Showing posts with label brown sugar. Show all posts

Brown Sugar Cookies

In a world where only over the top food things reign, for example the trending freak shake and anything rainbow, I think basic, delicious, melt-in-your-mouth treats get over looked just because they aren't loud and in your face.

Don't get me wrong I am the first to hit that like button on something loud, big, and amazing because they are amazing. Drooling over food pictures is a daily occurrence for me. Food is a form of art and I am always impressed with the creativity of chefs and home bakers.

For some bakes there is only so much you can do to it. Cookies for example can be sandwiched or iced or be 'overloaded' with add-ins, but they will always be a cookie. And sometimes there is nothing better then a good old plain sugar cookie.

And sometimes there is something better .... a brown sugar cookie.

Brown Sugar Cookies

340g plain flour
2 tsps cornstarch
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
228g butter
300g dark brown sugar
1 large egg
2 tsps vanilla extract

Heat the oven to 170C/350F and line your cookie sheet(s) with grease proof paper.
Whisk the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt together and leave aside.
Beat the butter and sugar together until light and creamy.
Add the egg and vanilla and beat until just combined.
Add 1/3 of the flour mixture at a time and mix well between each addition.
Scoop out with a large scoop and leave each mound of cookie dough about 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet. They don't spread much, but they will spread.
Bake for 15 minutes.
Once out of the oven leave to cool on the sheet for a couple minutes before leaving to cool completely on a wire rack.

Although these cookies may not be something to look at they are delicious and it is very hard to just have one! It is always fun experimenting with different sugars when baking because the results will always be different. The dark brown sugar gives these cookies a deeper flavor then regular sugar cookies.

Bath Buns

It goes without saying that I was inspired to make these bath buns by my recent trip to Bath. I like playing the role of tourist ever once in a while. In some ways I still am a tourist. I am not a British citizen, but a guest who has paid quite a lot of money to stay as a permanent resident. Unless I leave for more then two years, then it’s void. So, one could say I am still a tourist.

The other form of inspiration comes from Jane Austen's books Persuasion and Northanger Abbey; her heroines, in both titles, spend some time in Bath. It is also rumoured that Miss Austen enjoyed a good Bath Bun from time to time.

While we were visiting Bath we did try Bath Buns from a tea room of he same name. They were good, but these were better. It’s not because I’m some great bun baker; I am still finding my way with bread and yeast risen bakes. I would say it’s because they were fresh … anything fresh out of the oven is usually better then something that came out of the oven that morning or perhaps even the day before.

I’m really not trying to be rude about bakery’s because I love a good bakery, they are professionals and I’m just a home experimental baker. I just think home baked goods have a different feel/taste to them!

The sugar cube in the middle of these sweet buns is what makes them a Bath Bun. There are several variations such as sugar covered caraway seeds, sultanas or raisins, or candied fruit peel. I however kept them simple and just used sugar! Sugar is good for you in moderation!

Bath Buns

7g dried yeast

250ml milk, tepid

450g strong white flour

30g sugar

1 tsp salt

225g butter, softened

12 demerara sugar cubes

1 egg, beaten

Stir the yeast into the milk and set aside. Mix the flour, sugar, and salt and work in the butter until it resembles bread crumbs. You can use a stand mixer for this, as I did. Stir in the yeast/milk which should look a little bubbly by now, with a wooden spoon until completely mixed together. This is a wet dough, now leave to rest for 10 minutes.

Since I used my mixer here is what I did:

After letting the dough rest, using my dough hook I kneaded the wet dough for about 5-6 minutes, before tipping it out on to a floured work surface and finished kneading by hand for another 4-5 minutes until the dough was smooth and elastic. As it was a wet dough I liked using my mixer first as it kept it from being too sticky, but as I’m learning more about kneading I wanted to feel the dough, hence the stopping early. IF you are doing one or the other in the mixer do not knead for more then 8 minutes and if doing it by hand about start by stretching it out in the bowl before kneading it on a floured work surface for 10 minutes.

Place the smooth and elastic dough in a large bowl and leave for an hour to an hour and a half in a warm place until it’s doubled in size.
Once it has risen, turn it gently out on to a clean work surface and knock it back by gently punching it. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces as best you can. I start by dividing it in half and then each half into six. Roll the pieces into balls, by cupping the dough in your hand and gently rolling it on the work surface until it become ball shaped.
With the dough ball seam side up press a sugar cube into the dough and fold the dough around it so it’s completely enclosed. If needed re-roll into balls and place on a prepared baking sheet seam side down. Repeat with all 12, cover with a clean damp towel and leave to rise in a warm place for 30 minutes or until doubled in size.

