Stracciatella Sweet Rolls

These are a 10, ten, Ten, TEN. They are good. Okay, maybe I'm a little too confident. My man rated them a 9 out of 10. And one of my best girlfriends rated them a 8.5 out of 10. That's a pretty good rating especially for two people who went to the higher level high schools here in the Netherlands. I'm told it's pretty much impossible to earn a 10. Unlike the United States where A's are given left and right. Just sayin' ...so in my opinion anything above 8 is pretty much the same thing as a 10.

Anyway, I was walking through the Aldi checking out new products when I come across Stracciatella boterham pasta - that's Dutch for sandwich spread. That's one of the sweet things about living in Europe... we don't just have Nutella - we have just about anything you can think of to spread on bread. So, I see it and grab a jar of it and try it out at home immediately... and to be honest, on bread it's a bit boring... but I know I can do something more with it. I try it sandwiched between to ginger cookies and I like it. 


Yeah so I figured it would be better as dessert, obviously.


I knew I would need to create a Stracciatella sweet roll that featured this spread. So, I did. But I didn't just smear it inside regular dough - I made the dough -  yes, but I sprinkled it and kneaded it throughout with chocolate pieces. Then I topped the baked rolls with more yummy delish stracciatella glaze - three times we have stracciatella and it works. It's just plain awesome. They are so good... and for once, I'll be making these for Thanksgiving dessert instead of pumpkin sweet rolls - which, let's admit - are a little overdone. Pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin pie, pumpkin cinnamon rolls - I've had enough pumpkin... I'm having stracciatella!


I like to think of myself as trend setter - I'm just ahead of my time.


I go back to the Aldi, only about a week later, and this stuff is completely cleaned out... so I searched and I hoped and down under all the caramel sandwich spread, I find one lone jar of stracciatella spread - yes... it's mine, it's all mine!

• In a large glass bowl, combine 2 tablespoons warm milk and 1 package vanilla sugar plus 1 teaspoon active dry or instant yeast. Let rest. 
• Add in 1/2 cup slightly warm milk, 1/4 cup caster sugar, and 1/4 cup light colored oil (vegetable oil) plus 1/2 teaspoon salt. Mix in 2 to 2 1/4 cups white all purpose flour. Knead until dough is not too sticky and then put into oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. 
• Let rise in warm place until doubled. After about one hour, punch down dough. Knead in about 2 tablespoons dark chocolate flavored flakes or finely chopped dark chocolate pieces. Let rest 10-20 minutes. 

• Roll out into rectangle. Spread with 1/4 to 1/3 cup Stracciatella sandwich spread and sprinkle about 1/2 teaspoon gingerbread or pumpkin pie spice over that. Roll up and cut into 8 equal slices. Place into a buttered glass casserole or pie plate. Let rise again in warm place till doubled - about 30 minutes. 

• Bake in preheated oven 175-C for 10 minutes, then adjust the heat to 150-C and continue to bake 5-10 minutes till dough springs back lightly when touched. Remove from oven. Let cool slightly. 
• Prepare glaze: mix together 1 cup sifted powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons milk and 1/4 teaspoon clear vanilla extract. Blend in 1/2 to 1 teaspoon dark chocolate flakes. Then stir in about 2 tablespoons stracciatella sandwich spread. Drizzle this mixture evenly over rolls. 

Makes 8 sweet rolls that rock - serve warm. Even yummy the next day - just warm them in the microwave for about 30 seconds on high power.

Mango Lassi-inspired Sweet Roll

I have a favorite drink I like to serve whenever I make Indian Butter Chicken which is one of our family favorites and that is Mango Lassi. I love it. In fact, I remember that in college I use to order a tall Mango Lassi and Naan bread and nothing else. That is what I would get when everyone else was ordering pizza.


I have a favorite recipe for Mango Lassi that I found at food.com - from celebrity chef Emeril and I love the combinations of orange juice and mango.... so smoothie like. Try out the recipe linked I think you'll love it - add a pinch of cardamom - that's good, too. 


Anyway, my little girl asked me the other day "when are you going to make sweet rolls again?" so I decided to make a Mango Lassi sweet roll and it turned out alright. In fact, it was just plain good.  These are yummy - dare I say, it's in my top 5 favorite sweet rolls from this blog.


