Nutella Sweet Rolls with Cream Cheese Glaze and Toasted Hazelnuts

Today is World Nutella Day 2011! To celebrate I bring you these Nutella filled sweet rolls - and I do mean filled - I used an entire 13 oz jar of Nutella to fill the dough.  It may sound like it is going to be overkill, but you actually don't want to skimp because you'll be surprised when it actually bakes up that the filling is much less gooey than you think it is going to be, as you can see below it seems to concentrate down and bake into the dough.

The idea for these rolls came to me on a whim yesterday when I was watching everyone tweeting about all their ideas for today (search the #nutelladay hashtag or follow @nutelladay for updates).  

I had thought of this a while ago, but never got around to trying it.  I knew I had bookmarked this cinnamon roll recipe though and really wanted to try it.

Speaking of Nutella inspiration, if you can handle it (and control your drool reflex) you should definitely visit the new site from Paula at bell'alimento - Bella Nutella - All Nutella, All the Time - it looks insanely gorgeous!

I ended up adapting the dough recipe by sweetening the dough with dark brown sugar (my favorite sugar!) and adding a little vanilla to the dough. It is a really nice dough to work with, but since it is very soft and the Nutella is very smooth and creamy, you can bet you are going to end up with a little of a mess on your hands... which you can then just lick off, so I see that as a win-win!

I made the dough yesterday, let it rise, shaped the rolls and then held them in the refrigerator overnight so I could have these warm this morning. The dough doesn't rise overmuch the second time around so don't expect these to be big and puffy.  The dough is tender and still really good though and the Nutella filling in it is heavenly. 

The recipe makes about 18 rolls and since I didn't need that kind of damage on my hands all at once I just baked off these 5 and placed the rest of the shaped (not risen) rolls onto a lined baking sheet and stashed them in the freezer to freeze solid.  That way the next time I want these I can place them in a pan the day before and let them thaw and soften in the refrigerator again.

The rolls don't actually need anything at all on top of them, but just because I never seem to leave well enough alone, I made a little cream cheese glaze to top them and added a few toasted, chopped hazelnuts.  Either way, these rolls were pretty spectacular.

They would make a great treat for a brunch or any special day.  I know it may be a while before I can go back to plain old cinnamon rolls! 

NOTE:  There are more Nutella lovin' links at the very bottom of the post!

Nutella Sweet Rolls
Makes approximately 18 rolls

Printable Version

Dough:

1 cup whole milk

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour, divided

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1 large egg

2 teaspoons pure vanilla

2 1/4 teaspoons rapid-rise yeast (from 2 envelopes yeast)

1 teaspoon salt

Nonstick vegetable oil spray

Filling:

1 13-ounce jar Nutella

Glaze:

4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 Tablespoon milk or enough to get desired consistency

For the dough: Place the milk and butter in a glass measuring cup and microwave them on high until the butter is mostly melted (should be 120°F to 130°F, about 30 to 45 seconds. Pour the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. 

Add 1 cup flour, sugar, egg, yeast, and salt. Beat on low speed 3 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape down sides of bowl. Add 2 1/2 cups more of the flour and beat the mixture on low until the flour is absorbed.  The dough will be sticky, but should be starting to clear the sides of the bowl.  Add the remaining flour a little at a time, just enough as needed to get a soft dough that cleans the sides of the bowl.  

You can either switch to the dough hook on your mixer, or turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface to knead.  The dough should still be soft, smooth and tacky, but not sticky when you are done.  It will take about 8 minutes by hand, or about 3 to 4 minutes with the dough hook.  Form the dough into a ball.

Lightly oil large bowl with nonstick spray. Transfer the dough ball to the bowl and turn to coat the ball on all sides. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, then kitchen towel. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 2 hours.

Punch down dough. Transfer to floured work surface. Roll out to 15x11-inch rectangle. Spread the entire jar of Nutella over the dough, evenly, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Starting at 1 long side, roll the dough into a log, pinching gently to keep it rolled up - this will be a little messy with the Nutella, but just try to keep the log as tight as you can. With seam side down, use a 12-inch long piece of waxed dental floss (not flavored) or a clean piece of white thread to cut the dough into 18 equal slices (each about 1/2 to 3/4 inch wide).  Just place the string under the log, bring it up around the dough and cross the string like to cut up and through the dough. This is the least messy way to cut the dough with all that Nutella filling, but if you want you can just use a sharp thin knife - the slices may just be more difficult to keep neat.

Spray two 9-inch square glass baking dishes with nonstick spray. Divide rolls between baking dishes, arranging cut side up (there will be almost no space between rolls). Cover baking dishes with plastic wrap, then kitchen towel. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until almost doubled in volume, 40 to 45 minutes.

Position a rack in center of oven and preheat to 375°F. Bake rolls until tops are golden, about 17 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool a little before glazing.

For the glaze:

Combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat until smooth. Spread glaze on rolls. Sprinkle with the chopped, toasted hazelnuts if using. Serve warm or at room temperature.

NOTE:  Toasting Hazelnuts - place whole hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast them in a 350  degree F oven, skins on, for 10 minutes.  Remove them from the oven and while still hot dump them into a clean dish towel.  Wrap them up, well covered in the dish towel, then rub them using the towel (they will be hot so be careful!) to remove as much of the skin as possible.  Let them cool before picking the cleaned hazelnuts out of the towel and chopping them.  To easily clean the towel just shake it out (outside is best) or over your trash can.