Heat the oven to 190C. Once doubled in size brush the beaten egg over the buns and bake for 15-20 minutes until they are starting to turn golden and sound hallow when tapped.

to finish:

Milk Glaze: 1 tbsp milk & 2 tbsp sugar

Sugar Topping: demerara sugar cubes, smashed

Prepare the milk glaze when the buns are just about to come out of the oven, by gently heating the milk and sugar in a small saucepan until he sugar has dissolved. Once they are out of the oven cover the buns with the milk glaze before topping with crushed sugar cubes.

notes: the recipe is adapted from Jamie’s Magazine Issue 27 Mar/Apr 12 it can also be found online here. My Bath experience was posted yesterday and can be read here.

challenges: Bready Steady Go hosted by Jen’s Food along with Utterly Scrummy

Monkey Bread

No one really knows where the name for this cinnamon sugar covered bread came from. It is possible it got its name because it resembles the fruit from a monkey-puzzle tree.

Once you've tasted it you won’t really care where the name came from only where you can you get some more!

It first appeared in women magazines in the USA back in the 1950’s. It has recently become popular because of the blogging world! It seems I have quite literally seen it everywhere in the last year or so.

Therefore it was no surprise when I saw a recipe appear in Ruby Tandoh’s book Crumb. I thought it was about time I tried it out for myself.

Monkey Bread reminds me a lot of a cinnamon roll, it’s the same components just differently executed. Chopped pecans or almonds could easily be layered between the dough balls before the second rise.

It’s super easy to make, like all yeast type bakes it’s more just the time. My kitchen is particularly cool so unless I move it into the lounge to rise sometimes it feels like it takes forever to rise properly.

But it’s well worth the time invested! It is a great way to get a sugar fix!

Monkey Bread

250ml full-fat milk

400g strong white flour

7g instant dry yeast

1 teaspoon salt

30g unsalted butter, softened

Gently heat the milk in a small saucepan until it’s warm to the touch. Stir the flour and yeast together, then stir in the salt. Pour in the warm milk and add the soft butter. Mix with a wooden spoon until it’s combined enough to use your hand to bring it together to form a soft dough. Very lightly dust the work surface and knead for 10 minutes. It should become elastic and have a smooth shine to it. Leave in a bowl to rise for at least an hour.

Glaze:

80g unsalted butter, melted

2 ½ tsp cinnamon

100g light brown sugar

Grease a bundt pan with some of the melted butter. If it’s not greased the bread won’t come out of the tin. Mix the cinnamon sugar with the brown sugar and leave aside in a bowl. Once the dough is raised, break into small balls the size of a walnut. Then dip in the melted butter and then the light brown sugar, before placing in a very well greased bundt pan. Don’t worry about how they are placed in the bundt pan. Once all the sugar coated dough balls are in the pan leave to rise for another hour or until doubled in size. Heat the oven to 180C and once it’s heated and the dough has risen bake for 30 minutes.

Once it’s done tip it out on to a plate immediately and only wait a few minutes until it’s cool to the touch to start ripping off pieces!

notes: Adapted from Ruby Tandoh’s Crumb, which I reviewed here.

Pie, Pecan Pie

Originally this pie was intended to be made the same weekend that the Rum & Sultana fudge was. It was suppose to be the dessert for my Thanksgiving dinner that weekend.

Anyway if you read my post on the fudge you’ll already know I didn't because I had tonsillitis. I had to cancel Thanksgiving. I had plans to host my American friend, who moved here early last year, and my friends who are half American.

I was feeling very sorry for myself that weekend. Not that anyone really wants to know, but my throat was so swollen I looked like I had no neck. It was awful!

Then I thought I would make it for Christmas dinner dessert, but because Christmas Eve was chaotic (long story) I didn't make it the day before and couldn't be bothered to make it the day of. A problem I had most of the holiday season.

I had 200g of pecans sitting in my cupboard waiting to be used. There are numerous ways I could have used them up. However I thought I’d stick with the original plan.

So, as I finally get to the point, here is the Salted Pecan Fudge Pie I made for absolutely no other reason then because I could.

I’m not very good with pastry. I’m not terrible, but there is definite room for improvement. Needless to say I get a little anxious every time I make my own pastry. However I needn't have worried as it turned out well, as did the filling!