So, here goes:

• In another small bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons warm orange juice, 1 heaping teaspoon active dry yeast or instant yeast and about 1 teaspoon white sugar. Let rest about 5 minutes.
• In a large glass bowl, mix 1/2 cup plain non-fat yogurt with scant 1/4 cup white sugar and 1 heaping tablespoon fresh grated orange zest (from one small orange). Add in yeast mixture, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 4 tablespoons vegetable oil and 1 3/4 to 2 cups all purpose flour. Mix until the dough doesn't stick to the spoon anymore. Knead a few minutes then let rise in a oiled bowl in warm place for at least 1 hour. 
• Punch down dough and let rest 10 minutes. Then prepare filling: in small bowl mix together 1tablespoon yogurt + 1 tablespoon honey + 1 tablespoon rose flavored syrup and 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface into about 12 inch by 12 inch square. Spread filling over dough. Roll up, cut into 8 equal slices and place into buttered/oiled pie plate or glass casserole. Let rise again about 30 minutes. Make indentation into each roll and spoon in tablespoonfuls of mango jelly or mango syrup into each indentation.
• Bake in preheated oven 175-C degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and springs back when poked. Remove from oven and cool. Then mix in a small bowl 1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar, 2 tablespoon yogurt, 1/8 teaspoon each orange extract and vanilla extract. Drizzle over rolls. Makes 8 sweet rolls that rock. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

~ ~ ~

The funny thing is that the finished product - the mango syrup centered rolls look a lot like runny egg yolks. No matter the looks, they taste great!

No egg yolks here, just mango syrup!

Some of my favorite products - both good - I've used the mango dessert sauce mainly with ice cream and yogurt parfaits - it went great with the sweet rolls. I've got lots of future plans for using up the rose syrup... the combination of rose syrup, honey and cardamom is pure awesomeness - definitely going to do more with that in future sweet rolls that rock :)

Linked here:

White Chocolate and "Pepernoten" Sweet Rolls

It's fall - it's that time of year again when suddenly I feel like baking a whole lot more - nice to warm the house up with yummy cinnamon-y smells. Can't think of anything better than sweet rolls to make - that's because there is nothing better!


My very good friend requested a special sweet roll for a special occasion. She gave birth to her second daughter and wanted something yummy to eat. She said, please make me some with that good buttercreamy frosting - you know I like it thick!


She also requested white chocolate and a little something extra - so we decided together that pepernoten deserves a chance in these rolls. Pepernoten are little spice cookies that come out this time of year in the Netherlands. They are kind of like gingersnaps - but not that gingery. Originally, they were spiced with black pepper - until more spices came along. We still call them pepernoten - translated literally as pepper nuts - however, they also sell under the name "kruidennoten" - meaning spice nuts. Although there are no nuts contained in - they are just small and snackable like nuts.


So I used a very sticky dough - that rises a lot. They turned out very large - extra large - kind of like a Cinnabon - large roll. Here's what I did:


In a large glass bowl, combined 1 cup warm water with 2 tablespoon sugar, 2 teaspoons yeast, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon oil. Mix around then blend in 2 cups white flour (I used a combination of 1.5 cups white all purpose flour and 1/2 cup fresh ground whole wheat flour). Cover with plastic wrap then let rise 1 hour in warm place. Mix again to get bubbles out and let rest 20 minutes. Then pull out of bowl and knead slightly with 1/2 cup flour - and roll out with rolling pin into good size rectangle.


Filling: melt 2 tablespoons white chocolate together with 1 tablespoon butter and spread over dough. Sprinkle with 2 handfuls crushed pepernoten and about 1/4 cup brown sugar. Sprinkle a generous amount of ground cinnamon over that. Roll up and slice into 8 equal slices - careful - it's sticky. Place cut side up into buttered pie plate or casserole dish. Let rise in warm place 20-30 minutes then bake 15-20 minutes at 190-C degrees.


Prepare frosting: warm a small bowl of about 1 tablespoon whipping cream together with half vanilla pod - slit down the center. Scrape out vanilla speckles into the cream. Melt 25 grams white chocolate, set aside. In a mixer, whip 4 ounces cream cheese and 1/4 cup butter till creamy. Blend in melted white chocolate and vanilla cream. Blend in around 2 cups sifted powdered sugar or a bit more or less to desired consistency. 


When rolls come out of oven, you may pour the frosting over top - and then you will have more of a glazed effect with the frosting. Or you can wait till they cool a little and then put the frosting over - which is how my friend prefers the frosting... she likes it thick! Then sprinkle another handful crushed pepernoten over top.


