Tag Archives: breakfast

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

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These cinnamon rolls…  I just…  I can’t even…

OMG.

They are to die for.  I mean, So. Unbelievably. Delicious.  And, truly, they will kill you a little bit.  They will make your life a little shorter.  But it will be sooooo worth it.

As with so many of my most favoritest things to make, these began with a recipe.  A recipe which I made, over and over, tweaking a little bit each time, until I had THE PERFECT result.  I would like to properly credit the original author, but the thing took up residence as an index card in my recipe box probably fifteen years ago.  I do know this: it came from a cookbook offering make-at-home versions of favorite items from chain restaurants, such as loaded potato skins from TGIFridays, honey-whole wheat pizza dough from California Pizza Kitchen, and cinnamon rolls from Cinnabon.  Hence…

However, I don’t know if it was the author of this cookbook, or the folks over at Cinnabon, but their original recipe was definitely lacking.  They were holding out!  The cinnamon rolls were okay, but… I’m sorry.  Just not gooey enough.  A bit small.  And dry.  Just not the same.  Something was definitely missing.

So, here is what I came up with, and have completely fallen in love with, and will be serving for Mr. Allie’s birthday breakfast this weekend, as well as probably for Valentine’s Day in a few weeks.  And every other occasion thereafter, that warrants homemade cinnamon rolls.  (Is there really any occasion that doesn’t???)

Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

In a recent post, we talked a little bit about baking with yeast, and how it can be intimidating.  Pizza dough is a great way to ease into it, because it’s pretty low maintenance.  Well, if you’ve conquered pizza dough, and are ready to step it up to a new challenge, this recipe is for you.  We’ll be building on the basics, so check out the post in question if you need to brush up.

**Like what you’ve seen so far?  Click on over to my new baking blog for the rest of this post!**

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White Peach and Blueberry Pie

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I’m sure I’ve made it pretty obvious, over the last 100 or so posts I’ve written, that I *kinda* like to bake.  And I do it- A LOT.  So, I get a lot of practice.  And because of that, I’ve gotten pretty good at it.  But there has always been this one little baking subcategory that I just haven’t been able to master…

I live in Pennsylvania Dutch country.  For anyone who is not familiar, the Pa Dutch are pie experts.  Mavens!  Magicians…  If you’ve never had the pleasure of sinking a fork into a ground cherry pie, freshly baked by someone’s bitty little nana in her prayer cap, then you really haven’t experienced what pie is meant to be.

I will never live up to the pie standard of someone’s bitty little nana in her prayer cap, but that won’t stop me from trying.

These are some beautiful white peaches we picked up at a roadside stand in New Jersey.

White peaches burst with that same juicy nectar that dribbles down to your elbows, but are a little milder and sweeter than the regular kind.  Less floral-y and more sugar-y.

Few things in New Jersey could be more delicious than white peaches and blueberries in August…

**Like what you’ve read so far?  Click on over to my new baking blog to read the rest of this post!**

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Coffee Cake with Plums and Walnut Cardamom Streusel

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When I was a little girl, I remember spending many afternoons at our community swimming pool. My mom would always pack her beach bag with everything we’d need for the day: sunscreen, floaties, towels, and plenty of snacks to nibble on. We would lay our beach towels out on the soft grass and slurp on peaches, cherries, nectarines, and plums as the sun warmed our skin. They were so sweet and juicy, and even at five years old I knew that these summer fruits were something special, only to be enjoyed at the peak of their summertime season.

I’d love for my kids to have those same kinds of delicious memories.  This summer we’ve kept our fruit basket brim-full of all those yummy stone fruits (and more!) for munching out of hand, but I’ve also enjoyed baking them into lots of delicious dishes.  Here’s a little recap of some of YinMom YangMom’s best summer stone fruit recipes, just click the pic and it’ll take you right to the post/recipe:

Stone Fruit White Sangria

Grilled Peaches with Mascarpone and Crushed Biscoff

Incividual Cherry Cobblers In A Jar

Apricot Almond Clafoutis

…and, to round out the stone-fruit-a-palooza, this fabulous recipe for Plum Coffee Cake with Spiced Walnut Streudel!

This will make your whole house smell sweet and warm and delicious for days!