I do like pecans, they are probably my favorite nut. It's a wonder why I have never even tried a pecan pie nor made one before now. This particular version is super sweet and I don’t think I could manage more than a small slice. Overall though I was very pleased with my efforts! Enjoy!

Sweet Shortcrust Pastry

250g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

50g golden icing sugar

a pinch of salt

135g butter, straight from the fridge, cubed (small)

1 medium egg, beaten

2-3 tbsp milk

Sift the flour, sugar, and salt into a food processor. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Add the egg and milk (start with 2 tbsp and only add a third if needed) and pulse until the dough comes together. Lightly dust your worktop with flour and very quickly knead the dough into a ball. Handle as little as possible as not to melt the butter. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for at least 30 minutes before using.

Lightly dust your worktop with flour and roll out the pastry to about 3mm thick and line your tart tin with it. Make sure the edge of the pastry stands just a little bit above the rim. Trim the edges and prick the base with a fork. Chill in the fridge for another 30 minutes to help prevent shrinkage.

Preheat the oven to 200C/fan180C/gas6 and place a baking sheet in the oven to heat up. Take the tin from the fridge and line with baking paper and baking beans. Place on top of preheated baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Once the time has passed remove the paper and beans and bake for a further 5-10 minutes until the pastry is dry. Set aside.

Salted Pecan Fudge Pie

100g pecans, chopped plus 80-100g pecan halves

100g soft light brown sugar

125g butter

200ml double cream

1 tsp salt, flakes

2 medium eggs, beaten

3 tbsp apricot jam, warmed

Spread the chopped pecans evenly over a baking sheet and lightly toast, in the already heated oven, for 8-10 minutes. Watch them closely they can burn easily. Set aside.

Reduce the oven to 180C/160Cfan/gas4. Place the sugar, butter, and cream in a saucepan over a low heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Cool slightly before adding in the toasted pecans, salt, and eggs.

Pour into the pastry case and arrange the pecan halves on top in a circular pattern. Bake in the oven on the hot baking sheet for 25-30 minutes.

When the pie comes out of the oven gently heat the jam in a small saucepan and brush the top of the pie with the jam to give it a shiny glaze.

Serve with whipped cream or ice cream or eat on its own!

notes: Thanksgiving is always the last Thursday of November, however since being in the UK I tend to celebrate the following Saturday: mainly because I like a relaxed atmosphere and after work and school is never relaxing. This recipe is from The Higgidy Cookbook by Camilla Stephens. I bought it for myself from The Book People, right before Christmas they had a deal a day and I got it with some other cookbooks and books for the girls.

Raspberry & White Chocolate Celebrations Brownies!!

I love brownies and I love cheesecake! It’s not the first time I've ever made cheesecake brownies, but it’s the first time I've written a post for them. These came to me at the perfect time. The May 2013 issue of Sainsbury’s magazine is celebrating it’s 20^th birthday! Coincidence that it is also my birthday is in May? Probably. It didn't stop me from seeing it as a sign that I needed to make the Raspberry & White Chocolate celebration brownies on the cover!!

Even though I have been in the UK for less then half of the 20 years that the Sainsbury’s magazine has been operating, it was from their June 2010 issue that I baked my first ever whoopie pie. It’s already been 2 years, but whoopie pies never over took cupcakes… that’s a whole other topic for another time… Anyway if you happen to be in Sainsbury’s pick yourself up a copy it’s only a pound! Plus there is a coupon for money off Nielsen-Massey Vanilla Bean Paste!

These brownies were gorgeous. You only need a small square to satisfy a chocolate or dessert craving! I don’t really do small squares so where it says it will serve or make 16 I got 9 out of mine. Six of them were transported to my friends for dinner. I mean for dessert, we didn't eat the brownies for dinner. Although now that I’m eating cookies for breakfast, why shouldn't I eat brownies for dinner?

Raspberry & White Chocolate Celebration Brownies

adapted from Sainsbury’s magazine May 2013

100g dark chocolate, broken up

100g soft butter

200g light muscovado sugar

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

100g plain flour

pinch of salt

100g white chocolate, roughly chopped I used Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference White Chocolate with raspberry for extra raspberry!