(Note: in the photo, I did not use a lot of frosting - definitely should have poured quite a bit more on top - it's just that it was so so sweet!)

Root beer Cinnamon Rolls - made with Root beer Jelly!

I've been working on a Root beer Cinnamon roll for about a year now. And on my third try - I'm pretty happy with the results... third time is the charm... and I've even created Root beer jelly for such an occasion!


To make these rolls you will need a can of Root beer and Root beer extract.


Okay, let's rock this thing :)


In a bowl, combine 150ml warm Root beer, 2 tablespoons melted butter and 1.5 teaspoons active dry yeast. Then mix in up to 2 cups BASIC ROLL MIX. Put dough out onto floured surface and knead until desired elastic consistency. Then place into buttered bowl, turn dough to butter top and cover with plastic wrap. Place bowl in warm place for dough to double in size about 60-90 minutes.

Make Root beer jelly filling: in a small saucepan, combine 100ml cold Root beer and 1 gelatin sheet. Blend in 2 tablespoons sifted cornstarch and turn on the heat over low flame. Stir until mixture thickens and almost begins to boil. Then remove from heat and stir in 1/4 teaspoon each vanilla extract, ground cinnamon and Root beer extract. Let cool completely.


When dough is risen, punch down and let rest another 10-20 minutes. Then turn out onto lightly floured surface and roll out with rolling pin into a good size rectangle. Spread with Root beer jelly. Roll up into jelly roll and slice into 8 equal slices. Place rolls into buttered pie pan or glass casserole dish and let rise a second time in warm place 30-45 minutes. 

Prepare frosting/glaze - combine in a mixer or small bowl and mix by hand 1/2 to 1 cup (5/8 cup) sifted powdered sugar with 1 tablespoon Root beer, 1/4 teaspoon Root beer extract, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract and (optional: 1 tablespoon sifted chocolate milk powder - such as Nesquik - this makes it taste kind a like chocolate Tootsie pops in my opinion!)


Once risen second time, bake in heated oven at 190-C degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and bounces back when poked lightly with finger. Remove from oven and cool. Then drizzle with prepared glaze and give a light dusting of cinnamon or powdered sugar if wanted.

Creepy Green Halloween Sweet Rolls

These are definitely creepy for the kids - because not only are they green - but the ingredient list is also green - it's not food dye - it's vegetables! This is sort of a mix between trick or treat! Literally - it's a treat because it's sweet - but it's a trick because you are gonna try and trick people into eating things like spinach, avocado and wheat grass! Yes, that's right!


These are my - good for you - good for your body - excuse to eat one more - sweet rolls :)


Okay, here's what I've done... I've used fresh ground whole wheat, freshly juiced apples, fresh ingredients - and to my surprise - it's kind of good. 

without the green stuff...

But the kids can't be fooled... my picky eaters, took one look and said, no thanks Mom... and "if you don't tell me what's in it, I'm not going to eat it" - what a wimpy Dad. ;) ha ha


So - to make 8 creepy beastly-goblin-ogre-monster-whatever ya theme sweet rolls do this:


Mix together 1.5 teaspoons active dry yeast and 3/4 cup warm apple juice (cored and juiced). I say to core the apples (I used 3 small to get approximately 3/4 cup of juice), because we are gonna use the leftover pulp in the filling!

Steam a couple handfuls of fresh spinach greens till slightly wilted. Then puree with handheld blender. Measure out 3/8 cup (6 tablespoons) of spinach puree and add to the yeast mixture. Use any remaining spinach puree in the filling.


Add 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil or butter to the yeast mixture. Blend in 2 cups freshly ground whole wheat flour to the mix. Now add in 1/2 teaspoon salt. Mix around with a good spoon. And then add up to 1 cup more of the whole wheat flour - turn out onto floured surface and knead till you have a good elastic textured dough.


Butter a large glass bowl. Turn dough into bowl and turn around in bowl to cover dough with butter. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rest in warm place till doubled in size (about 90 minutes).

...with just a sprinkling of cinnamon...

To prepare filling, combine juiced apple pulp, any remaining spinach puree and another half to 1 small apple, cored and finely diced. Stir in 1/4 cup honey and 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon. 


When dough has doubled, turn out onto lightly floured surface and roll out into rectangle. Spread filling mixture evenly over dough. Roll up jelly roll style and slice into 8 equal pieces. Arrange pieces in buttered pie plate or casserole dish. Let rise second time in warm place - another 45 minutes. Bake in oven heated to 190-C degrees for 15-20 minutes - until when you poke lightly with your finger, the dough bounces back.


