Whole Wheat Hawaiian Muffins

Whole Wheat Hawaiian Muffins at VanderbiltWife.com

Saturday morning is my favorite time to be in the kitchen. Usually Mr. V can man the children (or he sleeps and the older ones watch TV or play), so I can spend a little time actually cooking breakfast rather than doling out granola bars. OK, sometimes I hand out the granola bars anyway while we wait for “real’ breakfast. Mostly because David has a meltdown if he can’t have a “nola bar and cheese stick” every morning. (Pregnancy lazyness … going to work on eating habits this summer.)

I bought some macadamia nuts from the bulk bins at EarthFare last week, remembering I had pinned some delicious-looking muffin with macadamias on top. But it turns out those had bananas in them, which I didn’t have Saturday. And there’s no way I’m leaving my PJs to run to Wal-Mart on a Saturday morning just for bananas.

So I turned to another tropical flavor – pineapple. I love how these turned out! The pineapple is so sweet and delicious, the macadamia nuts add crunch and some real interest. In the future, I might use brown sugar instead of white (well, tan, since it isn’t bleached). I think brown sugar and pineapple are a match made in heaven, don’t you? Think pineapple upside-down cake!

Whole Wheat Hawaiian Muffins

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Yield: 12 muffins

Whole Wheat Hawaiian Muffins

Adapted from Vegan in the Freezer.

I added sour cream to make up for some of the body bananas have that pineapple doesn't, but I think you could substitute any kind of milk or yogurt.

Ingredients

  • 1 c. crushed pineapple
  • 1/2 c. butter, melted
  • 1/4 c. sour cream
  • 1 egg
  • 3/4 c. sugar
  • 1 1/2 c. white wheat flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • pinch of nutmeg
  • 2/3 c. chopped macadamia nuts, divided

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 12-muffin tin with cooking spray or line with muffin papers.

In a mixing bowl, stir together pineapple, melted butter, sugar, sour cream, and egg. Add dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt, nutmeg) and stir until combined. Fold in 1/3 c. chopped macadamia nuts.

Spoon batter into muffin cups, about 3/4 full. Sprinkle with remaining macadamia nuts.

Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center or a muffin comes out clean. Cool in pans for a few minutes, then move to wire racks.

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What other flavors say Hawaii or tropical to you? Have you ever been to Hawaii? I haven’t … but my cousin, her husband and baby, and my aunt and uncle are there right now. I keep seeing pictures on Facebook. I’m very jealous!

It’s Freezer Cooking Time in Tennessee

stocking the freezer

We are nearing the end of our school year here in Chattanooga. I’m sure public school lets out sooner, but the private school where we live ends May 31.

That makes me very, very excited because it means Mr. V is home! All the time! So we can each spend some one-on-one time with the kids, have family outings, take trips. But it also means: THE DINING HALL IS CLOSED.

Which, really, is OK with me right now. I look forward to cooking meals and not having to drag the baby to the dining hall in the sling and dropping food on him while I try to eat. But it sure is convenient not to have to cook or clean up.

So right now I’m using minutes here and there to throw some meals together for the freezer. As you can tell, our freezer is not very big so I can only do so much at one time. But every bit helps for the future.

Here’s what I’ve made this time around:

All of these either go in the slow cooker or the grill, which is great for the summer. (The pancakes can go in the microwave or toaster.)

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I also made this lovely Roasted Red Pepper Butter Sauce! I froze the extra sauce and will use it to drizzle over vegetables or fish sometime later in the summer.

Roasted Red Pepper Butter Sauce

Yield: 2 cups

Roasted Red Pepper Butter Sauce

Adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Simple Suppers.

I used about 1 1/4 cups of this for 1/2 a pound of pasta. The authors also suggest drizzling over fish, vegetables, or polenta.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 c. olive oil
  • 6 cloves garlic, left whole, or 1 T minced
  • 12 oz. bottle roasted red peppers
  • 1/2 c. butter, room temperature
  • 1 T lemon juice
  • 1/2 tsp. salt

Instructions

In a small saucepan, heat oil over medium. Add garlic and cook for about 5 minutes, until garlic is golden.

In a food processor or blender, mix red peppers, butter, lemon juice, and salt until smooth. Stream in oil/garlic and continue to blend until uniform.

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Here are some other favorites for freezing:

What’s your favorite recipe for freezing? Do you do a lot of make-ahead meals?