Adapted from Cinnamon Rolls by Molly Wizenberg

You might also like:

Self-Frosting Pumpkin Nutella Muffins

Sweet Crepes filled with Nutella and Caramel Glazed Hazelnuts

Chocolate Nutella Cookies from Two Peas and Their Pod

Bella Nutella - All Nutella, All the Time

FFwD: Basque Potato Tortilla

I thought I wasn't going to end up making this week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe for the Basque Potato Tortilla, just because we've had sick kids all week on and off and I've been living on toast, but today was the hubs day off so he was able to cuddle some kiddos while I made us a decent breakfast.

I changed the recipe only a little, mostly just because of personal preference and what I had on hand. I used a 6-inch cast iron skillet because I was making only 1/3 of the original recipe since it was just the two of us.  In hind sight I guess we could have had leftovers, but 9 eggs in the original recipe is a lot for us to commit to one thing all at once.  This way I only used 3 extra large eggs.

I also skipped the onions in the recipe and replaced them with a few scallions instead.  I did use a little garlic and a sprig of rosemary, which gave the entire dish a nice flavor.  Next time I would like to add ham, but we were out, so that was a no go this time.

The only other change I made was to add about 2 ounces of shredded Gruyere cheese.  We are cheese-with-our-eggs kind of people, so adding some kind of cheese was a must.

This would make a really great addition to a brunch or a weekend breakfast.  All together it took me, including prep time and cooking, about 35 minutes to make, so you could certainly do this on a weekday too if you give yourself just a little extra time.  You can eat it warm (like we did) or let it sit and eat it at room temperature.

Overall, I really liked the dish and it was a great way to get me to eat a good breakfast instead of my usual rush. I will definitely make this again and keep in mind that it would be really easy to customize according to what we have hanging around to be used.  I really want to add some red bell pepper and possibly mushrooms next time since the hubs would love that.

For more versions of this week's pick from Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan (where you'll find the actual recipe) head on over to the French Fridays with Dorie site and click on the LYL post for everyone's links.

If you liked this, you might also like:

Baked Italian Frittata from my Salt Lake Baking Examiner page

Potato, Parsnip and Watercress Tortilla from Aran at Cannelle et Vanille

Blueberry Yogurt Granola Parfaits

Should you be lucky enough to find yourself blessed to have a very few simple ingredients in your fridge, you can also be lucky enough to find yourself munching on a little homemade yogurt parfait.  The possibilities are endless and there really isn't even a recipe because it's entirely up to you.  You can be fancy and make layers of yogurt, fruit and granola, like I did here, or you can be completely low-key and rock the parfait like my hubs does every day - just dump yogurt in a bowl, pile on a handful of granola and add some fruit (or more often in his case, a handful of chocolate chips).  

I almost hate to admit this, but I really don't like yogurt all by itself.  I'm also not always a fan of fresh fruits - I'm very picky that way.  

I'm hopeless, I know. 

That is why when I find something I actually like, it is always a huge and very pleasant surprise.

That said, for some reason, I really, really like eating parfaits.  I don't know what it is about the combination of these textures, flavors and ingredients, but it is just so good - and the kiddos love it too.  Besides, they can even easily build their own parfait in a cute bowl or cup.  Any time I can get the kids involved in the prep work is a good thing!

One last idea - if you want to be a rock star in the possibility of a breakfast in bed option for a loved one for a birthday or any other upcoming lovey-dovey holidays, well, let's just say that you can really make this colorful and pretty and fancy looking - all without doing any cooking at all.  I'm just sayin'.

Oh! And, if you are having a brunch, you wouldn't believe how cute a tray of some little clear plastic cups with pre-assembled parfaits looks and can make your life so much easier!

Shown here are vanilla yogurt, fresh blueberries and granola I got in my Muir Fresh Harvest Bundle. In case you missed my first post about what the Muir Fresh Harvest Bundles are all about, go here.  The next bundle list will be posted soon, so check back here or on their site for the listing - you can also find their website linked up over on my sidebar for easy access.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Chocolate-Cinnamon Swirls and Hazelnut Crumb Topping

There is just something about the holidays that cry out for decadent breakfast treats.  I love desserts - that's no surprise.  And I love making treats - the cookies, candies, etc.  But what I really, really love is taking the time to make something extra special and different for breakfast or brunch.

Homemade Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate Mix

Add some insanely good hot chocolate to the menu, and as far as I'm concerned, you can call it good.  For a killer hot chocolate mix - which would make a stellar last minute Christmas gift - you can try my new recipe I came up with to follow up to last year's Hot Cocoa Mix.  This time around I shared a recipe for a homemade, from scratch, ridiculously decadent and addictive Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate Mix over on my friend Jyl's site, Mom It Forward.  I know there are many versions out there you can buy pre-made, but I wanted to come up with something that could be made completely at home. If I do say so myself, the recipe I came up with really knocks it out of the park.  Let's put it this way.  The recipe makes 2 1/2 lbs (but could easily be cut in half if you want) - I only made it about a month ago... and ended up only giving out about three small jars of it.... and it's all gone.  I'm pretty sure I'll be making more of the mix over the weekend - hopefully in time for Christmas morning.  Mommy is a whole lot nicer after she's had a good cup o' chocolate.  I'm just sayin'.