Prepare topping: with handheld mixer, or food processor fitted with whip attachment, whip together till smooth half avocado and 1 heaping tablespoonful of honey. If desired - totally optional here - blend in 1/2 teaspoon powdered wheat grass or spirulina (kids really might not like the flavor though - so watch out). To thicken it a bit - blend in 1 tablespoon sifted cornstarch. Then refrigerate until ready to use.

Optional honey chocolate glaze - I have some in the freezer and I just defrosted it for this recipe, and then it went back into the freezer for later use - but here it is: 3/4 cup Dutch-processed Cocoa powder, mixed with 2/3 cup honey and 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream - blend together and heat in small sauce pan until all the cocoa lumps are well blended - lightly bring to boil then remove from heat. Set aside to cool and use as an awesome topping for all kinds of desserts.


After the rolls are out of the oven and have cooled off a bit, scoop a tablespoonful of the avocado-honey frosting onto each roll and spread around. Optional - add the honey chocolate glaze in a spiral-spider web effect if wanted. And sprinkle with some cinnamon powder... if you have any cool plastic black spiders, add those too - I'm much too wimpy to use anything like that on my food though. I really detest spiders.

Root Beer Cinnamon Rolls... take 2, er 3.

This is my second attempt at Root Beer Cinnamon Rolls... and the frosting turned out a little bit better but it's still not quite there... I'm gonna retry them again this weekend - like Sunday or early in next week if possible... I'm almost there...


This time to try and bring out more Root Beer flavor I used Root Beer extract... but it didn' t quite cut it - maybe it was the brand I used. If anyone has experience with Root Beer extract, can they send their suggestions my way - just comment below. Here's what I used:

I mostly chose it over the other brands because it just looked so kitchy and I liked that old fashioned design to the label. When you open up the bottle - the smell is so strong... but I must of used more than a tablespoon of extract in the frosting... and that's not usually the case when I work with other extracts... also kind of bothered me that the frosting turned a chocolate brown...


although, in a kitchen concoction tonight at dinner, I've discovered that Root beer mixed with chocolate milk tastes a lot like Tootsie  Pops (the chocolate ones, of course).


So, If I can perfect the Root Beer Cinnamon Rolls... I may also throw in a bit of chocolate into the mix... because, in my opinion - Root beer + chocolate = good combo!


In which case... chocolate brown frosting will be acceptable!

Pineapple Upside-Down Cinnamon Rolls

Last month I bake my first ever Pineapple Upside-Down Cake... in honor of my Grandma Betty - view post here.


This month I decided to make some cinnamon rolls upside down with pineapples and some fresh Cherry Rhubarb Jam - which I had just whipped up.


So, next time you plan on baking up your favorite cinnamon rolls - consider doing this:

Melt butter and put into cake pan or glass casserole dish. Arrange pineapple slices, cherries (which is traditional in Pineapple-upside down cake) or in my case, I used the Cherry Rhubarb Jam. Add some chopped nuts to fill in the gaps. I used a combination of pecan and hazelnut. When you make cake you also put in brown sugar, but I left that out since it is rolled into the cinnamon rolls.

Use your favorite dough recipe - enough for about 8 large rolls - (I'll include below the awesome recipe I used), roll out dough, fill with melted butter, brown sugar and cinnamon and cut into 8 equal slices.

Place these 8 slices right side up evenly over pineapple layer. Place into warm oven (not hot) just warm enough to get the dough to rise a second time. Should take about 30 minutes or less.

Here they are just risen and ready to bake, adjust oven temperature... (but beware - see I used this pan, and if you use one just like it - put some foil or another baking sheet below it to catch the drippings - other wise you are gonna end up with smoke and the loud annoying beeping of the smoke detector!)

Remove from oven and cool about 10 to 15 minutes. Then remove sides of cake pan (spring form) and put a large platter or pizza plate over the top (inverted) then flip it over or turn it over or whatever - you know what I mean. Then you may or may not need a spatula to slide everything back onto the rolls. I needed a spatula because it was a bit sticky... and I just rearranged the slices into place.

Ta-Da!

Now, grab a plate and fork and enjoy!