Almost Flourless Chocolate-Orange Cake and Sort of Indian Butter Chicken

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For some reason, this month’s Secret Recipe Club was a challenge for me. I blame it entirely on myself and my I-have-a-7-week-old brain, not on my assigned blogger, Claire K Creations. Claire is a lovely blogger from Australia and a newlywed – she recently celebrated her 1-year anniversary.

She takes some gorgeous pictures, like this one of her birthday Pinata Cake. Isn’t it beautiful, wild, and so fun?

 

I am in no place to attempt such majesty, though, and decided instead to try my hand at this Flourless Chocolate Lime Cake. On my first attempt, however, I had some trouble converting the metric to cup measurements. (Math is not my strongpoint. I have my math teacher husband for that.) The baby was screaming the whole time. And on top of that, I had a comedy of errors.

The recipe calls for almond meal or flour, which is just ground up almonds. So I thought hey, I can do that. But instead, my food processor whizzed right by almond meal and made almond butter. (OK, again, I was a little distracted.) So I thought I might make ground pecans instead. And the same thing happened. No meal. Just nut butter. Poo.

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So my first version had regular flour. And I think I might have put brown sugar in it?? DISTRACTED MUCH? That’s not even in the recipe. It was not bad, but it wasn’t great. I think it was overcooked and just not right.

IMG_2146
First version of the cake: It was flatter and I could hardly taste the lime.

Thankfully, the second version turned out much better. Although when I discovered that almond flour cost $12 a bag, I bought brown rice flour instead. So it’s still gluten-free … but not exactly FLOUR free, per say. For a true flourless cake, use almond meal. I also forgot to buy another lime, so I used an orange instead. Mmm. The orange flavor is really bright. The brown rice flour did lend to a slightly grainy texture … but for gluten-free cake, I think it’s pretty good!

Almost Flourless Chocolate-Orange Cake

Yield: 8-10 servings

Serving Size: 1 slice

Almost Flourless Chocolate-Orange Cake

A dense, fudgy, gluten-free cake. Mix it up with different chocolates or a different citrus fruit! Whipped cream on top is a MUST to balance the dark chocolate.

Ingredients

  • 150 grams dark chocolate (about 5.3 ounces)
  • 12 T butter
  • 6 eggs
  • 1 1/4 c. white sugar (superfine or caster if you have it)
  • 1 c. almond meal or brown rice flour
  • 4 tsp. cocoa powder
  • juice and zest of one orange
  • powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions

In a microwave-safe bowl or measuring cup, put butter (cut into slices) and broken-up chocolate. Microwave for one minute and stir. Microwave for additional 30 seconds increments until completely melted and smooth. For me, this just took one 30-second zap after the one minute.

With an electric mixer, beat together eggs and sugar until tripled in size, fluffy and pale yellow, mousse-like.

Sift flour/almond meal and cocoa. Gently fold into egg mixture. (You can use your mixer's lowest speed.) Slowly drizzle in chocolate mixture while continuing on lowest speed or folding gently. Stir in orange zest and juice.

Line a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper and grease well. Pour batter into pan. Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes. Start checking it after 35 minutes. The cake should be firm on top but still a little jiggly below.

If you don't want the top of the cake to crack, after it's cooled for half an hour put a dish towel over it. Cool completely in pan. Once cool, transfer to a plate and dust with powdered sugar.

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I wasn’t sure I was going to make a second attempt at the cake, so I also got ingredients for Claire’s Butter Chicken in the Slow Cooker. Staying right on course, I absolutely could not find any tandoori paste. So I had to go with mild curry paste.

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The chicken was tasty but I think it could have used an extra kick. I don’t know what’s in tandoori, but maybe that would have done it? If you use curry paste, maybe use a less mild one or add some red pepper flakes. (Libbie, however, thought it was delicious! So it’s 4-year-old approved.)

I also don’t think it’s terribly authentic, so don’t go spreading this around as a real butter chicken recipe. Something I read said the real key ingredient to butter chicken is fenugreek, which does not appear here.

Sort of Indian Butter Chicken

Yield: 6-8 servings (for 8 servings, I\'d throw in a few extra thighs)

Sort of Indian Butter Chicken

Don't be overwhelmed by all the spices! This is fairly simple to throw together and a fun, ethnic meal to shake it up some.

