WARM WONDERFUL CINNAMON ROLLS

Do you love cinnamon rolls as much as I do?  I go nuts over warm, fresh from the oven, homemade cinnamon rolls.

They can really take a lot of time to make though.  So most of the time, I settle for store bought or even the ones from the can.

I'm going to share with you an easy way to make these. No one will know you didn't spend hours and hours making them.

There are a few secrets to making these yummy treats.

First, start with one loaf of thawed, frozen bread dough.  It saves all the time you would spend making it from scratch and trust me, no one will know the difference. 

But, if you want to make the dough from scratch you can surely do so.  These will taste wonderful either way.

Roll the dough into a rectangle.  This is the hardest part as sometimes bread dough doesn't want to roll out. 

Brush the rolled out dough with 3 tablespoons of softened butter.

In a bowl combine 2/3 cup of brown sugar, 2/3 cups of chopped nuts (I used walnuts) and 1 tablespoon of cinnamon. 

Sprinkle the mixture over the buttered dough. 

Roll up dough like a jelly roll.  Start with long edge. 

Cut the rolls into 12 slices.  Place rolls into a lightly buttered 9x13 inch cake pan.  Cover with dish towel and let sit for about 1 1/2 hours so they can rise about double in size.

Here is the 2nd secret to making these the best cinnamon rolls. 

When ready to go into the oven, poor 1/3 cup of heavy cream over the rolls.

Bake at 350 degrees for 24 mins.

While they are baking, combine 1 1/3 cup sifted powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon milk, 1 tablespoon heavy cream and a tsp. of vanilla.  Mix well, add a bit more milk or cream if to thick.

Drizzle over the rolls while still warm.

Makes 12 large cinnamon rolls.

Of course if you don't like icing on your cinnamon rolls then just don't add it.  I happen to love the icing.

Here is the recipe all in one spot if you want to print it out.

Cinnamon Rolls

1 loaf frozen bread dough, thawed -  or make homemade dough
3 tablespoons softened butter - more for pan
2/3 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup chopped nuts (I use walnuts)
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 1/3 cups sifted powdered sugar (be sure to sift so you don't have lumps)
1 tablespoon milk
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla

Roll dough into a rectangle.  Brush with softened butter.  Combine brown sugar, nuts and cinnamon in bowl.  Sprinkle over rolled out dough. 

Starting at long edge roll up like a jelly roll.

Cut into 12 slices.  Place into 9x13 inch lightly buttered pan.  Cover and let rise until doubled in size.  About 1 1/2 hours.

Pour cream over the rolls and bake at 350 degrees for 24 mins.

While rolls are baking, combine powdered sugar, milk, cream and vanilla.  Add a bit more milk or cream if to thick. 

Drizzle over rolls while still warm.

Enjoy!

Makes 12 large rolls.

I'm linking up with Tip Junky for Homemade Projects. 

TRIPLE BERRY COBBLER

Tonight there was a little nip in the air and it reminded me that Fall is actually here. What could be better then to bake some yummy cobbler.

I had never made cobbler before. I just followed the directions. Though I think next time I will make individual ones.

I love the crust part so, I used all the dough. It may be to much for some people but for others, like me, it's great to have that extra crust.

I served it with a nice scoop of vanilla ice cream. Yum!

OK, I have to be honest. I did make it but, not from scratch. I used these great products from William Sonoma.

The cobbler crust is a mix from, Award Winning Chef, Thomas Keller's Napa Valley restaurant.

Everything comes in the box and you just add eggs, buttermilk and butter. Even the sugar and cinnamon you sprinkle on top comes in there.

The berries are a mix of blackberries, raspberries and blueberries. You just dump the whole jar into the pan and top it with the crust. Bake it and in 1/2 hour you fresh wonderful Triple Berry Cobbler.

If you have a Williams Sonoma near you, I recommend you try it yourself. You won't be sorry you did.

Would you like yours with nuts or without?

I wanted to thank all of you who checked in on me and wished me well while we had our storms here in CA. It's still raining on and off today but they say the worst parts are all over. In fact, the sun is shinning bright as I type this post.


Tomorrow I'm going to my brother's house and spending the night with him while his wife goes to celebrate her sister's birthday.

He said he has been been down and depressed and I asked him if there was anything I could do to help perk him up. He said "Yes, bring chocolate!". He is a MAJOR chocolate lover.

So, I thought I would bake for him.

Can you tell what I'm going to make by the above ingredients?


Here it is all mixed up. Can you tell yet? Let me give you a hint. Some people love nuts in their while others don't want the nuts at all.

In fact, my sister, Patty, asked me to leave her some to enjoy this weekend. My brother requested no nuts. Oh no! What is a girl to do?

Why make 1/2 a pan without nuts and then quickly add nuts to the 1/2. I just poured the no nut batter in the pan first and then added the nut mix later.

Of course, you couldn't do this if someone is allergic to nuts though. You would have to make the whole pan without nuts.

Boy the smell of the whole house filled up with a yummy chocolate smell as these baked up.

I thought I would serve you up some as soon as they are finished. I got out some of my pink depression glass plates and a sweet little lace napkin.

I just got the bird napkin rings from EBay not to long ago so I used them too.

Aren't the little birds darling?

So did you guess what you will be having for your afternoon snack?

That's right! Nice warm chocolate brownies right out of the pan. A cold glass of milk goes perfectly with brownies.

I took them out of the pan shortly after they came out of the oven. I should have let them cool a bit more so they wouldn't fall apart. Oh well. I bet they still taste just as good.

I gave this one to Patty. She said it was perfect. Not dry, nice and warm and full of chocolate flavor.

Since they did crumble a bit as I took them out of the pan I had to have a bite! WOW! Talk about an explosion of chocolate. I don't know if I'm just not used to eating things like this or what but this was super rich. One bite sent my taste buds into heaven.

But, since these are not Weight Watcher friendly, I only had that one bite. I must really be learning to eat the Weight Watcher way now because I was fine with only that one bite. Before, I would have eaten a whole brownie with no problem and maybe even had a 2nd one.

So here is the plate. There are plenty more in the pan so help yourself to as many as you like. Would you like yours with nuts or no nuts.

Oh, guess what? By the time I finished typing this post, the sun has gone away and it is pouring rain again.

That's ok though because the sound of the rain makes me happy. I love when it rains.

MY HOUSE SMELLS LIKE FALL

To me, the smells of cinnamon, spices and baking are signs Fall is in the air.

That's just what it smells like here at my home. Why? Because I baked some yummy homemade Snicker-doodles.

They are so good with the slight crunchy outside and soft center inside.

Here, would you like one or two? Help yourself.

There are so many recipes out there for this cookie and they are all about the same with maybe a little change here or there. I'm sure most of you have this cookie recipe yourself so I won't bother to post it. But, if you don't have one that you like, let me know and I would be happy to send you this one.

I like a little stronger cinnamon flavor so I add a bit more then is called for. I also add a little bit to the dough too.

I have to admit thought that it was hot while I baked these. It's still a bit to warm for baking so I'm really looking forward to the cooler days so I can do a lot more baking.

If you have any great cookies you love please let me know the recipe so I can try them too.

Hugs,

Joanne