Carrot Cake Style Cinnamon Rolls

Carrot Cake Style Cinnamon Rolls 
Topped with Cream Cheese Cake Batter Frosting
and garnished with Marzipan Baby Carrots!

This year for Thanksgiving dessert I made a variation on the standard Cinnamon Rolls. That's what I do. I took my favorite carrot cake recipe which includes pineapple and spun it into the yummiest, tastiest cinnamon roll. And because of the carrots it was healthy, too! Ha ha ha ha.

Anyway, the funny things is all the guys at the table passed up this delicious treat. They turned their noses up to the carrots... their loss - because these were darn right tasty.

Here is how I made them: 

Dough:
Proof yeast, in a small bowl combine 2 tablespoons warm milk with 1 1/2 teaspoon yeast with 2 teaspoons brown or regular sugar. In a larger glass bowl, combine 1/2 cup warm milk, 1/4 cup dark brown sugar, 1/4 cup vegetable oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ground ginger, and 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg. In another bowl, combine 1/2 cup finely shredded carrot with 2 cups flour. Once the carrots are evenly distributed throughout the flour, add it to the wet ingredients. Add in the proofed yeast and up to another 1/2 cup of flour if necessary. Turn out onto floured surface and knead 5-10 minutes. Shape into ball. Put back into oiled glass bowl and turn to oil top of dough. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place (oven, if available - probably not available on Thanksgiving day though - I put mine right next to the oven to receive heat from the baking turkey) and let rise till doubled - usually takes about 1-2 hours. 

Meanwhile, prepare filling. I used 1/2 a large carrot for the shredded carrot above in the dough. The other 1/2 carrot I cut into small pieces and put in a small pan with water to boil till soft. Then I added brown sugar - about 2 tablespoons, 1 tablespoon honey, 2 teaspoons cinnamon and about 2 tablespoons butter, also 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract and mixed it all together. Remove pan from heat and blended this mixture till smooth with my immersion blender. 

When the dough has doubled remove to prepared surface to roll out into rectangle. I like shortcuts and easy clean up so I roll out the dough on baking parchment paper. Spread with carrot puree mixture and roll up into long log shape. Pinch seams if possible. I always have a hard time because this liquid fillings make such a mess. Do your best. Then cut into 8-12 equal slices. I got about 10 good size slices out this time. Put the slices into a prepred glass baking dish or if like me - I shape the slices into a circle and then pick up the parchment paper by the corners and lift into my pie tin and then I arrange the slices again evenly in the pan. Why, because I don't want to clean any extra pans or dishes... "shortcuts" remember!

Now let this rise for another 1/2 hour or so - until doubled. Right before I bake it I push down an indentation in each roll and spoon 1 heaping teaspoon of pineapple jam into each roll. (Because my favorite carrot cake recipe includes pineapple... this made the rolls so yummy, too).

Now, bake them in pre-heated oven 175-C degrees for 10-15 minutes. It seemed like my oven was taking forever to cook them, I thought it quit working after being on all day baking the turkey, that I turned the heat up to 200 and switched it to hot air oven - and after 2 minutes they were done.

Remove from oven. Prepare frosting. Whip together 1/3 cup butter and in 1/4 cup cream cheese. Mix in 1 cup powdered sugar. If it's not thick to your liking, mix in 1/2 cup yellow cake dry mix. Taste and adjust to your liking. Scoop large spoonfuls of frosting onto each roll. 

At some point while the rolls where rising, second time, I made the marzipan carrots. I bought some reddish orange colored marzipan, opened the package and took off pieces of marzipan and roll them in my fingers till they were the shape of little carrots. Topped the rolls with them... and I don't really like marzipan but they did taste really good with this frosting. It was a nice touch to add them to the rolls. I would do that again!

~~~~~~~~~~
At the end of Thanksgiving meal and a long day - it may seem like these rolls are a lot of work, but really, there is just a lot of waiting while they rise and stuff. It's not that bad to be the treat maker. I didn't have to make any of the other side dishes... so I got off easy :) It's good to be me!

What is your favorite sweet treat at Thanksgiving?

Orange Creamsicle Sweet Rolls

I don't make sweet rolls very often anymore... the problem being I eat too many of them, or the kids eat too many of them... 

Anyway, we were going to visit some friends and have dinner with them, but before the dinner we were going on a nature walk together so I thought it would be nice to bring a treat. 