This recipe is gluten-free. It can also be vegan if you wanted to substitute tofu or use sweet potatoes, use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock, a vegan margarine, and coconut milk instead of sour cream.

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts (thighs are best so they don't dry out)
  • 2 T butter
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 tsp. powdered ginger
  • 1 1/2 tsp. chili powder
  • 3/4 tsp. turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp. cumin
  • 2 tsp. tandoori or curry paste
  • 14.5 oz. diced tomatoes, drained
  • 14 oz. crushed tomatoes
  • 1 1/2 c. chicken stock
  • 1 T brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/4 tsp. black pepper
  • 1/3 c. sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
  • 1 T nut butter (almond or cashew preferable)

Instructions

Place chicken and butter in slow cooker. In a large bowl, mix together everything from onion to black pepper. Stir together well and pour over chicken.

Cook on low 6-8 hours. During the last hour, take the lid partway off so the liquid will thicken.

After cooking time, shred the chicken in the crockpot. Add sour cream and nut butter and stir well. Serve over rice. (For a good Indian meal, you could also have naan and raita.

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Thanks, Claire, for the great recipes! In case it’s not clear, any errors were COMPLETELY my fault and didn’t have anything to do with the recipes. :)



Gluten Free Meal Plan via Musings of a Housewife

Easy Skillet Pork Chops with Brown Gravy

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I’m a big fan of pork chops (especially the ones I can get from a local farm). They’re good slow-cooked, grilled, braised, baked, or fried, right? They suck up flavor easily, so they work well for marinating.

My husband’s favorite meal as of late is this Paula Deen Asian Pork Tenderloin, which we’ve done as pork chops as well. I made it for New Year’s Eve, and he’s mentioned it probably 10 times since then! I made it when our dorm boys came over for dinner and then gobbled it down, too.

But last night I pulled some pork chops straight from the freezer. I vaguely remembered this recipe for pork chops with brown gravy, but it appears the site I found it on originally is down now. So here’s how I remembered it. I’m usually not much of a gravy person, but this gravy has a deep flavor despite its few ingredients and is a great sauce for rice or potatoes (or couscous in this case … I was in a hurry).

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Easy Skillet Pork Chops with Brown Gravy

Ingredients

  • 4 pork chops (bone-in adds nice flavor to the gravy)
  • oil or bacon grease
  • 2 cups chicken stock or broth
  • salt and pepper
  • 2 T cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 c. cold water

Instructions

Heat oil or bacon grease in a large skillet (preferaly not nonstick - this is a cast iron, which I love) over medium-high heat. Season pork chops with salt and pepper.

When oil is very hot, add chops to pan. Sear on both sides until brown.

Remove chops to a plate for a minute. Add chicken stock to skillet, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to loosen browned bits.

Turn heat to medium-low and add chops back to skillet. Cook for about 30 minutes, turning once, until chops are done and tender. Time may depend on the thickness of your chops.

When they are done, remove them to a plate or serving platter. Turn the heat up to high and let stock simmer for 5 minutes to reduce. Add cornstarch slurry and whisk rapidly. It should thicken immediately. Remove from heat and season to taste.

Spoon gravy over chops and serve with rice, potatoes, or couscous to mop up gravy.

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Just for fun, let’s link up our favorite pork chop recipes! {Subscribers, click through to the post to see the link-up and add your own links.}

Lemony Vegetable Quinoa Salad

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I know I’ve been posting a whole lot of sweet stuff here lately. But I promise, I’m eating some healthy things, too! I’ve been scarfing down veggies with eggs and avocado for breakfast in an attempt to stay full. It works wonders for this nursing mama.

This quinoa salad was a big hit with my husband and my in-laws, much to my surprise! Usually my husband sticks with classic food. But I filled this with vegetables we both like, and he didn’t complain about the unpronouncable quinoa. He even suggested the salad would be great on spinach and proceeded to eat it like that the next day.

You can use any veggies you like in here. Crunchy ones like bell pepper give a nice contrast to the quinoa. The original recipe calls for tomatoes, which I’m sure would be fantastic if you like them. But I don’t.