While I love a good coffee cake, when given a choice, any recipe that involves chocolate is going to come out ahead of the pack as far as I'm concerned. This particular cake - with it's tender sour cream crumb, nutty topping and chocolate-cinnamon swirls layered throughout - isn't terribly cumbersome to put together and makes plenty to share. It does take some baking and cooling time - you'll need just over an hour and a half, start to finish to mix, bake and cool this cake - so unless you are up early, it may be more of a brunch item - perfect after a round of gift exchanging and opening on Christmas morning.  I've included a few tips on how to cut your time down if you do want to serve it earlier in the morning - but that said, it keeps really nicely, so there isn't really any reason you couldn't just make it all the day before.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Chocolate-Cinnamon Swirls and Hazelnut Crumb Topping
Adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking


For the Crumb Topping:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup toasted, skinned hazelnuts
6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small cubes

For the Chocolate-Cinnamon Swirls:
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon good quality cocoa powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the Sour Cream Cake:
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, a little bit softened, but still cool, cut into pieces
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
4 large eggs
16 ounces sour cream
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Make the Crumb Topping:
Pulse the flour, sugar and salt together in a food processor to combine.  Add the hazelnuts and process until finely chopped and mixed together.  Add the butter and pulse a few times to combine.  The mixture should look like coarse sand.  Place the mixture in a small bowl, cover with plastic wrap and keep the mixture in the refrigerator until ready to use.*

Make the Chocolate-Cinnamon Swirl:
Whisk the cocoa, sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl.  Set aside.**

Make the Sour Cream Cake:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9x13-inch baking pan, then line it with a piece of parchment with the edges hanging over the long sides to make a sling.  Butter the parchment and set the pan aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.***

In the bowl of an electric mixer with paddle attachment, beat the butter until well creamed and smooth.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the sugars.  Beat the mixture until it is fluffy and light.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after adding each egg.  Scrape the sides down again and then beat the mixture for 30 seconds more.

Add the sour cream and vanilla and beat the mixture until just mixed.  Add the flour mixture in three parts, scraping down the sides of the bowl in between each addition until just mixed - don't over mix!

Pour one-third of the cake batter into the bottom of the prepared cake pan and spread it evenly.  Sprinkle half of the chocolate mixture over the batter, covering the entire surface of the batter.  Spoon half of the remaining cake batter over the swirl mixture and spread it evenly.  Top the batter with the remaining swirl mixture, covering the surface again.  Spread the remaining cake batter evenly over the swirl, then sprinkle the crumb topping over the cake batter.

Bake the cake in the center of the oven, rotating the pan halfway through baking, for 1 hour or until a skewer comes out clean.  Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes before serving.  Serve from the pan, or use the parchment as a sling to gently lift the cake out onto a cutting surface to cut into squares and serve.  The cake keeps well for up to 3 days, tightly covered, at room temperature.


* Make the Crumb Topping the day before you want to bake the cake and keep it in the refrigerator.
** Make the Chocolate-Cinnamon Swirl the day before you want to bake the cake to save a few minutes measuring and whisking.
*** To really cut down on your mixing time the morning of making this cake, measure and mix together the dry ingredients and set aside till ready to make the cake the next day.

If you follow all the pre-measure shortcuts, you'll just be left with creaming and mixing the actual cake batter and baking it the next day.

Chocolate Chunk Scones

Where oh where have I been.  I can't believe it has been so long since I updated here and frankly, I'm fairly disgusted with myself.  I had so many great ideas and such a flurry of energy going too.  Then, just ppppbbbbllltttt - nothin' - bad day turned into bad week and so on.  Sorry!!

I have no good reason since it's just the way my life is and it's really nothing new.  I just had a funk I guess, and a bit of angst and self-pity followed by a healthy dose of self-loathing for the pity party.  Lame.

I think that is the key problem right there though.  No free time and a complete lack of motivation with myself.  Do you ever just have those times where life gets so overwhelming that you just want to shut it all down and give up on even trying?  Yeah. I told you it was a real pity party.  I didn't feel like sharing my lousy attitude at the time, but I feel like I'm starting to rebound so now I'm back!

Anyway, I don't really mean to bore you with all the details here about kids and school and work and life and doctors appointments and colds and sick kids and stress and blah blah blah, because, frankly, I'm tired of it all and that's what I come here to try to get away from.

What I DO want to share with you is this recipe for Chocolate Chunk Scones - a surefire way to help yank yourself out of pity party doldrums.  Besides, I'm sincerely hoping that, like me, you can be bribed into forgiveness.  I brought chocolate after all. Heavens knows it works on me! ;)

Slather a little cherry or raspberry jam on your scone for an extra little treat!

I made these scones a while back and they were so heavenly.  Light, fluffy, chocolatey, not too sweet and so melt-in-your-mouth tender - just like a good scone should be as far as I'm concerned.

I upped the ante with my scones by using really good bittersweet chocolate chunks.  The sugar topping was an additional super fun component too though.  I had some Swedish Pearl Sugar I picked up a while back and have been hoarding a bit.  It was so fun to use and the kiddos got a real kick out of it.  They thought it looked like little snowballs on top of the scones.

As far as I'm concerned, baked treats are good all of the time, but there's just something about the Fall weather that really makes me want to have something warm from the oven for breakfast.  These chocolate chunk scones definitely fit the bill!

Chocolate Chunk Scone Recipe

Adapted from the King Arthur Flour website

2 1/2 cups cake flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sugar

2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

3/4 cup heavy cream

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla

9 ounces semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chunks

sugar pearls or raw sugar for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Line or lightly grease a baking sheet.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder.  Add the butter pieces and using your fingertips or a pastry cutter blend the butter into the flour until the mixture is unevenly crumbly.

In another bowl whisk together heavy cream, eggs, and vanilla.  Set aside 2 tablespoons of the mixture to use as a wash on the outside of the scones before baking.  Add the rest of the cream-egg-vanilla mixture to the dry ingredients along with the chocolate chunks.  Toss together with your hands or a fork to mix and form a moist dough.