I decided on creamy orange - and they were perfect for this cool summer afternoon.

The kids loved them. My little Ella asked: Mom, can you make these for dinner more often?

Hahaha... I said, this isn't dinner, this is a dessert or a treat only. She was bummed.

Here is how I made them:

1. Dough: using a bread maker put liquids in first, followed by dry ingredients. Put on dough cycle and press start. It's approximately 90 minutes, but let it rise longer if need be.

  - 1/2 cup vanilla or plain soy milk or plain cow's milk
  - 1/4 cup melted butter or coconut oil
  - 1 egg white
  - 2 tablespoons white sugar
  - 1/2 teaspoon salt
  - 2 cups all purpose flour
  - 1 tablespoon orange zest
  - 4 tablespoons yellow cake mix
  - 1 teaspoon instant dry yeast

2. Filling: meanwhile, prepare filling as follows...

  - 1/2 cup white sugar                    - 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
  - 1 tablespoon corn starch            - 1/2 teaspoon orange zest
  - pinch salt                                    - juice of half large orange, or 
                                                          whole small orange
  - 1/2 cup cold water                     - 1/2 tablespoon butter + 1/2 
                                                          teaspoon vanilla extract

... combine sugar, cornstarch and salt in small saucepan. Gradually add water and whisk until blended. Whisk in egg yolk, orange zest and juice. Cook over medium heat whisking constantly until thick and bubbly. Boil one minute; remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. Cool to room temperature without stirring. 

3. When dough has doubled, roll out on lightly flour dusted surface into 1-2 cm thick rectangle shape. Take half of the orange filling and spread on dough. Roll up dough and cut into 8, 9 or 10 slices. Place slices in pie dish lined with baking parchment paper. Take the rest of the orange filling and spread evenly over rolls. Let rise a second time in warm place, for example, the oven at it's lowest setting. When they are doubled again, bake at 175-C degrees for approximately 15 minutes - until just golden brown. Then removed immediately from the oven and let cool.

4. Topping: prepare topping to spread over cooled rolls. Cream together 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons cream cheese. Add in 1/2 teaspoon orange zest. Mix in powdered sugar (1/2 cup or more) depending on desired consistency. If it becomes too thick, then "water down" with 1/2 teaspoon orange juice at a time. Taste and adjust flavoring. I added in also 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Spread evenly over cooled rolls. 

Marshmallow Fun "Sugar High" Sweet Rolls

I did not intend on making these Sugar High - but they are. These are Trial 1 sort of sweet rolls... I thought that I had been baking sweet rolls long enough to get it right the first time, but I'm going to have to go for a Trial 2 on these ones - and cut half the sugar out of them.

One reason being that they are filled with globs of marshmallow fluff - and that adds an intense sweet flavor of it's own. 

The good news: looks! The kids took one look and said, I want some!!! 

But after a bite or two, they said, it's too sweet. I love my kids - so honest and mostly healthy. They like candy and marshmallows like most kids, but they recognize when something is too sweet.

That's great... I'll make them again - one thing is for sure, looks wise, these would make a great birthday treat in place of standard cake.

They are very colorful - psychadelic and tie-dye sort of hippy colors - kind of Dr. Suess colors - rainbow bright - loved making them. I used yellow, pink and light blue, but I think any combination would be fun.

I also served them with a small handful of colorful twisty marshmallows.

Dough:
2/3 cup warm (soy) milk
50 ml oil or melted butter
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 T sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup yellow cake mix
1 heaping teaspoon active dry yeast

I put it in bread machine by order suggested by the manufacturer - which is liquids first, followed by dry stuff. I also do yeast last. - put it on dough cycle - hit start.

Of course you can mix it and knead it by hand, but lately, I'm looking for short cuts. (I'm 6 months pregnant after all)

Remove from bread machine and punch down. Let sit a few minutes while preparing filling ingredients. Roll out into rectangle - about 1-2 centimeters thick.

Top with Fillings (see below), roll up and cut into 8 or 12 equal slices. If 8 slices, it fits nicely into a large pie tin. If 12 slices, it fits nicely into a 9x13-inch casserole dish.

Line casserole or pie tin with baking paper - for easier clean up - or grease with butter generously.

