Lemon-Buttermilk Cinnamon Rolls

It's been awhile since I've been on a cinnamon roll binge. There was a time when I was cranking out Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls, Banana Bread Cinnamon Rolls, Sweet Potato Cinnamon Rolls, Cranberry and Eggnog Cinnamon Rolls, Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls, Hot Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls, Cinnamon Roll Bread Pudding....I even posted regular, plain ol' Cinnamon Rolls. Then came a vacation from cinnamon rolls. Oh, there were other binges in the meantime...muffins, all things sweet potato, waffles....but nothing quite as satisfying or as fun as cinnamon rolls. Now, just when you thought you'd never see another cinnamon roll out of me, I've become obsessed once again.

It all started a couple of weeks ago when I made a batch of cinnamon rolls for work. They were such a success that I decided on another batch, this time swapping out the milk for buttermilk and the orange frosting for lemon. To. Die. For. Who knew that buttermilk could make such a difference?!

The beginning of a beautiful thing.....

Of course I didn't stop at Lemon-Buttermilk Cinnamon Rolls. No, I went one further. Blueberries. I added blueberries and created the best cinnamon rolls ever. At least until I come up with another combination....

Lemon-Buttermilk Cinnamon Rolls

Butter, sugar, cinnamon, more butter, more sugar...these cinnamon rolls may the the best ever!

Ingredients

• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 (.25 ounce) package instant yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
• 1 egg, room temperature, slightly beaten
• 3 1/4 cups to 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups fresh blueberries, optional
• Frosting:
• 2 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1 tablespoon butter, softened
• 2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon peel
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1-2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Instructions

1. Heat the buttermilk, 1/4 cup butter, and 1/4 cup sugar in a small saucepan until the butter is melted and the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool until the temperature is between 110 and 120 degrees F. (bathwater warm).
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the milk mixture with the yeast, egg, 2 cups of the flour, and the salt. Beat well. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. When the dough has just pulled together, turn it onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 7 minutes. (Alternately, just use the dough hook on your mixer and let the mixer knead the dough for about 5 minutes).
3. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, turning it once. Cover the bowl with a clean damp towel and allow the dough to rise in a draft-free area until it is doubled in size, about 1 hour. In the meantime, mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon, and softened butter in a small bowl.
4. Gently deflate the dough and let it rest for 5 minutes. Roll out the dough into a 12x9-inch rectangle. Spread the dough with the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Sprinkle the blueberries over the top, if desired.
5. Starting from the long end, roll up the dough and pinch the seam closed. Cut into 12 equal sized pieces and place into a greased 9x13-inch pan. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. While the rolls are rising, preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
6. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and frost while still warm.
7. For the frosting, beat the cream cheese and the butter in a medium bowl. Add the lemon peel and the lemon juice, blending until smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar and beat to desired consistency, adding additional lemon juice if needed.

Blueberries are an easy addition.

Go ahead and double the frosting recipe if you like lots.

Perfection.....

What should my next flavor be?

Blackberry Buttermilk Popovers

I'm just back from my third (and final!) try for the big bucks at the 47th Pillsbury Bake-Off...Holy Cow what an amazing event! No win this time for my Lemon-Poppy Seed Pull Apart Bread, but the whole experience was so over-the-top exciting that I still need to float back to reality.

One thing that I have learned from my experience with the Pillsbury Bake-Off is that most home cooks are looking for something that's not only delicious, but easy to make. Working convenience foods into a recipe and putting a homemade touch on it is a perfectly fine way to make this happen. Did you know, however, that you can make something easy and delicious and from scratch? I'm here to prove it to you with these beautiful popovers!

A few simple ingredients and ...voila!...a beautiful thing!

Blackberry Buttermilk Popovers

Printable Recipe

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 cup buttermilk

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 pinch sea salt

1 cup flour

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

1 cup fresh blackberries

1-2 tablespoons powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a non-stick, 6 cavity popover pan (or muffin tin) with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs until frothy. Whisk in the buttermilk, granulated sugar, and salt. Slowly whisk in the flour, stirring until smooth. Stir in the lemon zest.