125-150g fresh raspberries

cheesecake:

1 large egg

200g cream cheese

50g granulated sugar

1 tbsp plain flour

½ tsp vanilla bean paste

Preheat oven 180C/160fan/gas4. Grease an 18cm or 20cm square cake tin and line with baking paper.
Place the broken pieces of dark chocolate into a microwave safe bowl and blast for 30 seconds, stir, 20 seconds, stir and then 10 seconds spurts until completely melted stirring after each 10 second interval. Or melt in a glass bowl over a pot of simmering water. Whichever is your preferred way of melting chocolate? Set aside to cool while you get on with the rest…
Beat the butter and sugar until combined and smooth, slowly add the beaten eggs a little at a time. Keep mixing and add the flour, melted dark chocolate, and a pinch of salt and mix until completely combined.
Fold in the chopped white chocolate and 125g of raspberries. Set aside. (I think I left it a bit too long as it seemed to seize up a bit and it was a tough to spread out in the tin)
Beat all the cheesecake ingredients together. Mine was a little runny because I used a handheld beater, but I think it might have been thicker if it had been beaten by hand, but in the end product it didn’t matter.
Spread half of the brownie mixer into you’re prepared tin, then in blobs or just pour (mine was runny as I said) half of the cheesecake mixture on top, using a skewer to swirl together. Then repeat carefully spread the remaining brownie mixture on top and then swirl in the rest of the cheesecake mixture.
Bake the brownies for 50 minutes, I used a 20cm square tin instead of the 18cm tin recommended, I didn’t change the baking time, but that would be up to you.
Leave in the tin until completely cool and cutting into squares. Decorate or serve with the remaining raspberries, if you haven’t snacked on them while baking or if you don’t have little people who stole them while you were baking…

notes: Sainsbury’s Magazine (I promise Sainsbury’s has not sponsored this post I just happen to live close to one. Although Sainsbury’s if you’re reading this you get a lot of business from me so if you ever want to give me a discount or something email me!) A Tale of Two Whoopies, a link to my cousin’s blog post where I got my inspiration to start my own blog; Brownie Quest

Paint the Town Black! Gingerbread Guinness Cupcakes!! #ToArthur

This Thursday is Arthur Guinness Day and pubs across Ireland have invited massive music names and local artists to come celebrate the man behind the pint and Paint the Town Black.

Wish I lived in Ireland! ;0)

I have had my eye on these cupcakes for a while, but whenever I look through Tea With Bea I always decide on a cheesecake! Not sure why that is? There are so many other delicious looking cakes in this book!

My frosting was very liquid-y I am sure I did something wrong…. like put my butter in the microwave to soften it and even though it wasn't melted it was probably too soft!

But it still tastes delicious and I kind like how the cupcakes looked like mini Guinness pints with the foam ya know? I also sorta wish I had made it as a cake instead…ah well there’s always tomorrow!

So here they are Gingerbread Guinness Cupcakes!! Enjoy!

Gingerbread Guinness Cupcakes:
250 ml/1 cup Guinness stout

250 g/3⁄4 cup black treacle/molasses

11⁄2 teaspoons bicarbonate of/baking soda

280 g/2 cups plain/all-purpose flour

11⁄2 teaspoons baking powder

1 tablespoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1⁄4 teaspoon ground allspice

1⁄4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1⁄4 teaspoon ground cardamom

1⁄4 teaspoon ground cloves

3 eggs

100 g/1⁄2 cup caster/superfine sugar

100 g/1⁄2 cup dark brown soft sugar

1 tablespoon finely grated peeled fresh ginger

200 ml/3⁄4 cup sunflower oil

chopped crystallized ginger, to decorate
muffin trays, lined with about 24 large cupcake cases

makes 24

Preheat the oven to 170˚C (340˚F) Gas 5.

Put the Guinness and treacle in a tall saucepan (the next step will cause the mixture to bubble up violently and potentially overflow, so choose a very tall pan) and bring to a boil over high heat. Remove from the heat and stir in the bicarbonate of/baking soda. Let stand until completely cool.

Put the flour, baking powder, ground ginger, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, cardamom and cloves in a bowl and stir until well blended.

In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, both sugars and the grated fresh ginger. Gradually add the oil. Add the stout syrup and stir thoroughly.

Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared cupcake cases, filling them four-fifths of the way up (the mixture will not rise that much).

Bake in the preheated oven for 25–35 minutes until they feel springy to the touch. Remove the cupcakes from the muffin tray and let cool on a wire rack.

golden cream cheese icing

225 g/1 cup cream cheese

60 g/3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

175 g/11⁄2 cups icing/confectioners’ sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons golden syrup

piping bag fitted with a star-shaped nozzle/tip

To make the golden cream cheese icing, put the cream cheese and butter in a bowl and beat until combined and glossy. Add the icing/confectioners’ sugar and beat until fluffy. Fold in the vanilla extract and golden syrup.