Put into the oven on the lowest temperature or in another warm place to rise a second time - 30 minutes or until doubled in size. Meanwhile, prepare Topping ingredients (see below).

Bake at 175-C degrees for about 15 minutes (a bit longer for glass casserole - a bit less for pie tin - take a look at and bake according to how toasty the top of the rolls look, you can also tap them to see if they spring back lightly).

Remove from oven and drizzle with frostings and sprinkle with cake sprinkles or pearls (which we call parels in the Netherlands - like balls).

Filling: spread on rectangle 2 tablespoons melted butter, spread on top of that - 1/2 cup light brown sugar and up to 1 tablespoon cinnamon powder. Then put globs of marshmallow fluff on top - evenly spaced out over the rectangle (up to about 1/2 cup in total).

Topping: mix together 2 tablespoons each softened butter and cream cheese. Mix in 1/4 cup at a time, sifted powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon yellow cake mix and thin out with up to 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. Then divide into two or three parts and color each - pink, blue, yellow. Add a little (soy) milk 1/2 teaspoon at a time to reach desired drizzling consistency.

Linked up with:

Strut your stuff Saturday Link up Party #99 @ Six Sisters Stuff

Peanut Butter Oreo Sweet Rolls

You know that movie The Parent Trap? It's a Disney movie - pretty good one, too. Now, I think in the original with Hayley Mills - there is something about peanut butter and Oreo's except that's when she's like "no I don't want some you dummy, don't you get it - we're sisters..." but in the remake with Lindsay Lohan - they do eat the Oreo's with peanut butter. I liked both versions.

I had been wanting to make some Peanut Butter Oreo Sweet Rolls for sometime but I just didn't get around to it. Then, one day I finally made some White Chocolate Oreo Cookie Spread - blogged on my other site... and I used that to make the rolls. 

Honestly, they weren't as good as I hoped. I made two kinds - one topped with the plain White Chocolate Oreo Cookie Spread and one topped with the variation - Peanut Butter & White Chocolate Oreo Cookie Spread. I think I preferred the latter. 

But, to be honest... my tastes buds are way off. Ever since I got pregnant - sweet things just don't do it for me as much as salty and savory things. I'm way more into eating chips and salsa than sweet rolls. 

I did dream about donuts the other night - so it's probably not a permanent thing.

My friend tried them out along with me - and she really liked them. She's not pregnant - so her tastes buds aren't out of whack like mine. 

Here is what I did: 
For the dough:
In a mixing bowl, combine 3/4 cup boiling water + 1 1/2 Tablespoons peanut butter (chunky)  - mix well and then let cool to warm temperature. Mix in 1 egg, 1/4 cup vegetable oil and 3 cups HOT ROLL BASIC MIX and 1 1/2 teaspoons yeast. Put into bread maker on dough cycle and hit start. About 1 1/2 to 2 hours later - prepare the filling. Take dough out of bread maker, and punch down on lightly floured surface. Let rest 10 minutes. Then roll out into large rectangle. Spread with filling. Roll up and cut into 8-12 slices and place into prepared pan. I use a pie tin with a sheet of parchment paper (makes for really easy clean cup). Then let it rise in a warm place until doubled in size. (like the oven on the lowest setting - for example 50-C degrees.) Turn up oven to 175-C degrees and bake for 10-15 minutes - keeping an eye on it so it doesn't over bake. Not all ovens are the same - but mine seems to bake pretty quickly. Remove from oven with lightly toasted golden and springs back when poked. Top with spread while still warm.

Filling: 1 Tablespoon butter, room temperature blended with 1 Tablespoon chunky peanut butter. - might need to warm it up a bit to spread easily onto dough. The top with 1/4 cup brown sugar and generous sprinkle of cinnamon!

Topping: White Chocolate Oreo Cookie Spread OR Peanut Butter White Chocolate Oreo Cookie Spread!

Both recipes are in the first link. Or be creative and top it with something you have access to. I was thinking something simple like vanilla frosting with crushed up Oreo's blended into it. And if you want the peanut butter variety - just blend a couple tablespoons of peanut butter into the mix. That would taste really good - an American style vanilla frosting - like Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines - that stuff is a lot like European white chocolate sandwich spread.

I loved the look of the peanut butter pieces mixed into the dough.

Spread with peanut butter/butter mixture... then cinnamon and sugar.