Transfer the sticky dough to a well floured rolling mat or other work surface.  Gently pat and round the dough into a 7-inch circle.  Cut the circle into 8 equal triangle portions using a sharp knife.  Use a spatula to place the scones onto the baking sheet, leaving about 2-inches between triangles on the sheet.  Brush the scones with the reserved egg/cream mixture, then sprinkle heavily with the pearl or raw sugar.

Bake the scones for 22 to 25 minutes, until golden brown.  Remove the pan from the oven and serve them warm.  Keep them stored in an airtight container.

PW's Sour Cream Pancakes

I don't think it is any secret that we eat a lot of pancakes at our house. We eat pancakes in one form or another probably almost every single day. We have a tried and true favorite 'regular' pancake recipe that has been our staple for well over a year or so now. We have another amped up, loaded pancake with oats and apples that we make regularly and love too. My only complaint with either recipe is that there is time - a bit too much of it - involved in letting the batter rest before cooking.

Most days this is fine, but takes a bit more thinking and planning on my part. As you can imagine (especially those of you who have been there) pregnancy has once again turned my brain to mostly mush with very little room for remembering tasks these days.

When I was browsing through Ree Drummond's new cookbook, besides the fact that there were many recipes I knew I had to try right away, I was intrigued and surprised most by a recipe she refers to as belonging to her husband's grandmother, Edna Mae. The main ingredient in the pancakes is a fair amount of sour cream. It is then cobbled together with very little flour, sugar, salt and baking soda. A couple of eggs and some vanilla get mixed in, and somehow, as impossible as it seemed to me that this was going to work, it did. Oh did it ever work!

I have now had this recipe in my possession all of about three weeks and I'm pretty sure I've made it no less than 10 times already. I find myself making sure I have enough sour cream on hand that I can make these any time I want. They are light, tender, flavorful and oh so ridiculously easy to make. If it is just me and the boys at home I make just a single batch (recipe shown below) but if my hubs is home I have to double the batch. These pancakes are incredibly edible and you'll find yourself easily eating several in one sitting (even the kids!). I love love love this recipe and am so glad that Ree included it in her cookbook. I've also tried several other recipes from the book already, including the Cinnamon Rolls and Twice-Baked Potatoes and each recipe has been a total winner in our opinion. This is definitely a cookbook that won't see much of your shelf since you'll be using it on a daily basis.

Edna Mae's Sour Cream Pancakes

SOURCE: The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes From An Accidental Country Girl

By Ree Drummond

Makes about twelve 4-inch pancakes

1 cup sour cream

7 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Butter, for your pan or griddle

Butter and Maple or Pancake Syrup for serving

(Directions are ad libbed by me - get the book and read PW's step by step directions and photos for yourself - much more entertaining).

Heat your iron skillet or griddle over medium-low heat till nice and hot.

In a medium sized bowl gently stir together the sour cream, flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt until just barely combined, not even all the way.

In a small separate bowl whisk together the eggs and vanilla. Add to the flour and sour cream mixture and stir again very gently until just barely (or not even quite all the way) combined.

Melt a generous amount of butter in the skillet or on your griddle and pour the batter a scant 1/4 cup at a time.

Cook for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, then flip and cook another 45 seconds remove to a plate. Repeat with the remaining batter, melting more butter as needed. Serve hot with butter and syrup.

Daring Bakers: Strudel - Strawberry 'Toaster' Strudel

The May Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafes of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

Since I am not a big fan of baked apples I decided to stray from the filling and, as you can tell, from the rolled up shape. I made the strudel dough as directed, then, instead of filling and rolling, I folded the dough in half (longest edge to longest edge).

I then added about a tablespoon of homemade strawberry jam and spread it in a small rectangle along one half of the dough, leaving about a two inch space between the jam to make 10 spots. I folded the dough the long way again to fold over the jam and cut the pastries into rectangles as shown.

Before baking I pricked the dough a couple of times and baked the pastries for about 18 minutes. Once they had cooled a bit I drizzled them with a simple icing of a mixture of powdered sugar and heavy cream.

The strudel 'squares' were flaky, tender and a little crisp at the same time and we loved them. The dough itself was easy to make, and tough to roll to the right size. Mine was probably a few inches short in the size but it was still very, very thin.

See more strudel at The Daring Kitchen

Mini Chocolate Chip Pecan Pancakes with Buttermilk Caramel Syrup

If I give you a recipe for the most delicious little pancakes that are like eating dessert for breakfast, say, on a nice Sunday morning, perhaps like tomorrow, will you forgive me for waiting all day to post? Again?

If the pancakes aren't enough, then how about adding on some of the most delicious and incredible sweet, caramel syrup that isn't overly sweet and still has a bit of tang from the buttermilk it is made with?

These little pancakes, which are only about 3-inches across each, are fluffy, tender and studded with pockets of melted, chocolatey goodness plus a few lightly toasted pecan pieces for good measure. Wow. sorry, I just lost my train of thought thinking about these again. I have a sneaking suspicion I may be making these for breakfast again tomorrow.

I first saw this recipe over at Joy the Baker's blog when she made them with milk chocolate. I have made these with milk chocolate too, but with the buttermilk caramel syrup I really liked the contrast of the bittersweet chips instead. I can't imagine that whatever kind of chocolate you wanted to use with this recipe wouldn't just be awesome.

Mini Chocolate Chip Pecan Pancakes
Adapted from Joy the Baker

Makes approx. 24 3-inch pancakes

2 eggs
2 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups buttermilk
4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup bittersweet or semisweet (or milk) chocolate chips
1/3 cup coarsely chopped, lightly toasted pecans

oil or cooking spray (for cooking)

Beat together the eggs, buttermilk and vanilla in a large bowl. Add the melted and cooled butter and mix well. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, mix well to combine. Add the flour mixture to the liquid mixture and stir well until mostly smooth. Fold in the chocolate chips and pecans. Let the batter stand while the griddle heats.