Lemony Vegetable Quinoa Salad

Lemony Vegetable Quinoa Salad

Adapted from The Garden Grazer, who adapted it from Betty Crocker

Ingredients

  • 2 cups cooked and cooled quinoa
  • 15 oz. canned garbanzo beans (chickpeas), rinsed and drained
  • 2 sweet bell peppers, diced small
  • 1/2 c. frozen corn, defrosted (in the summer, you can sub fresh corn ... yum!)
  • 1/2 c. frozen peas, defrosted
  • 2 green onions, white and light green parts, thinly sliced
  • Dressing
  • 2 T olive oil
  • 2 T lemon juice
  • 1 1/2 tsp. dried basil or 2 T fresh basil, cut in chiffonade

Instructions

Combine all salad ingredients in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together dressing ingredients. Pour dressing over salad and toss well to combine. For best results, refrigerate for at least an hour to let flavors meld.

Mr. V suggests serving this on baby spinach salad with a little extra dressing for optimum goodness. It's terrific by itself, though, too!

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Do you like quinoa? If so, what’s your favorite quinoa recipe? I’m always looking for a good one. 

Gluten Free Meal Plan via Musings of a Housewife

This recipe is gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, vegan … and altogether just good and healthy!

Added to Ultimate List of Mom Resources.

Orange-Coconut Sweet Rolls

orange-coconut sweet rolls

My mom always made Pillsbury orange rolls as part of holiday breakfasts. I love those little suckers. I could eat a whole pan by myself. They kind of melt in your mouth like Krispy Kremes.

So for Easter breakfast, I wanted to make orange rolls. Because I love the combination of coconut and citrus, and had a can of coconut milk and a bag of shredded coconut staring at me from the pantry, I decided to mix it up a little bit and make Orange-Coconut Rolls.

coconut milk and coconut oil

I was not disappointed and I don’t think you will be either!

Just a warning, though: this recipe makes 24+ rolls. I didn’t realize that before I made the dough. So make sure you have room to store/freeze/give away some or at least 6 children before you proceed. Or cut the recipe in half.

To give credit, these are originally from The Pioneer Woman, and I looked at versions of them from The Country Cleaver, Table for Two, Running to the Kitchen, and Baked By Rachel. I took advice from all these posts, so thank you!

Orange-Coconut Sweet Rolls

Orange-Coconut Sweet Rolls

Ingredients

    Dough
  • 14 oz. coconut milk
  • 1/2 c. sugar
  • 1/2 c. coconut oil or butter
  • 2 c. white whole wheat flour
  • 2 1/2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour, divided
  • 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 2 tsp. salt
  • zest of one orange
  • Filling
  • 3-4 T butter, softened
  • 1/2 c. orange marmalade
  • 3/4 c. brown sugar
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • Topping
  • 1/2 c. shredded coconut (optional)
  • Icing
  • 4 T butter, melted
  • 1/2 c. milk
  • 1 to 1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
  • juice of two oranges and zest of one

Instructions

In a saucepan over medium-low heat, combine coconut milk, sugar, and coconut oil. Heat until sugar is dissolved and oil is melted. Remove from stovetop; sprinkle yeast over the top of the milk mixture. Let sit a few minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine 2 cups whole wheat flour and 2 cups white flour. Pour milk mixture into the bowl and stir well to combine. Cover loosely and let rise at least 1 hour.

After rising, add additional 1/2 c. white flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and orange zest. Knead for a few minutes, then roll out to a large rectangle (about 10x30 inches).

Spread rectangle with butter, then marmalade. Sprinkle with brown sugar and press into the dough. Sprinkle with salt.

Tightly roll the rectangle lengthwise, pinching seam to seal. Use a serrated knife to cut into 1-inch slices and place slices in a buttered pan(s).

Heat oven to 375F, letting rolls rise a little more while you wait for the oven to heat up.

Bake rolls 17-20 minutes, until done through.

Mix all icing ingredients in a bowl. If you want more of an actual frosting, you can add a lot more powdered sugar. This is just a glaze.

Sprinkle shredded coconut over the rolls. Pour icing over hot rolls and let cool a little before serving.

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A happy (belated) Easter from our family to yours. What’s your favorite holiday breakfast?

Vanderbilt kiddos

Bread Machine Monkey Bread (Secret Recipe Club)

bread machine monkey bread

For a lot of this pregnancy, I didn’t want sweet things at all. Ice cream didn’t even sound good. I ate fruit. I craved Very Veggie salad and some days could eat a whole bag of it. Yep, pretty much crazy, although it made my midwife happy.