Here they have been rolled up and cut, risen and are ready to bake.
See how I did it with the parchment paper -
that was the same sheet of parchment paper from the above photo -
I really don't like to clean up messes,
so the less mess I make while I go - the better.

Baked and frosted with each kind of spread... Again, I liked the Peanut Butter variety better.

bloglovin'

As many people know - google reader is going to stop soon. I use it all the time so I was really bummed. My husband recommended feedly to read blogs from and we uploaded and found out we both didn't really like the user interface of feedly. 

I was stumped. What now? Then I saw Rindy Mae - post this: bloglovin
And I was so happy to find an alternative. I signed up and I like the user interface a lot better already.

Now I just need to figure out now to add my own blog to their system.... and I think I just figured it out!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Strawberry Lime-ade Sweet Rolls

Part of my new years resolutions repertoire is to make interesting flavor combination of sweet rolls. I have only managed to do one recipe this month.

I'm pregnant... and lately, I don't feel like baking much. It's difficult to get those creative juices flowing and I just want comfort food. You would think that sweet rolls would be at the top of my list for comfort food.... but it's not.

I've been craving a lot of sub sandwiches, hummus, Mexican food and stuff like that... and ice cream, and milk shakes. I had bought a can of strawberry pie filling for my strawberry milkshakes - and I had a bit left over - I used it in these sweet rolls.

I will say that they were good, but they didn't hit the spot like I had hoped. I should try them again in the future when I'm not preggers. I may add zest to the glaze next time.

Dough: basic mix with zest from one lime
Filling: strawberry pie filling and a mix of strawberry  jam
Glaze: simple made with juice from 1/2 lime and powdered sugar

In a large bowl or in a bread maker combine ingredients as follows:
1/2 cup luke warm water
1 medium egg
40ml vegetable oil
zest from one lime
2 cups BASIC/HOT ROLL MIX
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
Stir well to make a soft and not too sticky dough. Knead. Let rise till doubled. Punch down. Rest. Roll out into rectangle. Spread with 1/3 - 1/2 cup strawberry pie/jam filling. Roll up and cut into 8 equal slices. Place into prepared pie tin. Rise again in warm place. Bake 15-20 minutes at 175C degrees. Prepare sweet glaze. and brush or drizzle on while rolls are still warm. Makes 8 rolls.

Glaze: In a small bowl, combine juice from 1/2 lime with enough powdered sugar to make a not too thick frosting. At least 1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar.

African Honeybush Tea - Banana, Vanilla, Pineapple and Cinnamon Sweet Rolls

Gosh - that's a mouthful - the name... and normally I like to do - that less is more when it comes to flavors... but I have been drinking some African Honeybush Tea in this variety and it's really yummy. So, I decided to do something with it in regards to sweet rolls. I was concerned that the flavors would compete each other and cancel each other out but actually they all came together really well and it worked. The "tea" taste was subtle, the pineapple was the most notable but it didn't overpower the other flavors and they all complimented the cinnamon and they were quite yummy.

I was in the sweet rolls mood this afternoon and I was trying to decide which ones to re-make. The Rooibos vanilla was were quite good and so were the Polynesian Pineapple rolls... so I went to the tea cupboard and looked for a new variety to try and that is when I saw that little bag of African Honeybush... and it has pineapple in it and then I just new exactly what to do. It all worked out so wonderfully.

Dough: 
1/2 cup hot "Oat Dream" or water with 1 bag of the above mentioned tea seeped in for 5-10 minutes (longer yields more flavor) [Use about 3/4 cup liquid and then set some aside for the glaze]
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
3 tablespoons melted butter
1 small ripe banana, pureed smooth (about 100ml)
2 1/4 cups BASIC ROLL MIX

Filling:
+/- 1/2 cup raw sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 - 2 tablespoon butter, softened

Topping:
1/2 cup pineapple tidbits in syrup, pureed till smooth like apple sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch

Glaze:
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-2 tablespoons "Oat Dream" (tea seeped - see above)

Directions:
1. In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm seeped tea (Oat Dream or water). Add in banana puree and melted butter. Mix in 2 cups of the BASIC ROLL MIX and up to 1/4 cup more until dough is smooth and elastic. Butter bowl, put in the dough and turn to cover all sides. Cover bowl with damp cloth or plastic wrap and put in warm place to double in size. For example, the oven on the lowest temperature is a good place. I usually heat it for a few minutes and then turn off the heat and let it sit in the oven with the door closed for at least an hour to let it double in size. Punch down dough. Let rest a few minutes. 

