Joyeux Kitchen: Maple-Glazed Cinnamon Rolls

These cinnamon rolls are from Ree Drummond, a.k.a. The Pioneer Woman, and as far as I'm concerned, they are her greatest masterpiece.  I'm made them more than a dozen times and every person (EVERY person), after one bite, says, "These are the best I have ever had."  So...what makes them different?  Homemade cinnamon rolls are, in general, fantastic no matter the recipe, right?  You have to taste them to fully understand, but these are gooey, not dense, not too "bready", instead of the middle one being by far the best, each one is a "middle", the maple glaze is certainly a unique and welcome departure from the standard cream cheese frosting....

Warning:  Friends and relatives alike may fall hopelessly in love with you after tasting these cinnamon rolls.  They're the baked-goods equivalent of Old Spice body wash.  ("Helllllo ladies.")

You'll need:

• 1 quart whole milk (4 cups) ... and yes, it has to be whole milk.
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 packages active dry yeast (4 1/2 tsp if you buy the jars)
• 8 cups (plus 1 cup extra, separated) unbleached all-purpose Flour
• 1 tsp (heaping) baking powder
• 1 tsp (scant) baking soda
• 1 tbsp (heaping) salt
• plenty of melted butter (just go ahead and melt a whole box/lb.)
• 2 cups sugar
• generous sprinkling of cinnamon

Maple Glaze

• 1 (2 lb.) bag powdered sugar
• 2 tsp maple flavoring (found on the spice aisle with the vanilla)
• ½ cups milk
• ¼ cups melted butter
• ¼ cups brewed coffee
• ⅛ tsp salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Mix the milk, vegetable oil and sugar in a pan. Scald the mixture (heat until just before the boiling point). Turn off heat and leave to cool 45 minutes to 1 hour. When the mixture is lukewarm to warm, but NOT hot, sprinkle in both packages of Active Dry Yeast. Let this sit for a minute. Then add 8 cups of all-purpose flour. Stir mixture together. Cover (I use loose plastic wrap) and let rise for at least an hour.

After rising for at least an hour, add 1 more cup of flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir mixture together. (At this point, you could cover the dough and put it in the fridge until you need it – overnight or even a day or two, if necessary. Just keep your eye on it and if it starts to overflow out of the pan, just punch it down).

When ready to prepare rolls: Sprinkle rolling surface generously with flour. Take half the dough and form a rough rectangle. Then roll the dough thin, maintaining a general rectangular shape. Drizzle 1/2 to 1 cup melted butter over the dough--I use somewhere between 1/2 and 1 cup...it's more of a feeling than an exact science. Now sprinkle 1 cup of sugar over the butter followed by a generous sprinkling of cinnamon.

Now, starting at the opposite end, begin rolling the dough in a neat line toward you. Keep the roll relatively tight as you go. Next, pinch the seam of the roll to seal it.

Spread 1 tablespoon of melted butter in a seven or nine inch round foil cake or pie pan (I use 9 in round foil cake pans). Then begin cutting the rolls approximately ¾ to 1 inch thick and laying them in the buttered pans (an easy way to cut the rolls is to use dental floss for nice even slices).

Repeat this process with the other half of the dough. Let the rolls rise for 20 to 30 minutes, then bake at 375 degrees until light golden brown, about 15 to 18 minutes.  (If you don't want to bake them right away, at this point you could cover and put the pans in the fridge for baking the next day, or put in the freezer for future use.--See step four of the tutorial at her link.)

For the frosting, mix together all ingredients listed and stir well until smooth. It should be thick but pourable. Taste and adjust as needed. Generously drizzle over the warm rolls.

This recipe is easy for an experienced baker, but there are lots of steps and it is quite time consuming.  More than once I've lost track of how many cups of flour I put in and just had to wing it.  (Get ready for a shameless business plug...)  If you're dying to have some but don't have a spare six hours-ish to devote to brunch making, I'd be happy to be your supplier :).  Joyeux Kitchen taking orders starting June 1.

Joyeux Kitchen: Heavenly White Chocolate Apricot Scones

I think I should preface this post by telling you that I don't really like scones.  Even fair scones.  I know, right?!  That equates to blasphemy around here!  Those darn fair scones are woven into the tapestry of Northwest life like sandals with socks.  Anyway, thoroughly unimpressed with them and the whole scone-scene. 

