Cinnamon Rolls

Cinnamon rolls are delicious, gooey, wonderful morsels that taste perfect just about any time of day. I found a recipe for homemade rolls on The Pioneer Woman's blog and tried them out. Much to the delight of friends and family (this recipe yields more than enough to share with a friend or four or even more), I made this recipe over several times until I had tinkered with the measurements and found what I liked. These rolls are perfect on a cold winter day, but I recently made them as a thank you gift, and they were much appreciated in July too. The recipe yields 5-7 pans of deliciousness. Enjoy!

Here's the recipe:

• 4 sticks unsalted butter
• 1 quart milk
• 2  3/4 cups sugar
• 1 packet (1/4 oz.) active dry yeast
• 9 cups all-purpose flour + additional for sprinkling
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• plenty of cinnamon

1. Heat one quart of milk in a pan on low heat. Once warm, add in 2 sticks of melted butter and 3/4 cup of sugar. Stir until scalded (just before the boiling point) and then set aside.

2. Once the milk mixture has cooled to a lukewarm temperature, add 1 packet of active-dry yeast. Meanwhile, whisk together 8 cups of all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl.

3. Pour the yeast and milk mixture in and knead the dough until combined. Cover the dough and let it sit for about an hour.

4. While the dough is sitting, whisk up some cinnamon sugar. Combine 1 cup of sugar and as much cinnamon as you like. Don't be afraid to go a little crazy with the cinnamon!

This could use a little more cinnamon - so your mixture should be darker.

5. Add one more cup of flour to the dough and knead until completely combined. Split the dough into two roughly equal halves. Also, preheat oven to 375 degrees.

6. Take one half of the dough and roll it out onto a well floured surface. The dough should be rectangular and about a quarter inch thick, with a width of 9-10 inches.

Took my pictures a bit out of order, so here's my assembly station!

7. Melt one stick of butter.

8. Pour it onto your rectangle of dough, and brush over the entire surface until it gleams.You can use a pastry brush or a spoon or anything handy. 

9. Next, sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture evenly over the entire rectangle.

10. Start to roll the dough from the longer end, working carefully until you have a cinnamon log, and pinch the seam slightly when finished.

11. Chop slices off the log, roughly half an inch in thickness.

12. Grease 9 inch circular baking pans. Arrange cinnamon rolls in the pans, cover, and allow to rise for 20 minutes. Repeat steps 6-12 for remaining dough

13. Bake the rolls for about 20 minutes (time will vary by oven). Let it cool for about 20 minutes on a plate, and serve warm!

Part of my batch - they get eaten pretty quickly!

Mixed Berry Cobbler

I love fresh berries - they're definitely one of the best parts of summer. I saw a recipe for blueberry cobbler in Cook's Illustrated's Baking Book, and thought it would be nice to change the recipe a little and add strawberries and raspberries as well. It tasted so delicious that I will be making it again for a 4th of July party this weekend! The recipe would really work with any mix of berries, as long as the weight of the fruit adds up to about 30 ounces. This cobbler is wonderful: sweet and juicy, with just the right amount of tart. I love serving it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. Enjoy!

Here's the recipe:

For the filling

• 16 ounces fresh strawberries
• 8 ounces blueberries
• 8 ounces raspberries
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp. cornstarch
• 1tbsp. lemon juice & zest of half a lemon

For the topping

• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt.
• 4 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• zest of half a lemon

1. Place rimmed baking sheet in the oven. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. Wash and slice strawberries. Place them in a large bowl. 

3. Wash blueberries and raspberries as well. Add them to the strawberries, along with sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and zest. Combine, and allow the berries to sit in the sugar mixture for about half an hour. 

Extra picture because the fruit looks absolutely gorgeous 

Ready to mix!

4. Add the fruit to a pie plate and bake for 25 minutes. 

5. While the fruit is baking, - start to work on the biscuit topping. Whisk flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. 

Whisking the dry ingredients actually works to sift them together!

6. Melt 4 tbsp. of butter fully. In a large bowl, whisk 1/3 cup of buttermilk, lemon zest, and vanilla extract with  melted butter.

7. One minute before the fruit comes out of the oven, combine wet and dry ingredients. Whisk quickly until just combined.

8. Once fruit has been taken out of the oven, increase the temperature to 425 degrees. Combine the dough into a large ball with your hands, then split into 8 roughly shaped even spheres.

9. Arrange balls of dough on the pie plate of baked fruit. Leave about an inch between each piece, as the dough will expand while baking.

10. Bake for about 18 minutes, turning the around halfway through to ensure even baking. The cobbler is done when the biscuits are a light golden brown on top, and the fruit is bubbling (as shown below). Serve warm with vanilla ice cream!