2. Roll out dough on clean surface dusted with flour and shape into rectangle flat form. Spread softened butter over top and sprinkle with generous amount of sugar - up to 1/2 cup and then with a generous sprinkle of cinnamon - about 1 tablespoon. Roll up jelly-roll style and slice into 8 equal slices. Put into pie dish prepared with parchment paper and let rise a second time 30-45 minutes in warm place as above.

3. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine cornstarch and pineapple and whisk until blended, bring to boil over medium heat; cook and stir about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat. Make an indentation with the back of a spoon or with your thumb into the center of each roll and then place a teaspoon or two of the topping in the center of each roll. Bake at 175-C degrees (350-F) for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

4. For glaze, combine sugar and extract and enough "milk" seeped Oat Dream to achieve desired consistency. Drizzle over warmed rolls.

Related Posts:
Rooibos Vanilla Sweet Rolls
Polynesian-inspired Pineapple and Bacon Sweet Rolls
Banana Date Mango Sweet Rolls
Coco-Nana-Nut and Dulce de Leche Sweet Rolls
Pineapple Upside Down Cinnamon Rolls

Sweet Rolls-o-Rama... recipe ideas

I've been getting back into baking rolls again - something about this time of year - I think it's because it's so cold and gloomy and baking sweet things just livens up the senses and warms the house, too.

Today I'm baking Corn Rolls - yes corn rolls that you can eat. Not to be confused with corn rows. And I plan on stuffing them with a variety of fillings. Hot dogs and melty Cheddar as well as a more classic butter, sugar and spice filling - but not cinnamon - something hot like cayenne pepper. Really any filling that you like in your corn bread you can add to the corn rolls. 

I made corn bread last night in honor of my grandfather, his birthday anniversary just passed and I teach my children about people they may never meet in this life by celebrating their birthdays every year with a favorite meal of that person. 

I skyped with my Dad the other night and he reminded me that his Dad, my Grandfather loved good old comfort food from the Depression Era. And he was a southern boy. He liked Navy bean soup with ham hock, and corn bread. And he like green onions with salt. We skipped the green onions with salt - but we did eat one of his favorite desserts which was lemon meringue pie. It was my first time baking that - I actually did lemon meringue bars. They were so yummy. Meringue is way easier to make than I thought it would be. I'm totally going to make Lemon meringue sweet rolls in the future - cause it sounds so yummy to try.

Anyway, what I discovered with this corn bread recipe that I made last night is that my kids absolutely do not like anything chunky in their corn bread. As soon as they got to a piece of corn in the corn bread they were spitting everything out back onto their plates. I rolled my eyes. Gosh they are so picky. So, when I bake these rolls today, I will not use a chunky corn filling - 'cause I don't want a repeat of last night.

Lemon and Blueberry Sweet Rolls...
I think I could add lemon and blueberry to my Corn rolls with  great success.

So be looking for a few recipes to come - Corn Rolls - Sweet corn rolls, Lemon meringue rolls, and I'm just putting this out here too - I had this idea the other day - and I gotta try it out - Pumpkin Stracciatella Sweet Rolls... I gotta combine two of my all time favorite rolls :)

Related Posts:
Stracciatella Sweet Rolls
My Top 6 and Recipe Archives
Honey-nut Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

Ideas and Inspiration

Pecan Cinnamon Rolls

I've been baking a lot lately - again... and baking sweet rolls again. I don't want to just blog about every roll I bake because lets face it - even though they all get eaten, not all of them are so blog worthy as these. Oh yummy. I used a combination of recipes to create this delicious roll. And even though you can throw your nuts into the filling... it's so aesthetically pleasing to see them strewn about over top. Do you agree?

The dough on these is very dense - it's not as airy as other rolls - but that doesn't stop them from being oh so yummy - I tend to repeat myself a bit in the description of these rolls... that's just how I roll ;)

Lately I bake sweet rolls in the amount of 8 total. Most recipes online make 12 - 24 and that is just too much unless you are making  'em for a potluck. Usually I just bake them for dessert just for us so I don't want all the extra rolls. Not that I wouldn't enjoy eating them but my gut can only handle so much sweetness.