Perhaps that, and my on-and-off-until-22-weeks sickness can account for the fact that I’ve gained a total of 4 pounds this whole pregnancy.

But in the last four or five weeks? Oh, I want the sweet things. Specifically, sweet breakfast breads. See: Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls, Graham Cracker Banana Bread … and my dreams are of Boston Cream doughnuts. (In my opinion, the only doughnut really worth eating.)

So I used this month’s Secret Recipe Club as an excuse to make yet another sweet breakfast bread.

My assigned blog this month was The Cookin’ Chemist. The author is Tessa, a young bride and pharmacist who uses her skills as a former chemistry major in the kitchen! I’ve bookmarked many recipes from her site to try later, like the Balsamic Chicken Noodle Bowl, Crazy Feta Dip, and Smoked Mozzarella-Stuffed Meatballs.

But for today, I decided on Monkey Bread. Because I’ve been craving it for weeks.

Despite what we told our daughter, Monkey Bread doesn’t involve actual monkeys. (Libbie thought it might have bananas in it – also not true, although an idea …) I loved that Tessa’s version features a yeasted dough in the bread machine. It’s a little different from your traditional canned biscuit dough (which I generally cannot bring myself to buy, anyway).

I would have – of course – added pecans to this if my children were not so picky. But even without them, it was darn good. Enjoy!

Bread Machine Monkey Bread

Ingredients

    Dough
  • 1 c. warm milk (I microwave for about 45 seconds)
  • 1/3 c. warm water
  • 2 T butter
  • 1/4 c. sugar
  • 3 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 2 1/4 tsp. (1 package) instant or bread machine yeast
  • Coating
  • 4 T butter, melted
  • 1 to 1 1/2 c. brown sugar
  • 2 T cinnamon

Instructions

In order listed (or according to bread machine instructions), place dough ingredients in bread machine. Set to "dough" setting and let it go! (Cookin' Chemist has instructions for doing this by hand or with a mixer, if you like.)

Generously grease a Bundt pan and set aside.

When dough is done, turn it out onto a floured surface. Roll into an 8x8" square. With a pizza cutter or knife, cut into about 64 pieces. (I have this awesome pizza cutter from my Flatout Bread Pizza Party.)

With a fork, mix together brown sugar and cinnamon. In another bowl, melt butter. Dip dough pieces into the butter, then coat with the sugar/cinnamon. Arrange in Bundt pan, staggering seams as you layer the pieces.

When you're done, cover the pan with plastic wrap and let rise for another hour or so, until the dough is 1-2 inches from the top of the pan.

Heat oven to 350. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Let sit for 5 minutes, then turn upside-down onto a platter.

Eat and enjoy!

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Graham Cracker Banana Bread {Secret Recipe Club}

Graham Cracker Banana Bread

I always get sad when I see someone has been “orphaned” in the Secret Recipe Club. My group’s reveal isn’t until next Monday, but I saw today someone in group D was orphaned—the person who was supposed to make a recipe from their site didn’t.

I hopped over to the site, Colie’s Kitchen, and determined immediately I could make something from there. Because there were SO MANY good-looking and simple dishes!

Nicole is a married full-time college student, stepmom to a tween, and still wants to get dinner on the table each night. She hates to clean, so we have that in common. If she DOES clean, we might not share that …

Anyway, I saw this recipe for Nilla Wafer Banana Bread and was entranced. But alas, Nilla wafers aren’t something I keep in the house and I just went to the grocery store. I did, however, just pick up a box of graham crackers. Close enough! I just subbed in the graham crackers and added a little vanilla extract for good measure.

baking banana bread

This bread is phenomenal. And you know how they tell you to make chocolate chip cookies when you have a house showing? They are wrong. Make this bread instead. It infused our whole apartment with amazing banana bread scent. I wasn’t even hungry but I couldn’t resist cutting off a slice from the popping-hot loaf and it did not disappoint. The graham crackers add an interesting flavor that’s not usually in banana bread.

Thank you, Nicole, for this awesome recipe! It’s one I will make often.

Graham Cracker Banana Bread

Adapted from Colie's Kitchen

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 c. flour (I use all-purpose, unbleached)
  • 1 1/4 c. graham cracker crumbs (about one sleeve, crushed, minus half a cracker or so)
  • 2 1/4 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 c. butter, softened
  • 3/4 c. sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 ripe bananas, mashed
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 1/2 c. milk
  • 1/2 c. walnut pieces (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a small bowl, mix together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

With a mixer, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating until fluffy. On low speed, mix in bananas and vanilla.

