chocolate Graham Cracker Layer "Cake"

So If you spend as much time as I do browsing pinterest, I'm sure you've seen the recipe where you layer pudding with graham crackers and the crackers soften and become cake textured. So, I tried it out.. but of course made my own yummy custard to put between the layers. It was fabulous!

Today was the third time I've made it and here's the recipe!

For the Creamy Custard:

3 cups milk, divided
1 1/2 cups sugar
6 egg yolks
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
3 tablespoons butter

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup powdered sugar

You will also need:

1 box chocolate graham crackers
1 "row" Oreo cookies
Whipped cream/ cool whip for garnish

First, let's make this custard/cream/ delicious whatever you want to call it.

1) In a bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup of milk, sugar, egg yolks and cornstartch. Set aside.
2) Scald the rest of the milk.
3)On medium heat, whisk in the egg yolk mixture slowly. Continue whisking and cooking on low heat until mixture becomes thick and bubbles slightly.
4)Strain through a fine mesh sieve and mix in the butter.  Allow to cool for 1 hour in the fridge.

To Combine:
1) Working with the whisk attachment on your Kitchenaid mixer, whip the cream with the powdered sugar until stiff. Move whipped cream to another bowl.
2) Switch to the paddle attachment and beat cream cheese until soft. Add the custard from the fridge and mix until combined.
3) Fold in the whipped cream.

In a 9x13 pan, place one sleeve of the graham crackers in a single layer. Spoon and spread 1/3 of the custard. Repeat with the remaining two sleeves of crackers and custard.
Crumble the Oreos on top.

Refrigerate for at least 6 hours, or overnight. Serve with whipped cream or cool whip.

Enchilada "Lasagna"

I prepared this recipe with some leftover Thanksgiving turkey I've got hanging out that needed repurposed. I use shredded chicken otherwise.

20 corn tortillas, I used
1- 28 ounce can red enchilada
12 ounces (3 cups) shredded Mexican cheese
1.5 lbs shredded chicken or turkey
1 cup
8 ounces cream cheese,
15.5 ounce can of black beans, drained and
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Combine shredded chicken/turkey with spices, salsa, cream cheese, and beans.
Layer ingredients in a Pam-sprayed 9x13 pan as such (listed bottom to top)

Enchilada sauce (about 4 ounces, cover the pan)
5 strategically placed tortillas
Sauce to cover tortillas
1/3 poultry mixture
3/4 cup cheese
Drizzle of sauce
5 tortillas
Sauce to cover tortillas
1/3 poultry mixture
3/4 cup cheese
Drizzle of sauce
5 tortillas
Sauce to cover tortillas
1/3 poultry mixture
3/4 cup cheese
Drizzle of sauce
5 tortillas
Remaining sauce to cover tortillas/pour down sides
3/4 cup cheese

Bake at 400 for 25 minutes.

Serve with sour cream and lots of avocado!

Cheesecake Marbled Brownies

I bake these in muffin tins. A) because I love brownie crust B) I really never eat a small brownie.... At least this way I can limit myself to one.
If you would like to bake them in a 9x13 pan, just line it with parchment paper and drop cheesecake marble on top of brownie batter in the pan. Then use a butter knife to marble the brownies.
For The Cheesecake Marble:
8 ounces cream cheese, room temp
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
For The Brownie:
1/3 cup cocoa powder
2 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup hot coffee
4 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 eggs
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cup flour
Oven: 350
Spray 2 muffin tin pans with non stick spray, then coat with a thin layer of flour.
Whisk all ingredients for the cheesecake marble and transfer to a squeeze bottle if you have one. If you don't have one, you can use a pastry bag or a ziplock with a corner cut off.
In a large bowl, add cocoa powder and chocolate, pour hot coffee over and let sit for 30 seconds then whisk until chocolate is melted.
Whisk in all of the remaining ingredients except the flour.
Add the flour and mix with a spatula until just combined.
With a 2 ounce ladle or cookie scoop, divide brownie batter into pans.
Using the squeeze bottle, squeeze cheesecake batter into middle of brownies and swirl a little on top.
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.
Allow to cool for a half an hour in the pans before attempting to remove them.