Heat griddle or pan over medium heat, or about 350 degrees. Add a teaspoon of oil to the pan or spray with cooking spray. You can test to see if the pan is hot enough by adding a few drops of water, if or when the drops start to dance its hot enough.

Pour 2 Tablespoons of batter at a time onto the griddle for each pancake. Cook on the first side until bubbles that form start to pop. You can also gently lift up the pancake to make sure the bottom is not overcooking, if it is the pan may be too hot and you will need to adjust the heat. Flip the pancake over with a spatula and cook until golden brown. Repeat until all the batter is gone. Let cooked pancakes rest on a heat proof plate in a 200 degree F oven until ready to serve.

Buttermilk Caramel Syrup Recipe

TWD: Blueberry Crumb Cake

Sihan of Befuddlement chose the Blueberry Crumb Cake in Baking From My Home To Yours for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie. The fabulous Dorie Greenspan, who our group is named for, has been nominated for a James Beard award in Journalism. Hooray for Dorie and congratulations!

On a slightly related note, did you know that, besides following me @PheMom you can now follow the group on Twitter as well as Dorie herself? Check it out @DorieGreenspan and @TuesdayswDorie - just thought if you are a fellow tweep you ought to know. Speaking of, if you are a fellow tweep - please let me know so that I can start finding you (if I don't already). Please leave me your Twitter username in your comment so I can follow you too!

Back to the Blueberry Crumb Cake. This cake was really fun and easy to put together and came out with beautiful results. The flavor of all of it together is amazing. If you love blueberry muffins, then think of this cake as a huge step up. I made the cake exactly as directed, but, since I was out of walnuts, used pecans in the topping. It was amazing and I'm sure even better with the walnuts!

Even though I loved this, I have to admit, I am still partial to the Jam Crumb Cakes I made a while back. I still don't entirely love baked fruit, so the blueberries in this were sometimes not my favorite part. That said, I can't wait to try this recipe with some peaches next since they are the one fruit I do like when baked.

I you haven't already entered the Macy's Giftcard Giveaway I'm doing, then you have until midnight Thursday to comment and enter to win. It is a really easy one to enter, so follow that link and get to it!

Coconut Loaf Cake with Thick Lime Glaze and a Giveaway!

I have been reading the recipes in Tyler Florence's Real Kitchen cookbook for the past week and immediately bookmarked one for Coconut Bread. It intrigued me since I hadn't had or seen anything like that before. I decided I wanted to change things up a bit anyway though and make it into a cake. I used a 9-inch springform which worked beautifully.

It makes a beautiful kind of a brunch cake or something you could have as an afternoon snack. The original recipe uses lemon, but I decided to go with lime. It also used coconut milk as well as toasted coconut.

I was thinking of topping it with a white chocolate glaze of some kind, but since I was undecided, went ahead and twittered all my foodie friends to see what they thought. While the white chocolate glaze sounded good though, @MormonFoodie, suggested a glaze made with powdered sugar, lime and coconut milk. That sounded really good, but unfortunately I was all out of coconut milk at that point since I used it all in the cake.

I decided to go with a simple glaze out of lime juice, powdered sugar and heavy cream. I wanted something very thick and smooth, and I got exactly that.

Even with the use of the coconut milk and toasted coconut, this cake / bread doesn't have an overwhelming coconut flavor. It just has all the very best characteristics of the flavor and texture. My son, who is a coconut hater, loved it. Of course, I didn't tell him what it was until after he ate a piece though!

Since the recipe came from Mr. Florence, I thought it would be a good way to announce a little giveaway that my friends over at M80 are helping me giveaway a $20 Macy's gift card to one of my lucky readers.

The giveaway is to help let all our foodie friends know about some podcasts that are available from Macy's and Tyler to help everyone with some cooking skills and knowledge, as part of Macy's Keeps America Cooking Campaign. You can view the podcasts here. Here is what M80 had to say about the podcasts and the contest...

"Macy’s and Tyler Florence, have joined and created an exciting 12-series
podcast hosted at macys.com/keepitcooking that feature some of his favorite
recipes. Check out what gets Tyler cooking and try out some of his tasty meals!
Macy’s also wants to know what gets you cooking and is offering you the chance
to win a kitchen shopping spree with Tyler in San Francisco!"

The contest goes through April 3rd, so if you are interested, check it out here! You can even find out more about it from M80 here!

All you have to do to win that Macy's card is to leave me a comment here and tell me what keep's you cooking? I'll run the contest till this Thursday, March 26th at midnight (MST) then use Random.org to pull a number from the comments.

Coconut Loaf Cake with Thick Lime Glaze
Source: Tyler Florence - link to original recipe here

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for greasing the pan
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Zest of 2 limes, finely grated
1 - 14 oz. can unsweetened coconut milk
1 1/2 cups shredded coconut, toasted (see Note)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan with butter.

In a large bowl, mix the flour with the baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.

In another large bowl, whisk together the melted butter with the brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, and lime zest. Pour in the coconut milk and whisk together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold everything together with a spatula until you have a smooth batter.

Gently fold in the shredded coconut until evenly distributed. Pour into the prepared pan and set it on a cookie sheet. Bake for 55 minutes to 1 hour or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the bread. Rotate the pan periodically to ensure even browning.

Cool the bread in the pan for 20 minutes or so; then when cool enough to handle, remove the coconut bread to a cutting board and let it cool completely before glazing to keep the glaze nice and thick.