Like I said, I use a combination of recipes to make these. One such recipe that I like a lot - is from The Pioneer Woman. She has some of the tastiest frosting ever. I think it's from the combination of coffee and maple extract. I used a bit of both of those here. I was very generous in the amount of sugar used in the filling as well.

These are best served warm. I shared them with my sister-in-law Linda for her birthday... and my taste buds were very happy to share them.

For the dough, combine 1/2 cup warm milk, 1 teaspoon instant dry yeast, 1/4 cup melted butter and 2 cups BASIC ROLL MIX. Mix until it makes a nice together dough - not sticky at all. It will be dense. Butter or oil bowl and put inside, covered to double in size in warm place - about 60-90 minutes. Punch down dough. Wait 10 minutes. Roll out on lightly floured surface in the shape of a rectangle about 1-2 centimeters thick. Spread 1-2 tablespoons melted butter over top. Spread generous amount of sugar over top - about 1/2 cup fine white sugar and then about 1 tablespoon dusting of ground cinnamon over that. Roll up and press seams together. Cut into 8 equal slices and place cut side up into pie dish lined with baking parchment paper. Let rise a second time in warm place 30-60 minutes. Bake at 175-C (350-F) degrees for 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven and frost while still warm with glaze. Recipe follows: in bowl combine 1 heaping tablespoon melted butter, 1 teaspoon coffee granules dissolved in 1 tablespoon hot water, 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/16 teaspoon (1-2 drops) Mapleine extract, and about 1/2 cup powdered sugar till smooth. Add 1-2 teaspoons milk to thin if needed. Spread over rolls and strew 1/4 cup chopped pecans over all.

Related Posts:
Honey-nut Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
The Best Cinnamon Rolls with Shiny Sweet Glaze
Maple Cinnamon Honey Butter

Butternut Squash + Ginger Syrup Sweet Rolls

It's been a long time since I've published a Sweet Rolls that Rock recipe because I've been trying to eat more healthy and I've been trying to follow the Primal Blueprint - which is kind of like similar to the Paleo diet.

And in case you are wondering why it didn't last - it's because it's a fad diet - not for everyone - but for me it was. The thing that bothered me was all the meat and you often hear people say I get to eat bacon, so niener niener niener, you know. But let me tell, I love bacon, but everyday - it gets boring pretty quick. 

And then I watched a couple documentaries - like Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead and also Forks over Knives... and that got me thinking - you know, I'm a Mormon and we have this document called the Word of Wisdom. It's basically a revelation from our loving Heavenly Father and he promises us that if we live according to it we will have health. Some basic do's and don't's of the Word of Wisdom are to eat meat sparingly - and at that only in times of famine and winter. He tells us to eat grains and He says to avoid other harmful substances like alcohol, coffee and tea. 

I think in regards to the coffee and tea - it's caffeine that he means because just steaming the leaves of certain plants is pretty healthy - but caffeine is a big no-no. I mean, it's incredibly addictive. Had the Word of Wisdom been revealed right now with all those popular fizzy drinks - those would probably be included too - but that's just something I've come to learn for myself.

Any way, I haven't been doing the Primal Blueprint - although I do really enjoy some grain-free treats - like I have this one good recipe for grain free zucchini cake that is just super duper good... but nothing and I mean nothing can replace the deliciousness of yeasted breads!

So, if you have some kind of gluten intolerance - and you have been baking for a while and know what to do - do what you gotta do to alter this recipe... otherwise, here is my version... oh yeah, and because of the documentary Forks over Knives - we are eating and drinking less cow's milk so I use coconut milk in this recipe.

And just one more thing - I am really trying to bake less - because for anyone that is trying to lose weight - no matter which diet you are following - what it all comes down to is that you have to take in fewer calories than your body needs and I noticed that when I bake yummy stuff - I can't eat just one... that's just me, though - so I recommend only baking for a purpose - like you are bringing a treat to share with another family, etc. etc. etc.

Butternut Squash + Ginger Syrup Sweet Rolls

For the Dough, combine and let rise 2 tablespoons warm milk (coconut milk), 1/2 teaspoon sugar and 1 teaspoon instant yeast. After 5 minutes or until it's bubbly, add 1/2 cup room temperature, luke warm milk (coconut), 2 tablespoons honey, 1/4 cup melted coconut oil (ghee) and 1/4 cup butternut squash (roasted and pureed). Mix well. Then add in 2 cups sifted flour plus 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir together till mixture forms into dough. Let rest a few minutes then knead another 5 - 10 minutes. Turn into large oiled bowl and cover with wet towel. Then let it rise 60-90 minutes in a warm place (oven).

