Saturday, September 17, 2011

Cinnamon Rolls and Buttery Yeast Rolls- a delicious 2-fer


I love to bake. As a little girl my grandmother would set me up on her kitchen counter, along with her creamy yellow Mix Master, and engage me in the wonderful world of flour, sugar, eggs and flavorings. Most often we made cakes, sometimes pies but sadly never bread. As an adult I married into a family that considers bread an all-important part of the meal. Seconds, thirds and so on of some type of bread items is required.
Early on in my marriage I discovered that I could make my own bread and so after my mother-in-law gave me what has become my most prized possession in the kitchen~ a cobalt blue Kitchen-Aid that I still use today, I began my adventure into bread-making.
As satisfying as it is to make pizza dough, sour dough bread and garlic butter knots, it's my Cinnamon Rolls that people usually ask for. As easy as they are to make; and truly bread is one of the easiest things in the world to bake, it does take an investment of time. Three hours for cinnamon rolls, no matter how delicious takes some commitment and so I developed a yeast roll recipe, made from the same dough that allowed me to get a 2-fer out of the process.
I'll post the recipe when I have a few more moments. I still need to make the cream cheese icing.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

A moist muffin that goes crunch


I came upon this really simple idea while making some Banana Muffins for my son Matt. In college and chained either to the computer or textbooks, he finds it difficult to stop and eat. Foodstuffs that can be held in the hand and devoured in several bites are a premium. I had just got done making some individual rustic tarts that received a lovely sprinkling of sugar on the crust before baking; giving it a wonderful crunch~ when it hit me. Why not add some to the muffins. In this case it was a light dusting of cinnamon sugar. The result is a moist muffin with a sweet crunch.
I would imagine this would work with most sweet muffins and adds that little something extra.