Note: To toast the coconut: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the coconut on a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes, stirring it periodically Toasting will fluff up the coconut and increase its volume (as well as make it taste better).

Thick Lime Glaze

2 cups powdered confectioners' sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoons fresh squeezed lime juice
1/4 to 1/3 cup heavy cream

Whisk ingredients together thoroughly in a large bowl til thick and smooth. Pour over the cake and use a rubber spatula to gently spread the glaze to the sides so that the weight just takes it down the sides of the cake. Add extra lime juice or cream, depending on the taste and thickness you want. The ratios above just have a light lime flavor.

Home Fries and a Weekend Breakfast Suggestion

In an effort not to completely blow my so far good record with NaBloPoMo, it is now 10:37 pm on a Saturday night and I am finally finishing this post.  Ten more days and then I can bring things back to normal and have all my archives just about cleaned up with all the things I have slacked on telling you about.

So, since tomorrow is Sunday, and for me that usually means a little extra time to slow down and take the time to make a more special breakfast, I thought I would share with you one of my favorite breakfast recipes.

Before I talk about these Home Fries though, I have a quick little suggestion to make.  

Do you read Joy the Baker's blog?  I hope so and would guess that most of you do.  If you don't, well, then you should.  Joy is simply wonderful and so fun.  She is always doing something fun or making something great.  In fact, it is because of Joy that I now have these potatoes stuck in my mind.  While this recipe is adapted from one of my favorite books, it was Joy's post to her readers about letting her "make them breakfast" this weekend that got them to the front of the pile.  What a fun idea!

So, if you decide to try these home fries, which, incidentally are great any time of day, perhaps you will head on over to Joy the Baker and get acquainted with her recipes - which, for breakfast, are wonderful and plentiful too.  Personally, I'll be making her Dad's Buttermilk Pancakes for breakfast tomorrow.  I would try to describe how delicious they are, but really, you need to go read her post about them yourself.  All I will say is, it inspired me to stop what I was doing, write down the recipe and go in the kitchen and make them right that minute. Literally.  They are just sweet enough and perfectly delightful.

On to the potatoes.  What I love about these potatoes is that, though they are a bit of effort, it isn't the kind that annoys me.  Extra steps don't annoy me.  Extra mess does.  I am a potato peeling hater.  I'll do it when I have to, but if I can avoid it, then I am all for that.

These potatoes pack a great amount of flavor and texture for, really, minimal effort, with just a couple extra steps.  They get crisp and wonderful spots of caramelized goodness on the outside while being tender and fluffy on the inside.  

Without a doubt, these are my most favorite way to eat any kind of hashbrown like potato.  Go ahead, give them a chance.  You won't regret it.

Home Fries

Adapted liberally from Williams-Sonoma Breakfast

1 1/2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed and patted dry, cut into bite-size pieces*

3 Tablespoons unsalted butter

2 Tablespoons Canola oil

3 Red Baby Bell Peppers or 1 large Red Bell Pepper, seeded and chopped

1 small yellow onion, chopped

3/4 teaspoon chile powder

Kosher salt to taste (about 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon)

In a large pot with a steamer basket, add about 1 inch depth of water.  Place the cut potatoes in the steamer basket and place the lid on the pot.  Bring the water to a boil and cover and steam the potatoes for about 10 minutes.  *If you want you can steam the scrubbed potatoes whole and just steam for about 15-20 minutes (if the potatoes aren't too big) until tender, then cut them into the bite-size pieces.  I'm not that patient and like to skim time.  If you have the extra time though, your potatoes may get a little crisper when you are cooking them if you steam them whole.  Either way, they are delicious.

Once the potatoes are tender, remove them from the steamer and place in a large bowl to rest while you prepare the pan.  If you have a large cast-iron frying pan, that is best, but a regular pan will work fine too.  Over medium-high heat, melt the butter with the oil.  When the butter is completely melting and the foam is starting to go down, add the bell pepper and onion pieces to the pan and cook, stirring a few times, until glossy and getting tender, about 5 minutes.

Add everything in the pan to the bowl with the potatoes.  Add the chile powder and salt to the mixture in the bowl and toss gently with a large spoon to distribute.  Once it is fairly well mixed, but the potatoes are still holding together well, add everything back to the pan.  If you don't mind the potatoes being a bit mushed up you can skip this step and just add them straight to the pan and season them there.

Once the potatoes are in a layer in the pan, do not disturb them until they start to brown, about 5 minutes.  Then turn they gently with a large spatula in batches, trying to get them turned so that you only turn them a couple of times during cooking.  This gets the best crust and browning.  It will take about 10 to 15 minutes more.  Serve hot.

Serves 4.

Chocolate Chunk Scones - NaBloPoMo Day 5

There is bakery in Salt Lake City that I used to go to several mornings a week when I was still working downtown. Among all the other delightful pastries they had there were big scones, tender, light, fluffy and filled with chunks of chocolate. I loved them dearly. I would get a big hot chocolate, which I think was always a bit comical to whoever was working the counter when they asked if I wanted it made with skim milk and I said yes, then when they asked if I wanted whipped cream that got a yes too. I just prefer skim milk for the most part, but I rarely turn down whipped cream. The skim choice wasn't a diet thing, just a preference thing. I've gotten many funny looks for it, but oh well.

Back to those scones. Until I started going to some of the bakeries a few years ago, scones were to me what I guess is considered fry bread to others. We still call those scones too, but I had never had these sweet, biscuit-like scones. I was hooked and my favorite was, no surprise here, the Chocolate Chunk Scones. Now that I work from home and don't venture to many bakeries anymore, it was time to find a recipe to make my chocolate scones myself.