The Awesome Recipe:

Using this recipe adapted from uTry.It Philly Friendship Braided Bread

TangZhong Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Boiling Water
1/4 Cup Bread Flour


Bread Dough Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Warm Milk
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
3 Tablespoon Sugar
3 Tablespoon Melted Butter
1 1/2 Cup Bread Flour
1 1/3 Teaspoon Active Dry Yeast 

Filling Ingredients:

1 tablespoon melted butter

1/3 cup brown sugar

Generous sprinkling of cinnamon

Pineapple-Upside Down ingredients:

1 can pineapple slices

Cherries or Cherry Jam

Chopped Nuts

2 tablespoons melted butter

To Make The TangZhong:
Place bread flour in a small bowl, pour boiling water over the bread flour and stir quickly with a fork to combine until no lumps.
Wrap mixture (it'll be a very wet dough) with plastic wrap, form dough in ball/round shape and leave in refrigerator overnight.


To Make The Rolls:
1. Take out the TangZhong from the fridge at least an hour before use (I usually leave it on countertop until it's room temperature).
2. In a bread machine, pour in ingredient in this order, warm milk, TangZhong 湯種, salt, sugar, butter, bread flour and yeast. Set bread machine to dough setting according to its user menu.

In the meantime, prepare cake pan or glass casserole dish: melt 1 tbsp butter and coat the bottom of the pan. Place one pineapple slice in the center. Then place the other slices around. If the other 7 slices don't fit evenly in the pan, as it was with me, then slice them in half and arrange as pictures. Put a little cherry or jam in the hole of each pineapple. Chop some nuts and fill in the gaps. I used a combination of pecan and hazelnut but pecan is just fine.

3. When dough is ready, take it out from bread machine and punch it a few times to deflate it. Roll out into large rectangle. Spread with melted butter. Then spread brown sugar and sprinkle with cinnamon.

4. Roll it up into a log and cut equally into 8 slices. Place these slices over and evenly into the prepared pan. Place in warm oven for about 30 minutes to rise a second time.

5. After it has risen, bake at 175-C degrees for about 15-20 minutes. Then take out and cool till pan is easy to handle. Put a large plate over the pan and invert the pan over, flip it - turn it. The cinnamon rolls and pineapples should come out easily but if they don't, just arrange everything back as it should look. 

Makes 8 - serve warm!

Lovely Cake Batter Sweet Rolls

Anyone ever heard of How Sweet it Is? 


It's a very well known blog - from a girl, Jessica who bakes all kind of glorious treats... she's really creative with food because she loves it... a lot, like A lot - A LOT! Seriously, there isn't anything she hasn't thought of. 


A while back she was baking all kinds of yummy things with cake batter - apparently that was very popular in baking-blogdom for a while, I never really joined the band wagon because we don't have yellow cake batter here in the Netherlands... at least, it's not the same as the yellow cake batter that you can get in the U.S.A.


I vaguely remember contacting her and asking her to make cinnamon rolls with cake batter... seriously I did. Cuz, like I said, I can't bake 'em I don't have the supplies... and finally one day right there in my Google reader I see she did it! She made cinnamon rolls with cake batter - oh my!


Then, finally, after waiting months and months, I and my family made a trip to the old country as I like to call it and I bought myself a box of Funfetti cake mix. Can you believe it only cost $1.00 at good old Wal*mart? Cake mix is cheaper than a loaf of bread!


Crazy, I know. I also got some of that Funfetti frosting to go along with the cake mix... and of course, I never intended on baking cake with it... I always wanted to make these inspirational Cake Batter Cinnamon Rolls from Jessica.


She makes her's using the Pioneer Woman's cinnamon roll dough recipe... but I used my BASIC ROLL recipe and I used the store bought Funfetti frosting... very easy!

Before baking - overflowing in melted butter...

After! So colorful - playful - yummyful?!

They were really very good - and an easy way to do up plain cinnamon rolls... Just sprinkle some cake batter in with your cinnamon filling and top off with the Funfetti frosting... I think it's from Betty Crocker?


I'd much rather have this than regular birthday cake... anyday!


