Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls

I mentioned making PW's cinnamon rolls on Facebook a few weeks ago and some of you asked me for the recipe.  Here is my modified version (I halve her recipe and roll them differently).

Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls
Original Recipe HERE

• 2 cups Whole Milk
• 1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 1 package Active Dry Yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp)
• 4 cups (Plus 1/2 Cup Extra, Separated) All-purpose Flour
• 1/2 teaspoon (heaping) Baking Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon (scant) Baking Soda
• 1/2 Tablespoon (heaping) Salt
• Plenty Of Melted Butter
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• Generous Sprinkling Of Cinnamon

• MAPLE FROSTING:
• 1/2 bag Powdered Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Maple Flavoring
• 1/4 cup Milk
• 1/8 cup Melted Butter
• 1/8 cup Brewed Coffee
• dash of salt

Preparation Instructions (takes about 3 hours from start to finish)

Mix the milk, vegetable oil and sugar in a pan. “Scald” the mixture (heat until just before the boiling point). Turn off heat and leave to cool 45 minutes to 1 hour. When the mixture is lukewarm to warm, but NOT hot, sprinkle in the Active Dry Yeast. Let this sit for a minute. Then add 4 cups of all-purpose flour. Stir mixture together. Cover and let rise for at least an hour.
After rising for at least an hour, add 1/2 more cup of flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir mixture together. (At this point, you could cover the dough and put it in the fridge until you need it – overnight or even a day or two, if necessary. Just keep your eye on it and if it starts to overflow out of the pan, just punch it down).
When ready to prepare rolls: Sprinkle rolling surface generously with flour. Take the dough and form a rough rectangle. Then roll the dough thin, maintaining a general rectangular shape. Drizzle 1/2 cup melted butter over the dough. Now sprinkle 1/2 cup of sugar over the butter followed by a generous sprinkling of cinnamon.
Now, starting at the opposite end, begin rolling the dough in a neat line toward you. Keep the roll relatively tight as you go. Next, pinch the seam of the roll to seal it.
Spread 1-2 tbsp butter in a 9x13 cake pan. Then begin cutting the rolls approximately 1 1/2 - 2  inches thick (dental floss works great for cutting the rolls, just slide it under the roll and cross it on the top to pinch off the rolls) and lay them in the buttered pan.
Let the rolls rise for 20 to 30 minutes, then bake at 375 degrees until light golden brown, about 15 to 18 minutes.
For the frosting, mix together all ingredients listed and stir well until smooth. It should be thick but pourable. Taste and adjust as needed. Generously drizzle over the warm rolls. Go crazy and don’t skimp on the frosting.

For those who aren't coffee drinkers, you can substitute milk for the coffee and they still come out yummy!  If you have a husband like mine, skip PW's frosting recipe and make cream cheese frosting for the top :)

Triple-Layer Peanut Butter Brownies

I got this recipe off of Kraft Kitchens. I have made it twice for two mom's get togethers and they were a huge hit!!


I did not put the nuts on top. The second time I made them I used chocolate pudding instead of vanilla. Definitely use the vanilla!!! Tastes much better!
Also, I used about 1/2 - 3/4 of a bag of chocolate chips instead of bakers chocolate.

They tasted like brownies with a peanut butter cup on top. YUM!

Here's the link with a video included:
http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/triple-layer-peanut-butter-brownies-111263.aspx?cm_mmc=eml-_-rbe-_-5_star_fall_rcps-_-nm


What You Need!
1 pkg. (19 to 21 oz.) brownie mix (13x9-inch pan size)
1 cup cold milk
1 pkg. (3.4 oz.) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1-1/2 cups COOL WHIP Whipped Topping (Do not thaw.)
3 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate
1/2 cup PLANTERS Dry Roasted Peanuts, coarsely chopped
Make It!

PREPARE and bake brownies in 13x9-inch pan as directed on package; cool. Meanwhile, beat milk and pudding mix with whisk 2 min. Add peanut butter and sugar; mix well. Refrigerate until brownies are completely cooled.

SPREAD pudding mixture over brownies.

MICROWAVE COOL WHIP and chocolate on HIGH 1 min., stirring every 30 sec. Spread over pudding; sprinkle with nuts. Refrigerate 1 hour.


Sorry I didn't take any of my own pictures!

Crumbly Zucchini Bread

We all know how much zucchini one garden can produce, so I found a great zucchini bread recipe that I tweaked a little. The original recipe is here.

Start by beating 3 eggs until light and frothy (I used a hand mixer):

Add 1/2 cup vegetable (or canola) oil and 1/2 cup applesauce:
Mix in 2 cups of sugar (I ran out, so I used 1 1/4 cups sugar and 3/4 cups Splenda)




Mix in 2 teaspoons vanilla

And 2 -3 cups shredded zucchini - no need to peel- and stir together (I stopped using the hand mixer on this step):

In a separate bowl stir together flour, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, salt, baking soda, and baking powder (see measurements below):
Let your 3 year old help, if you're so inclined (yes, she painted her hair green with her finger paints):

Stir together with a spoon or fork and fold into the egg mixture

Grease two 8x4 loaf pans and divide the mixture between the two pans:

Now for the yummy crumbly top (this is optional, but I HIGHLY recommend it!):
Mix together flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and butter (stick butter is better, but again I had to improvise!)


Be sure your toddler tests it out to make it's edible :)

Mix together (your hands are your best tool here!) until the butter is well incorporated, then sprinkle it on top of the batter. You'll think there is WAY too much, but believe me, use it all!!!


Bake in a 325* oven for an hour. Warning, you'll want to open the oven while this is baking, it smells SO yummy



ENJOY!!

INGREDIENTS

• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup applesauce
  
• 2 cups white sugar
• 2-3 cups grated zucchini
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour (high altitude, add 1/2 cup flour and 1-2 tbsp water)
  
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F ( 165 degrees C). Grease and flour two 8x4 inch loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, beat eggs until light and frothy. Mix in oil and sugar. Stir in zucchini and vanilla. Combine flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; stir into the egg mixture. Divide batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until done.

CRUMBLY TOPPING

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons margarine or butter
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  

Blueberry-Nectarine Buckle

Blueberry-Nectarine Buckle

2 cups Biscuit Baking Mix
1 cup White Sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup Low Fat Milk
1 teaspoon Lemon Peel
1 nectarine, chopped
1.25 cup Blueberries, Fresh
1/2 cup Flour
1/4 cup (1 stick) Butter

1. Heat oven to 350 F. Grease the bottom and 1/2 in. up sides of a 1-1/2 to 2qt. baking dish. In medium bowl, combine biscuit mix, 1/2 c sugar, egg, milk, and lemon peel. Stir until moistened.

2. Spoon batter into pan. Top with fruit. Mix flour and remaining sugar in a bowl. Using fork, cut in butter until crumbly; sprinkle over fruit. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool for 1/2 hour. Serve warm.

You can use peaches or nectarines in this, I used canned peaches (the larger can, 28 oz I think). I also substituted lemon juice for the lemon peel. At first I wasn't sure about the blueberries, but I'm sure glad I added them. We happened to have fresh blueberries, but I think I could also use frozen ones since I usually have those on hand.