Divide the batter into the popover pan. Add 3-4 blackberries into each well. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until golden. Cut a small slit into each popover for steam to escape. Dust well with powdered sugar and serve warm with butter and honey, if desired.

Don't have a popover pan? Use a muffin pan.

 Go ahead and sub raspberries or blueberries for the blackberries...

Now the only question is Breakfast or Dessert?

Lemon Poppy-Seed Pull-Apart Bread #Pillsbury #BakeOff

Yum

So, here's the thing. This is a fabulous recipe. Seriously. Flaky biscuits are dipped in butter, rolled in lemon-sugar and poppy seed, baked until the lemon-sugar is wonderfully caramelized, and topped with an incredible lemony cream cheese glaze. Not only that---it's easy! We are talking seven ingredient- only 20 minutes prep time-easy.

The most amazing thing about this recipe? It's a contender for the $1 Million grand prize in the 47th Pillsbury Bake-Off that will take place in Nashville, TN on November 3, 2014. If you've read my blog before, you know that this will be my third and final try at the Pillsbury Bake-Off. Shock and awe, right? More than that, I am humbled by the recipes this one will be competing with. That said, this is my favorite entry to date. See for yourself.

I was excited to see Watkins™ Poppy Seed on the list of  eligible ingredients...it adds such a nice little nutty crunch to things.

I used the buttermilk Grands! biscuits...but the original works, too. It's the flaky layers that make a great pull-apart....

The seven ingredients begin with a can of Pillsbury™ Grands!™ Flaky Layers refrigerated buttermilk biscuits (8 biscuits)....there isn't a complicated yeasty dough to made, raised, and measured.  The biscuits are separated to make 16 smaller biscuits. Each biscuit is then brushed with melted butter, dredged in a mixture of lemon zest, sugar, and poppy seed and carefully placed in a loaf pan that has been lined with parchment paper.

Parchment paper makes it easy to lift the loaf out of the pan.

The baked loaf is allowed to cool for just a few minutes before it is glazed with a mixture of butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and lemon juice. It's best served warm, but on the off chance there are leftovers, it is fine served at room temperature too. In fact, in order to prevent myself from eating a whole loaf in one sitting, I found that it also freezes well and the slices warm up quickly in the microwave or in a toaster oven.

This bread has it all...sweet, salty, tart, creamy, nutty, sticky...it is truly addicting!

Is it worth $1 Million? My fingers are crossed that it is!

Are you ready for the recipe? You can find it right here on Pillsbury's website. If you try it, let me know how you like it. In the meantime, I'll be preparing to have the time of my life at the 47th Pillsbury Bake-Off!

Cornbread Waffles

A few weeks ago, I was the lucky recipient of a box of cornbread mix. Not just any cornbread mix, mind you....this was an advanced, preview box of Fleischmann's Simply Homemade Cornbread Mix. I was kind of excited about it, which is not unusual for me considering how I feel about food.

I've really never had good luck with making my own cornbread, so I was happy to give this mix a try. Of course, I can't just follow the recipe on the box...or even the recipes that were sent along with the box. Perfectly good and easy recipes, I might add. No, I was in the mood for waffles on Sunday and the first thing I thought of was that box of cornbread mix. Let's see how I did....

First, I added about a tablespoon of orange zest to the mix. Orange zest is one of my favorite things..it adds a little something, no? Then I simply beat two eggs into a cup of buttermilk and added 1/3 cup melted butter and a teaspoon of vanilla. I folded the buttermilk mixture into the cornbread mix just until it was combined. Then I made my waffles. Easy stuff!

I use a Belgian waffle maker and this recipe made 8 large waffles. 

A little butter, warm syrup, and fruit...perfect combination.

The best part of making waffles out of cornbread mix is the crunchiness of it all. It's not always easy to get the right texture, but this version even froze beautifully. Go ahead and make up a batch in advance...they are great to pop in the toaster for a quick breakfast before work or school.