I took a few different recipes and modified them to make my most perfectly delicious coffee cake.  This one is great for a Sunday brunch, or if you’re having another mom over for a play date, you can sit at your kitchen table with a cup of coffee and a warm slice of this cake, and gab, while the kiddies play (or, fight, as is usually more accurate in my house!).

Coffee Cake with Plums and Spiced Walnut Streudel
(adapted from the following: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Plum-Streusel-Coffeecake-13137, http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-plum-cak-30243, and http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/plum-coffee-cake-brown-sugar-cardamom-streusel.aspx)

For the Streudel:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
contents of about 4 cardamom pods, ground in a mortar and pestle, or about 1/8 teaspoon pre-ground cardamom
1/2 cup walnuts
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

If you are not familiar with cardamom, it’s a really interesting warm spice.  It comes in these little pods:

…which you just crush a bit, and inside are the aromatic seeds.  Discard the papery husk and grind the contents.

Cardamom is used a lot in savory Indian dishes, but aso as a sweet spice in Nordic desserts.  If you like cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, clove, or ginger, you will probably also like cardamom.  You can order it from my shop: whole cardamom pods, or ground cardamom.

Throw all the ingredients together in a bowl and mix ‘em up with a fork!  Easy!  This is my new favorite way to make streusel.

Put the streusel aside, if you can tear your nose away from the intoxicating aromas, and get going on the cake.

For the Cake:
6 plums, pitted and cut into bite-sized chunks
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla
several scratches of fresh nutmeg, ground on a microplane, or
1/8 teaspoon pre-ground nutmeg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder

Begin by beating the butter and sugar together until really light and fluffy.

Add in the eggs and vanilla and beat to fluff again.

Now add the eggs, yogurt, and vanilla and mix.

Stir in the nutmeg, flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder to combine.

Pour half the cake batter into a greased 8″ round cake pan.  Top with half the plums.

Now spread the rest of the batter over the plums and tumble the remaining plums on top.  Sprinkle on the streusel and bake for an hour at 350 degrees.

What a special way to start a late summer morning!

Here is a printable 4″x6″ recipe card for you:  Plum Coffee Cake with Walnut Cardamom Streusel Recipe Card

I really hope you make this cake!  It’s so comforting and delish and I put a lot of love into it!

What’s your favorite thing to bake with summer fruit?  Leave us a comment and tell us all about it!  We love exchanging recipes with our friends…

And be sure to let me know how you like this one!

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Cherry Cobbler In A Jar

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Hey, go grab your sunglasses and your purse, I’m gonna take you for a little ride today! That’s right, just hop up on this here bandwagon, don’t worry I’ll give you a boost…

Ya, we are a little late to the party, but no worries!  Food in a jar is cool like that.  I gave it a headsup and it said it’d wait for us…

**Like what you’ve read so far?  Click on over to my new baking blog to read the rest of this post!**

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When Life Gives You Blueberries

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Do you live near a Produce Junction?  If not, you should really think about moving.  They have the best bargains!  You never quite know what you’ll find but you can be sure it will be fabulous and cost next to nothing.  Last weekend we got the most ginormous hostas for $7.50 each!  I’m telling you, they were big enough to divide into two or three plants each, and they were in full flower and almost as tall as I am!

One evening last week, my Mr. returned from work boasting about yet another fabulous Produce Junction find.  He told me blueberries were buy one get one free, and I was all, yah, so?  They do that all the time at the regular supermarket.  And he was all, no, you gotta see, and then he showed me and I was all, NO WAY!

It’s kinda hard to tell from this pic, but those containers are twice as deep and twice as wide as the normal blueberry containers.  To be exact, they are 16 ounces each.  Which is the way you’d normally see strawberries packaged.  And strawberries usually cost about half of what blueberries do, even though you get a lot more.  So, in other words, my Mr. got 32 ounces of blueberries for….(drum roll)… $5.99.  Score!

This is a lot of blueberries, my friend.  More than you could even bake into a pie.  I had to strategize.  I put on my thinking cap and the steam started seeping out of my ears.  I figured, make a blueberry compote, and then use some in that night’s dessert.  The rest can go into the fridge for… just, whatever.  I’ll give some ideas later in the post.  First, let’s make blueberry compote!

**Like what you’ve read so far?  Click on over to my new baking blog to read the rest of this post!**