Category Archives: Breads

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

March 30, 2012 Sonte 1 Comment

Late last year I came across Cinnamon Roll Pancakes at Recipe girl and immediately fell in love with the idea of morphing cinnamon rolls and pancakes together to create a super special brunch treat! I usually make a triple batch! The leftover ones are just as yummy as the fresh off the griddle ones. I would even go so far as to say they are better because the flavours have had a chance to meld and the brown sugar swirl has hardened as it cooled. Yummers!

Yes, they are a bit of work to prepare but well worth the effort. So brew yourself a cup of coffee, gather your ingredients and do it! Start by preparing the Brown Sugar/Cinnamon mixture, make the Cream Cheese Frosting and finally the Pancake Batter. Now I suppose you could cheat and use store bought Pancake mix, but why would you want to do that when whipping up Pancake Batter is so easy to do?

Alright, get ready to make Cinnamon Roll Pancakes!

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Mixture:
1/4 cup Butter, melted
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon

Cream Cheese Glaze:
1/4 cup Butter, softened
2 ounces Cream Cheese, slightly softened
3/4 – 1 cup Icing Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla

Pancake Batter:
3 cups Flour
2 Tablespoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
3 Tablespoons Sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla
2 1/2 – 3 cups Milk
3 large Eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup melted Butter

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Mixture:
Melt butter in small mixing bowl; add brown sugar and cinnamon and stir well to combine.
Pour the mixture into a Piping Bag or a small Ziploc Freezer Bag. (I fasten the end of my piping bag with a small clip, prop the bag in a drinking glass, fill the bag then put the whole thing into the fridge to bring the mixture back to a semi solid paste)

Cream Cheese Glaze:
In small mixing bowl cream together the softened butter and cream cheese until no lumps remain.
Add icing sugar and vanilla, stirring well.
Spoon the Cream Cheese frosting into a second Piping Bag or small Ziploc Freezer Bag. (Again, I secure the tip while I load the piping bag and leave it sit in another drinking glass until I am ready to use it)

Pancake Batter:
In medium mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar; make a well in the centre.
In large pyrex measuring cup, melt butter; add 1 cup of the milk then stir in eggs, one at a time, stirring well after each addition.
Pour the egg mixture into the dry ingredients, add another 1 1/2 cups milk along with the vanilla and whisk together until well combined; add enough milk to right consistency. A few lumps may remain.

Now we are ready to cook the Pancakes!

Heat a large non stick griddle to 350F. and lightly spray with vegetable oil spray.
Scoop about 1/3 cup of batter for each pancake onto the hot griddle, lightly spreading each portion evenly.
When pancakes begin to bubble pipe the Brown Sugar/Cinnamon mixture onto each pancake and continue cooking pancakes until the bubbles begin to pop.
Carefully slide a wide spatula underneath the pancake and flip over; cook for another 2 – 3 minutes, until golden.
Flip the pancakes onto a plate.
Serve each pancake with a drizzle of cream cheese frosting.

Recipe girl tells you to wipe out the pan between batches but I don’t do that. I did it the first time I tried the recipe and found it just made a mess so I just scoop more batter onto the griddle after I remove a batch. The griddle does get messing, as does the spatula but both clean up very easily. Once finished cooking I pour a enough water to coat the griddle, stick the spatula in HOT water to melt the sugar off. Works like a charm every time! Trust me, if this did not clean up nicely, I would not make them as often as I do.

Leftover Cinnamon Roll Pancakes — A light dusting of icing sugar is nice on leftover Cinnamon Roll Pancakes.

Please do visit Recipe girl for the original recipe. She has also listed a couple of delicious variations. I definitely want to try the Gingerbread-Cinnamon Roll Pancakes around Christmas time.

Muffins and Scones

Peach Streusel Muffins

January 15, 2012 Sonte Leave a comment

These are perfect to use up those Peaches and Nectarines that are beyond eye appeal for eating but still perfectly good!

I often double my Muffin Recipe and make 20 to 21 larger muffins.

1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 cup Flour
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/3 cup Sugar
3/4 teaspoon Cinnamon

1 large Egg, slightly beaten (Egg Replacer)
3/4 cup Milk (Soy Milk)
1/2 Vegetable Oil (I usually use half oil, half melted butter)
1 teaspoon Vanilla

4 – 5 Peaches or Nectarines, peeled and thickly sliced

Streusel Topping
1 cup Brown Sugar, packed
1/2 cup Flour
1/2 cup Butter, slightly softened

Preheat oven to 400F.
Line muffin tin with paper liners; set aside.

Prepare Streusel Topping:
Combine brown sugar and flour together in small mixing bowl.
Cut butter into cubes and toss into the flour mixture.
Rub together until crumbly.

* I make a large amount of Streusel Topping from time to time and keep it handily stored in a Tupperware Round #3 Modular Mate in the fridge.

In large mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and cinnamon.
Add prepared fruit and toss to coat with flour; make a well in the centre and set aside.
In large pyrex measuring cup melt some butter, add enough oil to measure 1/2 cup; add milk (soy milk), vanilla and egg (egg replacer).
Stir with fork to combine.
Add liquid ingredients all at once to dry ingredients and stir just until moistened.
Use a 5ounce Pampered Chef scoop to fill each prepared muffin cup.
Top with a scant teaspoon of Streusel Topping.