Fleischmann's Simply Homemade Cornbread Mix has just rolled into your local Walmart stores for a mere $1.78 per box. Plus, you can find all sorts of recipes on their website, Simply Homemade.  It looks like they have all sorts of mixes...now I want to try the Pretzel mix. How fun!

So, tell me. Would you make a basic batch of cornbread or would you mix it up?

Disclosure: I was given a box of cornbread mix to try. All opinions are my own.

Orange-Vanilla Muffins

I can hardly believe that Spring (notice I had to capitalize it) is finally here. After such a long winter, I'm ready for something a little sunny. Sunny? What I mean to say is fresh, light, and...well..citrus-y. Not to worry--chocolate is never very far away from me--let's just change things up a little for now.

Just look at how refreshing this orange looks! I used one large orange for this recipe.

I'm a little schizophrenic eclectic when it comes to food. One minute I'm all about healthy and the next I'm stuffing my face with muffins. Seriously, though, look at all of the vitamin C going into this batch of Orange-Vanilla Muffins...... 

A little yogurt and coconut oil makes these even healthier. Believe it. Negates the sugar and white flour. Still feel guilty? Swap 1 cup of  white whole-wheat flour for 1 of the cups of all purpose flour.

My inspiration for these citrus-y muffins came from a new flavor of yogurt that I found while I was at the grocery store....Orange Vanilla. I love that flavor combination. It reminds me of creamsicles. I couldn't wait to try it in a recipe. Feel free to sub plain or vanilla yogurt if you can't find this one.

Orange-Vanilla Muffins

Printable Recipe

1-2 tablespoons finely grated orange zest, divided

3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 (5-6 oz) container Orange-Vanilla Greek yogurt (sub plain or vanilla, if desired)

1 egg, slightly beaten

1/2 cup fresh orange juice

6 tablespoons melted coconut oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.; line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.

In a small bowl, stir together 2 teaspoons orange zest and 1/4 cup sugar; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

Place the yogurt, egg, orange juice, and coconut oil in a microwave safe bowl or large measuring cup. Use a fork to blend the mixture. Microwave on high for 30-40 seconds, or until the mixture is at room temperature (and the coconut oil stays melted). Stir in the vanilla and the remaining orange zest. Add the liquid mixture to the flour mixture and gently stir with a rubber spatula until just blended--batter will be lumpy.

Spoon the batter into the lined muffin cups. Sprinkle the sugar/orange mixture over the tops of the muffins. Bake for 17-20 minutes, or until the tops spring back when lightly touched. Remove the muffins from the pan and cool on a wire rack.

How would you like to wake up to these??!!

The orange infused sugar on top gives these muffins a nice crunch...

Soft and orange-y--just like I wanted them to be!

What's your favorite spring food?

Strawberry Margarita Sweet Rolls...#NationalMargaritaDay

February 22nd is National Margarita Day and I can't think of a better reason to celebrate. In fact, several of us have gotten together to give you a plethora of Margarita recipes...everything from cookies to cocktails. A big round of applause to Heather Dar Schmitt-Gonzalez of girlichef for organizing!

While I love margaritas, I was a little frightened at the prospect of making them for a blog post...imagine how I would slur my words! I decided instead to be a little different and make a sweet roll using all of the flavors I love in a margarita.

Strawberry Margarita Sweet Rolls

Printable Recipe

• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 (.25 ounce) package instant yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg, room temperature, slightly beaten
• 3 1/4 to 3 1/2 cups flour (I use bread flour, but you can use all purpose)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 cups chopped fresh or frozen strawberries
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons tequila or orange liqueur

 Heat the milk, 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup sugar in a small saucepan until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat. Let cool until temperature is about 110 degrees F (like bathwater warm).

In a large mixing bowl, combine milk mixture with yeast, egg, and 2 cups of the flour and the salt; beat well. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. When the dough has just pulled together, turn it onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 5 minutes. (Alternately, just use the dough hook on your mixer and let the mixer knead the dough for about five minutes).

Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover with a clean damp towel. Allow dough to rise until double, about 1 hour. In the mean time, place the chopped berries in a colander or strainer over a bowl. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of sugar and 2 tablespoons of tequila or orange liqueur over the berries and set them aside while the dough is rising. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the strawberry juice for the glaze.