Dust counter top with flour and roll out dough into rectangular form and spread with filling (see below). Roll up and cut into 8 equal slices. Place on prepared baking sheet (I use parchment paper and I usually bake 8 in a pie tin) and let rise again in warm place (oven at 50-C degrees) for 30-45 minutes. Adjust oven temperature for baking (175-C degrees) and bake for 10 minutes. Then adjust temperature down to 150-C degrees and continue to bake for another 10 minutes or until the dough springs back easily when lightly touched.

Remove from oven and drizzle with Ginger Syrup topping (below). Serve warm or cold.

Filling:
1 tablespoon ghee + 1/4 cup butternut squash + 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie/ginger bread spice mix + 1/4 cup raw sugar = blend together till smooth. Spread onto dough. Sprinkle with handful chopped walnuts or pecans (optional).

Ginger Syrup:
Finely dice 1/2- 1 tablespoon fresh peeled ginger. Fry in a little ghee till caramelized. Add in 2 tablespoon raw sugar and cook till sugar is syrupy. Pour in 1/4 cup water and a squeeze of lemon juice and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in another 1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar. Drizzle to taste over hot rolls. Reserve any remaining syrup for other uses - such as over ice cream, to sweeten tea or stir into tomato soup.

Twirly Swirly Organic Nature

I haven't made sweet rolls in about 3 months. The last time I did was for my birthday. Now we have Easter this weekend and I've decided that despite this Primal lifestyle that I've been trying to adopt - we would go ahead with some of our new traditions... by making bunny buns again. Only this time I added some turmeric to make them extra yellow-orange and I added in some other alternative flours. The ratio of all purpose flour to the Primal approved flours is still like 85/15 but every little bit helps I'm sure. I had a mixture of flax seed, chia seed and quinoa flour that I used... and I didn't want to add too much to this recipe because that might change the way it rises. Luckily we didn't have any problems. We also used butter in place of oil and honey in place of sugar. They turned out yummy. [Found a traditional bunny bun shape here]


And in case any one is wondering, it is not hard to adopt the Primal Blueprint - and I have lost weight effortlessly, but it is hard to do it all the time especially when other people in the house are not on the PB and there are Easter treats around. But I will start up again Tuesday - after the Holiday :)


Okay, so earlier today I did my first post using my Android application for Blogger and it didn't work. I can't find the post that I supposedly posted. I may have accidently selected for it to post later, in which case I should be able to find it as "scheduled" and still in my post list, but it's just not there... and it was such a nice post about Nature... in any event, I shall try to recall my wording again - doubt it will sound as good the 2nd time...


I was out in the garden and noticed that one particular plant we have has a twirly swirly way in which it grows. It's the fern. It starts out like a ball and then it shoots out "branches" of curly twirly whirly swirly green organic sweet rolls. I have some photos to prove it.

Pretty cool huh?!

The Drawing

One Sunday during our regular church meeting Kailea drew this family in the park - it's got kids on the swing set dressed like mini Zwarte Piets and on the left side a picknick featuring sweet rolls!


Ah ha - I thought it was so creative of her to just come up with something like that. Plus, I know you all can't see the progress she's made, but there is progress in her drawings, for example, these figures have shoulders! No more stick figures and she's only 5 1/2! My children are such artists!

Spoonflower sweet rolls designs

In the month of December, I did something different. Yes, I did bake some sweet rolls, and when I have the time I may or may not publish those here...


What I did was a designed some sweet roll designs for fabric and put them over at Spoonflower.com. I also entered some in a few contests.


See here:

Coordinates Sweet Rolls Design - pastel and kawaii, stripes and dots, garden border motif

Recipe Sweet Rolls Contest

It was fun to do... I don't know if I will continue with sweet roll designs or sweet roll recipes for that matter... because I'm doing something totally new and different for 2012... I'm completely redesigning - myself!


And I'm so happy to finally be taking the plunge... here's to a healthy more energetic new year and new me!

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.