Imagine my delight when flipping through my copy of Carole Walter's book, Great Coffee Cakes, Sticky Buns, Muffins & More (which, by the way, pretty much about categorizes 9/10 of all my cravings) to find a variation for sconese with chocolate chips in them. It didn't take me too long to make them. The recipe makes 12 fairly good sized scones but is difficult to cut in half, so make sure you stash a few in the freezer in an airtight wrap to enjoy later. At room temperature, kept airtight, they keep for about 3 days. These scones were better than a dead ringer for the bakery variety - they were better. Good chocolate and a nice sprinkling of crunchy sugar on top really make this a knock out recipe to have in your arsenal.

Chocolate Chunk Scones
(Adapted from Great Coffee Cakes, Sticky Buns, Muffins & More, by Carole Walter: original recipe found under Sedona Cream Scones)

2 cups sifted cake flour, spooned in and leveled
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour, spooned in and leveled, plus 1/4 cup additional for kneading and rolling
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes and chilled
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk (reserve white for egg wash)
1 egg white beaten with 1 teaspoon cold water, for egg wash
1 tablespoon raw turbinado or sparkling sugar
1/2 cup good quality semisweet chocolate, chopped

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Have ready a large, ungreased baking sheet. For ease of cleanup, I lined mine with a piece of parchment.

Combine the flours, sugar, baking powder and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment. Add the butter and mix for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes, or until the mixture forms pea-size bits. Gently add and mix the chocolate chunks into the flour/butter mixture, just to distribute them.

Whisk together the cream, egg, and yolk. Remove the paddle attachment and replace with the dough hook. With the machine off, add the cream/egg mixture to the flour mixture, then blen on low speed just until the dough starts to form a ball of big clumps - don't overmix.

Sprinkle a clean work surface with about 2 tablespoons of flour to start and turn the dough out onto the work surface, scraping out the bowl with a bowl scraper or rubber spatula. Lightly flour your hands and knead the dough five or six time til it comes together nicely then press it into a square about 8 inches big.

Move the dough aside and clean the work surface, then flour it again with about 2 tablespoons more flour. Using a well floured rolling pin, replace the dough in the center of your work surface and roll it into a 9x12-inch rectangle, with the 9 inch side parallel to the edge of the counter. Fold the dough like a business letter, folding one-third down from the top, then the bottom third up over the top, pressing the edges gently to align them the best you can. You should end up with three layers of dough. Press the top gently with your hands, then roll into a 17x4 inch strip. Using a sharp knife or bench cutter, cut the rectangle into 12 pieces. When placing on the baking sheet, invert each scone and space them 2 inches apart. Brush the tops with the egg wash and sprinkle with the sugar.

Bake the scones for 15 to 18 minutes, or until slightly firm to the touch. Remove them from the oven and cool them on the sheet for about 5 minutes before serving them warm.

GWW: French Breakfast Puffs

Well, it's Wednesday, and it is probably well past time for me to try to be a good wifey since I have been more of a crazy person lately.  Yesterday we, one other mom and myself, made and served dinner to the teachers and staff at the charter school our kids attend as part of a Teacher appreciation type of thing during parent/teacher conferences.  Anyway, it was crazy!  I did get to make some good food and treats, but I will get to that another time.

Since I spent the last few days getting ready to feed the teachers (oh, and it was dinner for 40) I wanted to find something easy and fun to make with breakfast yesterday, so, since darling Leigh outlined the recipes she wanted to try to make this month, in no particular order, so that we could all play along, I decided to see what wisdom the good ole Betty Crocker Picture Book had to offer with these French Breakfast Puffs.  

While you could certainly eat them for breakfast I can't see any reason why anyone would call them French, or even puffy for that matter.  What they are though is a quick, simple, tender muffin with good flavor and a nice sugar and spice hit from their roll in cinnamon and sugar.

So, for my Good Wife Wednesday this week, I made these tender little darlings.  Easy, simple and satisfying.

French Breakfast Puffs

Mix together thoroughly...

     1/3 cup shortening

     1/2 cup sugar

     1 egg

Sift together...

     1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

     1 1/2 tsp baking powder

     1/2 tsp salt

     1/4 tsp nutmeg

and stir in alternately with...

     1/2 cup milk

Fill greased muffin cups 2/3 full.  Bake until golden brown.  Immediately roll in...

     6 Tbsp melted butter

then in mixture of...

     1/2 cup sugar

     1 tsp cinnamon

Serve hot.

Temp.:  350 degree F oven

Time:  Bake 20 to 25 minutes

Amount:  12 muffins 

Perfect Pancakes with Blueberries

Eureka! We have success! For what? The Perfect Pancake recipe. Thanks to June of Thyme for Food for sharing this recipe!

You see, at our house on any given morning, when I ask the question "what will you eat for breakfast?" the answer will be, probably 9 times out of 10, "pancakes." I have already posted two of our favorite pancake recipes here before, but what I haven't had was just a "plain" pancake recipe. Until now.

What makes these so perfect? I'm glad you ask. OK, you probably didn't ask, but I'll tell you anyway. As for most things I make often, I am looking for a recipe that fits certain criteria. For pancakes the recipe had to fullfill a 'trifecta' of key points for us (yes, pancakes are serious business around our house).

First off, flavor of course. The pancakes have to taste really wonderful - these are just sweet enough without being too sweet and you can taste the hint of vanilla that shines through.

Second, texture when you are topping them - and when you are eating them. They have to be the firm enough to stand up to being buttered. Often at our house that actually means peanut butter - especially crunchy - so you can see why a pancake that just rips apart won't do.

And third, they can't be tough or dry - they have to be soft and fluffy too - but not so soft that they soak up all the syrup and completely fall apart. They should be the perfect balance.