Roll out the dough into a 12X9 inch rectangle (I like to do this on my Silpat). Spread the dough with two tablespoons of softened butter. Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the butter and top with the chopped strawberries. Roll up the dough and pinch seam to seal. Cut into 12 equal sized pieces and place into a greased 9X13 inch pan. Cover and let rise until doubled.

Bake at 375 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until browned. Remove from oven. Cool slightly before frosting.

Strawberry Margarita Glaze

4 oz cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons reserved strawberry juice
1 tablespoon orange liqueur
1 tablespoon lime juice

2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon finely grated lime peel

Beat the cream cheese and the butter in a medium bowl. Add the vanilla, strawberry juice, orange liqueur, and lime juice blending until smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar and beat to desired consistency. Garnish the frosted rolls with the grated lime peel.

Now, check out what everyone else is making for National Margarita Day! 

Margaritas:

• Chili Lime Margarita from Curious Cuisiniere
• Chocolate Margaritas from The Texan New Yorker
• Creamsicle Margaritas from Savvy Eats 
• Frozen Mango Margarita from Noshing with the Nolands 
• Lilikoi Margarita with Li Hung Mui from The Little Ferraro Kitchen 
• Margaritas Gone Wild from Delaware Girl Eats 
• Mixed Berry Margarita from Kudos Kitchen By Renee 
• Mom's Wicked Margarita from Desserts Required 
• Pomegranate Margarita from Daily Dish Recipes 
• Spicy Raspberry Frozen Margarita from The Weekend Gourmet  
• Tamarind Margaritas from girlichef 
• The Great Grapefruit Margarita from La Cocina de Leslie  
• Tim G's Margarita from Sidewalk Shoes 
• Blackberry Margarita from Cooking for My Peace of Mind
• Strawberry-Tangerine Margaritas from Muy Bueno Cookbook

Margarita Bites:

• Baked Margarita Chicken Wings from Healthy. Delicious. 
• Chambord Margarita Macarons from The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen 
• Margarita Cake with Sugar Cookie Crust from Gotta Get Baked 
• Margarita Cheesecake Bars from Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks 
• Margarita Cupcakes from The Foodie Army Wife  
• Margarita Donuts from Big Flavors from a Tiny Kitchen 
• Margarita Mousse from Cindy's Recipes and Writings
• Margarita Shrimp from That Skinny Chick Can Bake 
• Margarita Shrimp Tacos from Supper for a Steal 
• Strawberry Margarita Sweet Rolls from The Dutch Baker's Daughter 
• Top Shelf (Margarita) Truffles from Culinary Adventures with Camilla 

Blueberry Bread and Butter Pudding....#improv

Welcome to the February edition of the Monthly Improv Challenge, hosted by Kristen of Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker . For the uninformed, the Improv Challenge is a monthly party where everyone uses the same two ingredients in different wild and crazy ways. This month's theme is Bread and Butter---how fun is that?!!

Before you get too excited, I didn't get very wild and crazy this month. Rather, I went for some good old comfort food.

How many of you have had extremely poor weather lately?--raise your hands. Yup--I thought so. One of the best ways I know of to soothe the weather blues is to make comfort food. Pudding made out of bread is one of the best comfort foods I know, so that's what I made. Bread and Butter Pudding. With blueberries. And it was wonderful.

Blueberry Bread and Butter Pudding

Printable Recipe

1 loaf thin sliced, firm white bread, 16-18 slices (I used Pepperidge Farm White Sandwich Bread)

1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/3 cup blueberry jam

1 cup blueberries

6 eggs

3 cups milk

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 325 degrees; spray a 9X13 casserole dish with cooking spray.

Spread half of the bread slices with about a teaspoon of butter and a teaspoon of jam. Top the buttered bread with an unbuttered slice. Cut each sandwich in half, diagonally. 

Arrange the sandwich halves evenly in the casserole dish, standing some upright, if needed. Sprinkle the blueberries over the bread.

My casserole dish is slightly smaller than 9X13, so I had to stand up some of the sandwich halves....