(Also, shared in April's Sweet Roll Linky Party, Blogger of Melissa's Cuisine linked her version of these Funfetti Cinnamon Rolls)

*Sweet Rolls-O-Rama* - May Linky Party & Philly Friendship Braided Bread

Let's review April's link ups - what a great turn out - we've almost doubled the link ups - we had 9 in March and 16 in April. Thanks to everyone that joined. They all look fabulous.

~~~~~~

Every month, I'm going to try one linked up recipe... from March, I tried the Philly Friendship Braided Bread... yum yum... what a perfect Easter-morning breakfast treat :)

I gotta tell ya, they tasted like Toaster Strudels - but like better! Here are mine... and I had some leftover dough from another project - we made two kinds of rolls Easter weekend - and so I did the braided bun thing together with my daughter to make sort of like an Amish girl - check it out:

Before baking, see the difference in the doughs - the Philly Friendship Braided Bread is some of the "wettest" dough I've every worked with - it was different but the taste is sensational!

I filled them with Bonne cream cheese and raspberry jam - and I brushed them with a simple glaze from the Bunny Buns - so yummy together - they probably don't need that but I just happen to have some leftover and a little extra sugar never hurt anyone (I hope not).

So, it's kind of like a little Amish girl from the backside, I love the braid - and it just shows that you can do just about anything with dough - mostly I roll everything up very traditionally, it was fun to break out of the box and just make something totally different.

This month... May, I will be on vacation in America - yippee!
I'm so happy :)


I will leave the linkytool up for anyone to join but I won't personally invite anyone until I return from vacation.

If you've done this before you know the routine. If not, it goes like this:

1. Link up your sweet roll creation and include link to specific post URL (not the main page).
2. So that everyone can find us from your blog and get some linky love - please link back to Sweet Rolls that Rock with either a text link or a link button.
3. Leave a comment below.
4. Would be nice to give all participants some traffic, do visit at least 2 other blogs in the party. Browse around. We all like comment love - so give some and get some :)
5. Suggestion: Bookmark or keep link button to this blog so you can easily link up your future sweet roll creations the first of every month.

<a href="http://sweet-rolls-that-rock.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidU9_90jXOlzdCo73Am8Jidf9jomYOWcUCQPLKVYluXpPiouQdmv1OcA0mF_ccf-Ej0Y_u1wvQcIUmTPokf8UgENA5nvjhroskizPJf0BeAyO5972PXfyRvr4D7gxBGjyC-qUG5M1XNmA/s250/srtr+button.jpg" alt="Sweet Rolls that Rock" /></a>

Bunny Buns - Easter Weekend

I totally thought I was just gonna make one kind of sweet roll this weekend, but then I finally got my April edition Friend magazine and saw this:

You can find a link to it here: Bunny Buns @ Friend Magazine

And I couldn't resist. So, I decided to make two kinds of sweet rolls and I'm so glad I did. I made the Bunny Buns together with the kids. I let Kailea roll up and twist the dough. She and Ella also got to help with kneading the dough. That was fun. Next time I'm gonna loosen up even more and let her crack the eggs - she's gotta learn sometime, right?

The making of bunny buns - see I'm not doing all the work, Ella is putting decorations on...

Here are our bunny buns... I gotta tell ya - the hardest part was putting the decorations on the finished roll... well, actually the hardest part was eating just one and putting the rest away for later... but you know what I meant, right ;)

yum yum  - bunny buns

I pretty much followed the recipe exact, the one minor adjustment I did was I added a wee bit of vanilla extract to the glaze - everything else I did follow to a T. The dough was excellent and I love the citrus smell throughout the house.

This one turned out the best... then we got lazy.

I totally want to make this my Easter tradition just like that family did - that's mentioned in the inside front cover of the Friend. Our family is young and we need some good holiday traditions like these.

Here we have our Picasso-style bunny buns - the kids being quick to finish - they just wanted to eat one already - and I did, too.

Stay tuned... next week I 'll show you the other sweet roll we made this weekend - they tasted like Toaster Strudels... and Kailea and I made one that looks like an Amish girl with a braid :)


This post linked to:







UPDATE: I am making these Easter weekend again (2013) and I am not letting Kailea crack the eggs. Apparently, I haven't lightened up yet. Not only that, but I'm using the bread maker to make the dough - boy I've got lazy.

*Sweet Rolls-O-Rama* Monthly Linky Party

Last month - March - I hosted my first ever linky party. It was small but successful and fun. This month the Linky Party is open for three weeks. I hope to meet lots of new blogs and look forward to the creations :P


So, let's do this again. I've been out and about on many other blogs and I've seen and invited many of you to join up and link your awesome sweet rolls that rock. Tell your friends to join in the fun, too.