Bake in preheated 400F oven for 10 minutes, rotate pan(s) and bake for another 10 minutes or until golden brown and pick in centre comes out clean.

Remove from oven and cool in pan(s) on wire rack for 10 minutes.
Turn out and cool completely.
Store in airtight container for 2 – 3 days.

Yield: 12 Muffins

About, Muffins and Scones

Raisin Scones

January 15, 2012 Sonte Leave a comment

A Sunday morning favourite. The scones are so basic and so good! I got this recipe from a Province newspaper many years ago. You know I have to switch it up from time to time! Sometimes I add White Chocolate Chunks and fresh Raspberries for a sweet delight! Often I will swap in Fresh or Frozen Blueberries. Sometimes I add cinnamon to the dry ingredients, give the scored dough an egg wash and sprinkle with a bit of Cinnamon and Sugar; you really have to watch these ones don’t brown too quickly!
I have even cut back the sugar and made a Savoury Scone with grated Cheddar and Herbs.
This is a great, versatile recipe.

2 cups Flour
1/4 cup Sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
3/4 teaspoon Salt
1/4 cup Shortening, cold and cubed
3/4 cup Raisins, soaked and well drained
*1 cup Buttermilk

Preheat oven to 425F.
Sprinkle a little bit of cornmeal on a baking tray or a pizza pan; set aside.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl.
Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse meal.
Add raisins and buttermilk, stirring with fork until all ingredients are moistened. (Dough will be sticky)
Turn out onto a well floured surface and gently knead for about a minute.
Shape dough into a ball, cover with a clean tea towel and let sit for about 10 minutes.
Pat down dough to form a circle, 3/4″ (2cm) thick and about 8″ (20cm) in diameter; transfer to prepared baking tray.
Score round into 6 – 8 wedges, gently with a knife.
Bake in hot oven for 20 – 25 minutes or until golden brown and set in centre.
Cover with foil if becoming brown to quickly.

Serve while warm.

Makes 6 – 8

*If you don’t have Buttermilk, sour the milk with 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice or Vinegar – Measure Acidic ingredient into a measuring cup, add milk to 1 cup measure, let stand for 10 minutes. Sometimes I will prep the milk the night before if I plan on making these on a weekend morning.

Yeast

Dinner Rolls

January 14, 2012 Sonte Leave a comment

One of the reasons that I love my Kitchenaid Mixer is because it takes the hardship out of making bread dough! Which, in turn, makes it very easy to make fresh dinner rolls to accompany hearty soups.
My husband recently bought me a bread maker so I tried the dough setting, which worked fine. The Recipe book that came with the bread maker didn’t have a Dinner Roll recipe so I used the White Bread recipe on the Dough setting. I shaped the dough, proofed the rolls, covered lightly with a clean tea towel in a slightly heated oven in which I then placed, on the oven floor, a bowl with about four cups of boiled water. I proofed them for about 45 minutes then baked them in a 400F oven for about 17 minutes (I had the time set for 18), removed them from the oven and immediately brushed with them with melted butter.
After all that effort? I was not too pleased with the dinner rolls! Why not? Because I was expecting these!

3 1/2 cups Flour
1/4 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Shortening (butter works too)
1 teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Quick Rise yeast
1/2 cup very warm Milk (120F – 130F)
1/2 cup very warm Water (120F – 130F)
1 egg, lightly beaten
Butter, melted

Mix 2 cups of the flour, the sugar, shortening, salt and yeast in Kitchenaid mixing bowl.
Add warm water, warm milk and egg; using the Paddle attachment, beat on low speed for about a minute.
Scrape down sides of bowl and stir a couple of times.
Switch to Dough Hook attachment and slowly add enough remaining flour to make a soft, pliable dough.
Knead for about 7 minutes or until smooth and elastic.
Turn out onto lightly floured surface, knead a few times by hand to shape the dough into a ball; cover and let rise for 10-15 minutes.
Lightly spray two baking trays with vegetable oil spray; dust ever so slightly with cornmeal.
Divided dough in half; cover the half you are not working with.
On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out into a large thing circle.
Using a knife, cut dough into 8 wedges.

Crescent Shaped Rolls — Rolled out, cut and ready to roll up

Tightly roll each wedge, from base to tip, place on prepared baking tray, forming a C-shape with each roll.

Cover and let rise for about 30 – 40 minutes.
Heat oven to 400F.
Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from oven and immediately brush with melted butter.

Makes 16 Rolls

Coffee Cakes

O-Mommy’s Raw Apple Cake

October 9, 2011 Sonte 2 Comments

My German Grandmother passed along this recipe. Cinnamon and apples are always a great combination and this recipe is a fabulous blend of the two resulting in a moist, flavourful snack cake. You can dress it up by splitting it, adding a dollop of whipped cream, garnishing with another bit of whipped cream and a very light dusting of icing sugar and cinnamon.