Fill the prepared piping bag with the icing and pipe onto the cupcakes. Top with a couple of pieces of crystallized ginger, to decorate.

Variation: to make into a layer cake instead of cupcakes, spoon the mixture into 2 x 20-cm/8-inch pans or 1 x 25-cm/10-inch pan and bake at 160˚C (315˚F) Gas 4 for 45–55 minutes (for the small pans) or 1 hour 15 minutes (for the large pan).

I’m sharing these on Cupcake Tuesday with Hoosier Homemade!

You can also find this recipe here.

The Baked Brownie!! {brownie quest}

This is the start of my {brownie quest} and what a great place to start! What am I talking about you may ask? Well, I would pass up any other sort of ‘bake’ for a perfect brownie. I have tried a lot of brownie recipes already that just are good or okay. So, I am going to give myself a monthly challenge! It’s a going to be a hard challenge, but someone must do it!

This is how it’ll work: I am going to bake a different brownie recipe every month and rate it on a scale of 1-5: one being awesome and 5 being terrible. (I hope to never encounter a 5!) I will also judge the brownie on texture as well as taste!

The plan is to learn how to allow everyone to link a brownie recipe to the post! I don’t think I will ever run out of brownie recipes, but I would love for people to share their ultimate brownie recipes!

I have a handful of brownie recipes already posted and I don’t plan to go back and give them a rating, but I may re-make some of them in the name of research!

I just had to have Baked: New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito after finding out that it claimed to a recipe for the “Best Brownie as rated by American’s Test Kitchen.” That’s a pretty big claim!!

So, being the nice person that I am (along with a lot of other bloggers) I tested it out for you!

the baked brownie:

1¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons dark unsweetened cocoa powder
11 ounces (325g) dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup (2 sticks/228g) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1½ cups granulated sugar
½ cup packed light brown sugar
5 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the sides and bottom of a 9×13-inch glass or light-colored baking pan. I used my brownie pan, which is just shy of this size, and it worked just fine.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, salt, and cocoa powder together.

Put the chocolate, butter and instant espresso powder in a large bowl and set it over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and smooth. Turn off the heat, but keep the bowl over the water and add the sugars. Whisk until completely combined, and then remove the bowl from the pan. The mixture should be room temperature.

Add 3 eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Add the remaining eggs and whisk until combined. Add the vanilla and stir until combined. Do not overbeat the batter at this stage or your brownies will be cakey.

Sprinkle the flour mixture over the chocolate mixture. Using a rubber spatula (not a whisk), fold the flour mixture into the chocolate until just a bit of the flour mixture is visible.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake in the center of the oven for 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out with a few moist crumbs sticking to it. Let the brownies cool completely before cutting into squares and serve.

Tightly covered with plastic wrap, the brownies keep at room temperature for up to 3 days.

A few tips from Matt and Renato: use a dark unsweetened cocoa powder, make sure your eggs are at room temperature and do not over beat them in the batter, and check your brownies often as they bake. No one likes over baked brownies!

the verdict

I might not need to go on this brownie quest I just prattled on about above! These are very rich, very moist, and very good! I give it a 1 over-all, on texture, and on taste!

Oh and just a side note for my UK bakers, it's an American book, based on an American bakery so you will need cups! Easy to buy anywhere now!

Apple Pie Cheesecake Bars!!

… or more specifically - Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars with Streusel Topping

Last week was the Fourth of July (did you see the fun star shaped sugar cookies my sister made?) and I had planned on having a BBQ this past Saturday (was cancelled due to un-predictable weather) to celebrate.

I wanted to make an “American” dessert. My first thoughts went straight to s’mores. More specifically s’more bars; however graham flour (not gram flour, I made that mistake) isn’t readily available to make my own graham crackers. Nor are store bought graham crackers. I do have a local sweet shop that carries American products, but I didn’t have time to check out if she had any in stock. Yes, I could have used digestive biscuits, but it’s not what I wanted.

So, then my thoughts strayed to apple pie. Too messy was my first thought. Then I remember reading about a cherry pie bar; which lead to an online search of apple pie bars and this is the one I choose.

This recipe comes from foodnetwork.com a recipe by Paula Dean. No surprise then that these are absolutely delicious. I had to try them before family came over (even though cancelled we still had family and my fellow American friend round.) Everyone said about how tasty it was and how they either wanted to make it themselves or pass it along to someone who loves apples. I promise you will not be disappointed with these bars! They are so addicting, I might have to make them again real soon! ;0)

I did convert ounces to grams where needed, but you will need cups to measure out flour etc… as it is an American recipe!!