But theeeeeeese are another story.  These aren't just scones--they're little droplets of cream-laden heaven.  And they've been around a while!  Apparently Lindsay made them a couple years ago and brought me one and I snubbed it (because "I don't like scones!")-- Sorry Linz!  So Jenae the scone fairy brought me one a couple weeks ago, just handed it to me, no plate or anything, and stuck around to watch me eat it.  "Oh dear God.  This can't be a scone.  What IS this???" 

She shared the recipe with me, and now I'm going to share the recipe with you.

White Chocolate Apricot Scones
You'll need:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup dried apricots, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup white chocolate chips
• 1 1/4 cup heavy cream (not whipped)

Combine dry ingredients.  Add fruit and chocolate.  Use fork to stir in cream.  Knead on floured board 8 - 9 times.  Divide dough into two flat rounds and cut into traditional triangles, or roll out the dough and use a round or heart cookie cutter like I did.  Bake for 11 minutes at 425 degrees.

The glaze is the only part of the original recipe that I'm not sold on.  I made it for the first batch and it left me wanting....something.  (The original instructions: In a small saucepan, melt together 3 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons sugar. Brush over warm scones.)  The top picture is sugar cookie glaze on the left and butter/sugar on the right.

Soooooo, given that I'm prone to acts of lavish culinary excess, I decided to try pairing the sugar cookie glaze I used at Christmas with these scones, and the result was nothing short of spectacular.  Does it make the recipe questionably more dessert than breakfast?  Judgement call.  I'm cool with it, but I also think it's justified to eat pumpkin pie for breakfast for a week after Thanksgiving.

Joyeux Kitchen: Waffles Of Insane Greatness

I can't take credit for naming this recipe (or really anything about this recipe)--it's from Food Network, I know, huge surprise.  It's a family favorite for weekend mornings, and I've also used it for a girls' fondue night and it was spectacular.  If you think you've had good waffles you ain't seen nothin' yet.

Waffles of Insane Greatness
You'll need:

• 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup whole milk or buttermilk
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Butter and syrup, for serving

Combine the dry ingredients.  Add the wet ingredients, mix well, and then let the batter sit for 30 minutes before making your waffles.  My recipe notes: I always use buttermilk and I substitute canola oil for vegetable oil.  And I always make a double batch because the whole family goes back for seconds and thirds.  Happy weekend brunching!

Joyeux Kitchen: Cinnamon Roll Pancakes!

Baking Serendipity's Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

These were a hit with the whole family: two breakfast favorites smooshed together to create the perfect storm of gooey carbs and sugar.  I made cream cheese frosting without a recipe (about 2/3 a brick of softened cream cheese and then kept adding powdered sugar and drizzles of milk with the hand-mixer until the taste and spreadability were just right).  I'm sure syrup would be just fine, but the cream cheese spread...my oh my...got all melty when it hit the hot cakes... it's okay to moan with delight about your own cooking, right? 

P.S. -- Yes.  I served these delicious pancakes on paper plates with plastic forks although they were deserving of our wedding china.  The dishwasher is broken and heaven help me I am TIRED of doing dishes.  Even if you come over for a steak, I'm gonna give it to you on the finest paper plates Target has to offer.

Additional note:  I just realized that I lied about these being 'a hit with the whole family'.  I had to forcefeed them to our four-year-old, but it all fairness, the only maindish type foods she will willingly eat are cold cheese sandwiches and bagels with cream cheese.  That's another post entirely.

Joyeux Kitchen: Blueberry Boy Bait

Blueberry Boy Bait
Funny name, excellent dessert/breakfast, Doug's finished half of it already.  My cousin Becky recommended this recipe, and she's quite a kitchen aficionado, so I went for it.  I don't think Deb at Smitten Kitchen makes anything that isn't heavenly.  You'll love her blog, check it out if you have a minute.  A couple of recipe notes: on her suggestion, I used buttermilk instead of whole milk, and I also doubled the amount of blueberries because I'm a firm believer that more is better.  Make this for someone special today! :) xo

Roots & Wings

♪♪ "When I think of home/I think of a place/where there's love overflowing..." ♪♪

If that's the definition of home, if home truly is where the heart is, then I've never been more at home in my life than I am right now.  We have so much love in this house, love in excess, love exploding out the windows and spilling out into the driveway.  One time in an interview, Julia Roberts said, of her three children with husband Danny Moder, "How lucky we are that we love each other so much that we burst into three pieces."  That's exactly how I feel about our little family. 