Whisk together the eggs, milk, sugar, nutmeg, and vanilla; pour evenly over the sandwich halves. Let the mixture sit for about 20 minutes to allow the eggs/milk to soak into the bread.

Bake for 50-55 minutes or until the custard is set. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve warm or cold.

Simple. Awesome. Comfort.

The only thing that would have made this better would have been some warm blueberry sauce. Alas, I did not make any, but this recipe looks good: Warm Blueberry Sauce. Make it and let me know how it is. In the mean time, check out what everyone else is making with Bread and Butter.

An InLinkz Link-up

Cardamom and Orange Pull-Apart Bread #Improv

Oh my—it is good to be back! I didn’t realize that I haven’t posted for over 2 months..yikes. For those not in the know, I had the good fortune of being chosen a finalist in the 46^th Pillsbury Bake-Off, so I’ve been a bit preoccupied. What a fabulous party Pillsbury puts on-- I didn’t bring home a prize, but the whole experience was just amazing. I plan on sharing some stories and some great recipes in the near future, but for now let’s get on with some baking!

It’s perfect that the first recipe I’m going to tackle is an Improv challenge sponsored by Kristin of Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker. Each month Kristin gives us two ingredients to get creative with. This month we have Cardamom and Orange, two of my favorite flavors (as evidenced in my Pillsbury Bake-Off recipe: Orange Cardamom Blueberry Crostata!).

Have you been seeing a slew of  pull-apart bread pins on Pinterest? I think I might be a little late to the party, but I've been wanting to try a pull-apart bread for awhile since they look so yummy. This is my perfect opportunity. 

Orange Cardamom Pull-Apart Bread

Printable Recipe

Dough:

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup butter

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon freshly grated orange peel

2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast

3-3 ½ C flour

1 t. salt

2 eggs, slightly beaten

Filling: 

3 tablespoons butter, melted

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cardamom

Frosting:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

2 tablespoons cream cheese, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

2-3 tablespoons orange juice

½ teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon freshly grated orange peel

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.; grease a large loaf pan (9").

Heat the milk, butter, sugar, vanilla, and orange peel over medium/low heat until the butter begins to melt and the sugar is dissolved. Transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer and allow it to cool to 115 degrees F. (bathwater warm). Whisk the yeast into the milk mixture and let it stand for 5-10 minutes, or until it starts to foam. 

In the mean time, whisk together 3 cups of the flour and the salt in a large bowl.  Add the eggs and the flour mixture to the yeast mixture and, using the paddle attachment, beat for about 2 minutes, or until the mixture is shaggy. Switch the paddle out for the dough hook and continue to knead the dough, adding additional flour as needed, for about 5 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Shape the dough into a ball and place it into a greased bowl, turning it over once. Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap and let the dough rise for about an hour or until double in size.

I love the orange color.....

Gently deflate the dough and let it rest for 5 minutes.  On a lightly floured surface (I use a Silpat) roll the dough into a large rectangle. Brush the melted butter over the top. Stir together the sugar, cinnamon, and cardamom and sprinkle all of it evenly over the melted butter.

 Using a sharp knife or a pizza cutter, cut the dough into 6 strips, then carefully stack all of the strips into one stack. Cut the stack of strips into 6 slices. Place the stacks of dough, cut side up, into the greased loaf pan (I staggered mine). Allow the dough to rise for about 20 minutes. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes; cover with foil if it darkens too quickly. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes before removing from pan. Frost while warm.

Carefully stack 'em, then slice 'em again...

Be careful not to crowd the dough...you want to leave enough room for it to rise.

The top may get a little dark in color, but be sure not to under-bake or the middle will be doughy.

I may use more orange juice next time to make more of a glaze...

For the frosting, beat the butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar and the orange peel. Add enough orange juice until the desired consistency is reached.

I spooned the frosting into a baggie and snipped the end...this made it easier to drizzle on the warm bread.

So good...and best eaten warm. Oh, go ahead and slather some more butter on it...

Now, let's take a look at what everyone else is making with Cardamom and Orange!