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened (about 230g)
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened (about 450g)
1/2 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons, divided
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Streusel topping, recipe follows
1/2 cup caramel topping: I bought mine, but there are tons of recipes to make your own!!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, combine flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Press evenly into a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking pan (I used my 9x9in silicone square pan) lined with heavy-duty aluminium foil. Bake 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with 1/2 cup sugar in an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth. Then add eggs, 1 at a time, and vanilla. Stir to combine. Pour over warm crust.

In a small bowl, stir together chopped apples, remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Spoon evenly over cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle evenly with Streusel topping. Bake 30 minutes, or until filling is set. Because I used a smaller pan (9x9in square) I baked mine for an extra 10 minutes as the cheesecake part was a lot thicker and wanted to insure it was cooked all the way through. Drizzle with caramel topping.

Streusel Topping:

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup quick cooking oats (I used rolled oats)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened (120g)

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients. Yield: approximately 3 cups

Note: when I say about so many grams it’s because I tend to round up. 160z is 448g so I used 450g. For the butter one stick is 114g so two sticks is 228g, but I usually weigh out 230g. You can be exact if you like, but I found it didn’t make a big difference. Some books even state that a stick of butter is 120g, but I like erring on the side of less is more.

Ooey Gooey Cinnamon Rolls!!

2 (1/4 ounce) packages active dry yeast

1 cup warm water

2/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon sugar

2/3 cup butter

2 teaspoons salt

2 eggs, slightly beaten

7 cups flour

1 cup warm milk

Filling

1 cup melted butter

1 3/4 cups sugar

3 tablespoons ground cinnamon

1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts (optional)

1 1/2 cups raisins (optional)

Topping

1 cup butter or 1 cup margarine

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup Karo syrup

2 cups pecans, chopped (optional)

In a cup, combine yeast, warm water and 1 tsp sugar. Stir and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix milk, remaining sugar, butter, salt and eggs. Stir well.

Add yeast mixture.

Add half the flour and beat until smooth.

Stir in enough of the remaining flour until dough is stiff.

Turn out onto a well-floured board.

Knead for 10 minutes.

Place in a plastic bowl and cover.

Let dough rise in a warm place until double in bulk. This may take 1 1/2 hours.

Punch down dough and let it rest for 5 minutes.

Roll out on a floured surface into a 15x20 inch rectangle.

To prepare filling----------.

Spread dough with half cup butter.

Mix together 1 1/2 cups sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over buttered dough.

Sprinkle with walnuts and raisins.

Roll up and pinch edge together to seal.

Cut into 12 slices.

Coat bottom of a 13 by 9 inch baking pan and an 8 inch square pan with remaining 1/2 cup melted butter.

Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup sugar.

Place cinnamon roll slices close together in pans.

Let rise in a warm place until dough is doubled in bulk i.e. for about 45 minutes.

Topping----------.

In a saucepan, place all ingredients except for pecans.

Melt these ingredients on range top.

Mix in pecans and then pour over the top of rolls.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Bake for 25 minutes or until done.

Cool.

This recipe come from food.com Recipe #9533 by Charishm Ramchandani

Blueberry Crumb Cake

This recipe is my favorite kind of recipe. It was passed to me from my friend, whose mother made it for her.

When I was about 13, I stayed the night at my best friends house. Typically you could find me at her house or her at my house most weekend nights.

One night, after walking home to her house from our junior high school, her mom made this Blueberry Crumb Cake.

It was one of the best things I had ever tasted at that point in my life. I remember I politely asked for seconds.... then thirds. Her mom chuckled but let me indulge in this wonderful dessert.

Years later, when my friend and I had kids of our own, she passed the recipe to me. Now I make it whenever I can get my hands on wonderfully plump blueberries! I hope you enjoy this cake as much as my family does! ~ Janet

Blueberry Crumb Cake

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

10 tbsp butter/room temp

3 lg. eggs

1 1/4 cups sour cream

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 cups sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 cups blueberries

Preheat oven to 350F. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside. Butter a 9in square baking pan; set aside.

In an electric mixer with the paddle, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 4 min. Add eggs, one at a time until well combined. Add vanilla and beat until combined. Add flour mixture alternating with sour cream, ending in flour until well combined. Fold in 2 cups blueberries. Spoon batter into pan. Toss remaining cup of blueberries with the crumb topping. Sprinkle over cake. Bake until golden brown. 50-60 min.