Doug loves crazy, rain-soaked Washington, and largely in part to our incredible Washington family and friends, I do too.  But is it okay to look back sometimes?  Is it okay to occasionally miss Kansas so much it actually makes me ache?  The nostalgia is so strong, it's tangible.  Sometimes if the weather's just right, a whiff of bonfire in the air, I can close my eyes and instantly be transported back there, just for a minute.

I miss everything about home.  Crisp September evenings aren't quite the same without a Spartan football game to cheer for; I loved the sound of a roaring, enthusiastic crowd in the stands.  I miss the smell of burning pastures.  I miss being able to get anywhere I needed to go in five minutes.  I miss the anticipation of having four distinct and dramatic seasons (I won't dwell on this one, suffice to say this Washington weather is hard on me).  I miss baseball season, I spent 19 years cheering on my dad's team... I miss the van rides home from road games we won (but I do not miss the van rides home from the ones we lost :).  I miss raging thunderstorms and nights in the basement huddled up listening to tornado sirens.  I miss the people.  Lord, do I ever miss the people, I loved our tight-knit little community.  I miss my Kansas family and my grandma's German blackberry kolaches.  I miss the simplicity and slow pace of life in a small town.  I miss the abundance of wide open spaces, the Flint Hills at night, and long drives on dusty gravel roads.

I guess if I'm really being honest, I miss my childhood.  I probably view my memories through rose-colored glasses but that's okay, I like the idea that you can hold on to the good things and let the bad fall away.  Life wisdom from Sweet Home Alabama: "You can have roots and wings."

I just can't help myself, I have to include another kolache recipe, this time from Homesick Texan.  (How fitting!  After further examination, I'll be doing a lot more cooking from that blog.)

Joyeux Kitchen: Perfect Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins (If you call it a muffin it doesn't count as dessert!)

**I know the ingredient list looks long-ish, but I made them with time to spare over naptime while baby-sitting an extra 15 week old.  No worries.**

On Monday morning this week, I pulled eagerly into the Starbucks drive-thru on Kent's East Hill.  I was eighth in line, waited 21 minutes, and was rewarded with a Grande Nonfat Yes-Please-Whipped-Cream Pumpkin Spice Latte and a Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffin that looked like it had gone for a roll in the hay with some buttered, sugared, (potentially fried?) pumpkin seeds.  Heaven.

Must.  Find.  Recipe.

 

I looked at a lot of different variations in my quest for the Perfect Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffin, even some claiming to be 'just like the ones from Starbucks,'  and this particular confection from Country Living had everything I was looking for: a rich, cream-cheesy topping, a crunchy element, and just the right amount of spice.  I adjusted the recipe to meet my needs; originally it called for the cream cheese to be placed in the middle of the muffin, like a filling, but fillings disappear in the oven... I like it on top!  Also, I added more butter and less flour to make the streusel more streusel-y.  Grunt: More butter.  (That was a Home Improvement reference.)

(Makes 24 muffins.)

For the cream cheese topping you'll need:

8 oz. brick of cream cheese, room temperature

1 egg

1/3 cup sugar

For the crunchy streusel you'll need:
5 tbsp. sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/4 cup pecans, roughly chopped (I used my food processor)
4 tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp cinnamon

For the muffin batter you'll need:
2 1/3 cups sugar
2 cups flour
2 eggs
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 cups solid-packed pumpkin
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.  Pop some liners into two 12-cup muffin pans (or spray them with cooking spray, but liners work better).  Mix the cream cheese filling ingredients in a small bowl with your hand mixer and set aside.  Toss the crunchy streusel ingredients in another bowl (actually, I think using your hands works best for streusel--dig in there and mix it up good!) and set aside.  Combine the dry muffin ingredients first (sugar, flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon) and in a separate bowl mix the eggs, pumpkin, oil and vanilla together.  Start your KitchenAid and slowly add the wet to the dry.  Fill your muffin cups (about 2/3 full) and top with 2 teaspoons of the cream cheese mixture.  Sprinkle some of the streusel on top of each muffin and bake until golden and a tester, inserted into the center, comes clean -- 20 to 25 minutes depending on your oven.  Cool on wire racks.  Sigh.  Happy September, everyone!