If you've done this before you know the routine. If not, it goes like this:

1. Link up your sweet roll creation and include link to specific post URL (not the main page).
2. So that everyone can find us from your blog and get some linky love - please link back to Sweet Rolls that Rock with either a text link or a link button.
3. Leave a comment below.
4. Would be nice to give all participants some traffic, do visit at least 2 other blogs in the party. Browse around. We all like comment love - so give some and get some :)
5. Suggestion: Bookmark or keep link button to this blog so you can easily link up your future sweet roll creations the first of every month.

<a href="http://sweet-rolls-that-rock.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidU9_90jXOlzdCo73Am8Jidf9jomYOWcUCQPLKVYluXpPiouQdmv1OcA0mF_ccf-Ej0Y_u1wvQcIUmTPokf8UgENA5nvjhroskizPJf0BeAyO5972PXfyRvr4D7gxBGjyC-qUG5M1XNmA/s250/srtr+button.jpg" alt="Sweet Rolls that Rock" /></a>

And a reminder of March Sweet Roll link ups!

Toblerone-filled Honey and Almond Sweet Rolls

Coarsely chop one Toblerone bar - and try not to eat too much of it - you'll want it on for the rolls.

I've been going through a fun little cookbook called My Best Friend Named Chocolate. It's inspired me to use chocolate more freely in other areas as well. And not just baking chocolate or cocoa - but Toblerone as well. The other day I whipped up a batch of these:

Check out those melted pieces of Toblerone bursting out... now comes the good part... the glaze!

 I used my simple BASIC ROLL MIX. Filled the dough with a slightly spicy yet sweet honey spread. Then I divided the chopped Toblerone evenly over and rolled it up, sliced... and baked 'em. Next came a second helping of more yummy goodness: 

One wicked sweet roll exploding with goodness!

A shiny sweet glaze and toasted almond pieces make this one awesome taste experience. I'm sure to enjoy them again and again.




For 12 rolls use BASIC ROLL MIX or other hot roll mix for your basic dough. So, I do this:

• Combine in a mixing bowl 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast, 3/4 cup warm water - let sit to become foamy. Then add 1 egg, beaten and 1/4 cup melted margarine or vegetable oil. Mix in 3 cups BASIC ROLL MIX and extra flour if needed to make a soft, not too sticky elastic ball of dough. Put into a bowl buttered with oil and turn to coat. Place someplace warm like the oven on it's lowest setting for at least an hour to rise, covered with plastic wrap.
• Then prepare filling. Stir together in a small bowl 2 Tablespoons Dutch cocoa powder, 2 heaping teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1/2 heaping teaspoon ground cayenne pepper, 2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine and 1/2 cup agave syrup or honey (I like honey).
• After dough has doubled in size, punch down and let rest 10 minutes. Then roll out on floured surface to good size rectangle shape - about 1 centimeter thick. Spread with filling and coarsely chopped Toblerone. Roll up and slice into 12 equal pieces and place on prepared baking sheets to rise again (about 30 minutes in oven on the lowest setting).
• Prepare frosting and toast almonds, if using. For frosting combine in a mixer 1/4 cup butter or margarine at room temperature, 1/8 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/8 teaspoon almond extract and 1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar. Mix well, continue mixing and adding in powdered sugar up to 2 cups total and 2 tablespoons water or milk to thin as desired. Keep beating up to 10 minutes. This makes the frosting nice and fluffy. Great for topping your rolls if you like your frosting piled high - then wait till they cool a little while before you do that otherwise the frosting turns to glaze as it melts all over the place on hot rolls (but I like it this way, too).
• After rolls have doubled a second time, bake in oven at 175-C degrees for 15 minutes or so. Keep an eye on them so they don't burn. All ovens are different so really - keep your eye on them. If it needs to go longer - go ahead but I noticed if I tap the top of the bun or lift it a little with the spatula you can see if it's cooked well enough on top and underneath.
• Top with frosting/glaze and toasted almonds. They are very sweet so I suggest serving them with a nice tall and cold glass of milk :)

Shamrock Sweet Rolls

Happy St. Patty's Day!


I really loved this combination of chocolate filled sweet rolls with minty frosting. The dough was moist and not too dry. It was excellent.


I used the BASIC ROLL MIX and then filled it with chocolate mousse filling from Wilton.com and then used up some left over minty frosting we had from a Birthday party at the beginning of the month and just had those sprinkles in the cupboard as well.


Baking sweet rolls just comes naturally to me :)


Simply put four sweet rolls together in the shape of a shamrock or 4-leaf clover and then frost as desired. Serve warm!




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