Alternate adding milk and dry ingredients, mixing well after each addition. Stir in all but a handful of walnuts, if using.

Pour batter into a greased 9x5 loaf pan. Sprinkle with remaining walnuts.

Baking for 1 hour 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

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Easy Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls

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I’m learning to appreciate my bread machine lately. In our old apartment with our giant windows, the kitchen was very warm and it was easy to get to bread to rise. In our newer basement apartment, the kitchen is, well, chilly. No windows. It’s more difficult.

The few times I’ve made homemade cinnamon rolls they have been absolutely, divinely delicious, but have taken a LOT of work. Scalding milk = one pot. Mixing bowls x dough, filling, icing = tons of dishes to wash. Not to mention rises …

Well, these are amazing, and I mixed all the dough ingredients in the bread machine itself and didn’t use a bowl for the filling ones. So there! Less time, fewer dishes, makes it a winner in my book!

Easy Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls

Prep Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours, 55 minutes

Yield: about 20 large rolls

Easy Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls

Delicious and simple, these rolls are adapted from Money Saving Mom and the glaze is a variation of The Pioneer Woman's cinnamon roll icing.

Ingredients

    Dough
  • 1 c. plus 2 T warm milk (microwaved for about 45 seconds)
  • 3 T coconut oil or flavorless oil
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1/2 c. sugar (I used turbinado)
  • 3 c. all-purpose, unbleached flour
  • 1 c. white whole wheat flour (or more all-purpose)
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 3 tsp. bread machine or instant yeast
  • Filling
  • 2 T softened butter
  • cinnamon
  • brown sugar
  • Glaze
  • 1-2 c. powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp. maple flavoring
  • 2 T brewed coffee
  • 2 T melted butter
  • pinch salt

Instructions

In order listed, place dough ingredients into bread machine. Set to dough cycle and hit go!

When dough is ready, roll out into large rectangle. Spread with softened butter, sprinkle with cinnamon, and then sprinkle with generous amount of brown sugar. If you're feeling especially loving toward your children, sprinkle with chocolate chips. (Or pecans, or raisins, or whatever you like!)

Tightly roll lengthwise; pinch seam to seal.

Use a sharp, serrated knife to cut into 1-inch circles. Place in buttered cake pans.

At this point, I refrigerated mine overnight, which is why they are SO very puffy. If you're going to do this, put fewer rolls in each pan than I did!

Bake 20-25 minutes at 325, until browned and cooked through.

A few minutes before they are done, mix glaze ingredients in a large bowl. Pour over hot rolls. You could also use a cream cheese icing, add more powdered sugar for a thicker icing, or try Money Saving Mom's simple icing.

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What’s in your favorite cinnamon rolls? I would always add pecans, but my kids aren’t crazy about nuts.

Added to Ingredient Spotlight: Coffee at Eat at Home.

Vegan Blackberry-Coconut Smoothies

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My sister was here this weekend, and she is not only gluten-intolerant but also eating VEGAN right now. You can imagine that was a bit of a challenge to this cheese-lover! Mostly we ate out or at the dining hall, so it wasn’t much of an issue. But I went to bed Friday night dreaming of this smoothie, and got up Saturday morning to make it!

I only wish I had a decent blender that would grind up berry seeds. I know a good blender will. My Dollar General blender, which says “smootie” instead of “smoothie,” does not. I ended up straining mine through a fine-mesh strainer because I hate drinking the seeds like that!

Vegan Blackberry-Coconut Smoothies

Yield: 2-3 smoothies

Vegan Blackberry-Coconut Smoothies

Ingredients

  • 13.5 oz. can coconut milk
  • 1 pint blackberries (or frozen equivalent, and you can use less ice)
  • 4 handfuls ice cubes
  • juice and zest of one lime

Instructions

Add all ingredients to blender and mix until smooth. May need more ice or straining if you don't have a great blender.

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http://www.vanderbiltwife.com/2013/02/vegan-blackberry-coconut-smoothies/

Can anyone recommend a blender that is not a hundreds-of-dollars Vitamix but will still grind berry seeds?

Gluten Free Recipe Roundup via Musings of a Housewife

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