We finally have a winner here. These pancakes fulfill all of the requirements above and are still light and satisfying at the same time. You can eat two or three in a stack and not feel like you've just swallowed a bowling ball for breakfast.

I prefer my pancakes with just butter and syrup, but the PTB of the house really likes his with blueberries. So, since it never hurts to soften him up a bit, we have been throwing some blueberries onto his pancakes - besides, they're good for you, right?

The Simple But Perfect Pancake
The King Arthur Flour All Purpose Baking Book
Makes Eleven 1/4 cup pancakes

2 large eggs
1 1/4 cup (10 oz) milk (full fat)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (optional)
3 tablespoons (1 1/2 oz) butter, melted, or vegetable oil
1 1/2 cup (6 1/4 oz) unbleached all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar, or 1/4 cup malted milk powder

Beat the eggs, milk and vanilla until light and foamy, about 3 minutes at high speed on a stand or hand mixer. Stir in the butter.

Whisk the dry ingredients together to evenly distribute the salt, baking powder and sweetener. Gently and quickly mix into the egg and milk mixture. Let the batter relax while the griddle is heating (or overnight in the refrigerator). The batter will thicken while resting.

Grease and preheat the griddle. The griddle is ready if a drop of water will skitter across the surface, evaporating immediately; if you have an electric griddle, set the temperature between 325°F and 350°F. Drop 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the lightly greased griddle. Cook on one side until bubbles begin to form and break, * then turn the pancakes and cook on the other side until brown. Turn over only once. Serve immediately.

* If you are adding fruit or chocolate chips or whatever you would add them after the pancake batter has started to set up a bit, but don't wait more than about 10 seconds into it or the batter will be too cooked to hold on to it. I generally add about 1/8 cup of mix-ins.

Chocolate Chunk Muffins

When I first moved to Utah I worked in an office tower that was built onto one of the downtown shopping malls. Every morning when I would park, I would have to make my way through the mall to get to work. Even though I am not a great shopper (weird. I know.) it wasn't actually annoying in the mornings because it was early enough that there was no one there really. Most of the shops weren't open yet and the mall was basically empty. The only places open that early were some of the food places, which were open probably to swindle the money out of office drones just like me with their $4 double mocha lattes with a triple shot of espresso and a shot of english toffee syrup. Hmmmm.... I digress.

Anyway, I also had to walk past the Mrs. Fields shop which actually not only had cookies ready that early and tempting me, but they made the most heavenly chocolate chip muffins. Not chocolate muffins with chocolate chips (which I also love) but more like getting a chocolate chip cookie - but in the form of a muffin - and therefor totally eligible as legitimate breakfast fodder. Right? (OK, so it is probably still pushing it, but I was young and will therefore blame it on a better metabolism and just not knowing any better... right).

I still remember those muffins, but haven't ever found a recipe that fit the bill. It wouldn't be hard to create one I realize, but I just never seemed to get around to it. Anyway, that brings us up to speed with today.

I signed up for the latest round of Taste & Create, the fun "monthly" event created by Nicole at For the Love of Food where food bloggers are matched up with a partner and get to choose one recipe from their partner's blog to make and write about with a little review of the other's blog.

I have participated twice before and really enjoy this event and the whole idea behind it, so I'm glad to be able to participate again this time around.

My partner for the event this time was Ruth of Ruth's Kitchen Experiments. Ruth, lucky girl, lives over in Ireland and I have to admit, I am completely jealous! I have never been there, but I just know in my heart that Ireland and I would get along famously.

Ruth is a busy girl with a darling husband and cute dog who makes lots of great dinner and baking "experiments" (which yes, I realize you don't get a lot of here from me... and you aren't this time either, but I will try - I swear, we don't live on cookies alone - after all there are cupcakes and brownies too - muahahaha)! (Yes, I know, I am rambling and a bit all over the place here, but it is 2am while I write this and frankly, I'm hoping to just go for coherent at this point).

So, it would seem that Ruth's husband preferred having chocolate in his muffins instead of raspberry and though I love raspberry - when I read this recipe I immediately thought of those muffins from the mall and knew I had to go this route.

I modified the recipe a bit since Ruth had adapted the recipe to accomodate making a half batch. And, because you know me and I can't leave well enough alone, I also fiddled with the ingredients a bit.

I doubled the quantitites, but I also used regular sugar (accidentally because I didn't read well enough til it was too late and will use brown sugar next time), I added some vanilla extract and butter. I also opted to use the "muffin method" theory for the mixing and then I added some raw sugar on top to create a sugary crusty crunch (just like the muffins from the mall used to have... mmm mm gooood!)

The muffins worked out great and I will definately be making these again. Without further ado, or any more rambling, on to the recipe.

Chocolate Chunk Muffins
- Makes 12 muffins -

2 cups all-purpose flour
4 Tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1 Tablespoons baking powder
1 cup milk
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 Tablespoons butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
6 oz bittersweet (or semisweet) chocolate, choped into chunks
Raw sugar for sprinkling on top

Preheat oven to 375o F. Line a muffin pan with paper or foil liners, or grease with vegetable oil spray.

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar and baking powder.

In another medium bowl, whisk together the milk, egg and vanilla til well combined. Stir in the cooled, melted butter and combine well. Add the flour mixture into the bowl with the milk mixture and fold in til just combined and wet. Fold in the chocolate chunks and do not overmix.

Fill muffin cups 2/3 full and sprinkle with some raw sugar (probably only about 1/4 teaspoon each). Bake for 20-25 minutes in the preheated oven, until tops are golden brown and muffins spring back to the touch.