Funfetti Cinnamon Rolls!

Let me start by saying, that the whole world seems to be on a "Funfetti" kick.  Funfetti cake, Funfetti pancakes, Funfetti ice cream, Funfetti puppy chow, . . .and now. . . Funfetti Cinnamon Rolls.  Why not right?! 

So I have this little routine I do every night.  Before I go to sleep, I always do two thing:  browse Pinterest, and then read the Good Book.  Can you think of a better way to end the day?  Inspiring Ideas followed by the Word of God?  I think not! 

Well, a while back I came across this recipe on the "Six Sister's Stuff" blog and HAD TO MAKE IT!!!!  The only substitution I made was I used Funfetti Cake Mix. . . because I have two little girls who absolutely adore all things sparkly and fun. . and the closest things to sparkles in your food, is of course, sprinkles in your food!  I had to go a little further though. . .and add in another whole container of sprinkles! 

Yeah. . . they were pretty delicious.  It made a rather large batch though. . .so we had some lovely friends who were gifted with a pan of 9 rolls as well!  The texture isn't your typical gooey bread consistency, and it's not really like cake either.  It's right in between.  Just where it should be.  I'm sad to say that I didn't get a picture of these with the frosting on top (and of course MORE sprinkles)  but I was able to snap a quick pick when they came out of the oven!

Now the recipe on the Six Sister's Blog calls for a CAN of cream cheese frosting.  .  . but that stuff don't fly in this house!  I made homemade cream cheese frosting, and there's no comparison to anything you can buy in a can:  and I should admit, that when you make it at home the batch of frosting you get is rather large, so you can freely slather that goodness on nice and thick! 

Funfetti Cinnamon Rolls!

Ingredients:

Cinnamon Rolls:
1 box of white or yellow cake mix
2 packages of active dry yeast
2 1/2 cups of warm water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
5 cups flour

Filling:
2 cups brown sugar
Cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, softened

1.  Mix yeast and warm water until dissolved.  

 

2.  Combine cake mix, salt and flour in a large bowl.  

 

3.  Add warm water/yeast mixture and vanilla to cake mix, salt and flour mixture.  Mix well.  This may require kneading with your hands a bit to completely combine ingredients.  UNLESS you have a nice big Kitchenaid mixer. . . then it will gladly do the work for you! 

 

4.  Cover tightly.  Let rise for one hour.  Punch down and let rise again for another 30-60 minutes.

5.  On a floured surface, roll dough into a rectangle shape, approx 1/4″ thick.  

 

6.  Once dough is rolled out, brush with softened butter.  Sprinkle with brown sugar.  Sprinkle with cinnamon – use as little or as much as you like. 

 

7.   Starting at end opposite from you, roll the dough towards you until all dough is rolled into one long piece.  Slice dough into 24 equal sized pieces.

8.  Place rolls in two greased 9×13 pans.  Cover and let rise until doubled in size.  I usually sit my rolls on my stove top while my oven preheats to 350 degrees.  This allows them time to rise and provides a bit of warmth from the oven warming.  

 

9.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15-25 minutes or until golden brown.  

 

10.  Remove from oven and let cool slightly.  If you prefer your frosting to melt into your rolls, frost after rolls have cooled for 10-15 minutes.  If you prefer your frosting to stay on top of your rolls, wait until rolls have cooled until frosting.  With all that cream cheese frosting I made. . .I frosted once when warm. . .and then did a follow up layer of delicousness!

 

Pecan Praline Baked French Toast

When Dave and I were in Door County we ate at a Restaurant called Julie's Park Cafe for breakfast. Dave ordered this Pecan Praline French Toast and LOVED IT! So for Father's Day I decided to attempt to re-create it for him. He said this was right on! The kids LOVED it too! Which why wouldn't they . . .it's like eating dessert for dinner. Not so much healthy, but it's Father's Day!

Pecan Praline Baked French Toast

1 French bread loaf 
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted 
2 tablespoons maple syrup
3/4 cup chopped pecans
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup half and half
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Cut 10 (1-inch-thick) slices of bread. Reserve remaining bread for another use.

2. Stir together brown sugar and next 2 ingredients; pour into a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with chopped pecans.

3. Whisk together eggs and next 4 ingredients. Arrange bread slices over pecans; pour egg mixture over
bread. Cover and chill 8 hours.

4. Preheat oven to 350°. Bake bread 35 to 37 minutes or until golden brown. Serve immediately.

Swedish "Sweetheart" Kringler

Swedish "Sweetheart" Kringler

FIRST LAYER:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup butter
2 Tbsp cold water

1. Mix together all ingredients to form dough.

2. Form dough into heart shape on baking stone.

SECOND LAYER:
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter
1 cup flour
3 eggs
1/2 tsp almond extract

1. In a saucepan, bring water and butter to a boil. Remove from heat.

2. Mix in flour.

3. Beat in eggs, one at a time.

4. Add in almond extract.

5. Spread over the first pastry layer.

6. Bake at 375 for 1 hour.

FROSTING:
2 cups powdered sugar
3 Tbsp heavy cream
2 Tbsp softened butter
1 tsp almond extract

1. Mix together all ingredients and spread over cooled pastry.

2. If you'd like, you can top with toasted almonds.

Light and Fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes

This is the closest I've been able to get to Merlins. Now if you're from Princeton, you know what I'm talking about. They have the best most fluffy and light pancakes. And they're GIANT!!! Plate Size!!! I will say this: The secret to a fluffy pancake is Butter and Buttermilk. No substitutions. If you use regular milk, you can expect a more dense pancake. Leave out the butter, and it doesn't feel the same on your tongue.

Light and Fluffy Buttermilk 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

½ teaspoons vanilla extract

1. In a large bowl beat eggs.

2. Add buttermilk, butter and vanilla and mix well. Add flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

3. Mix well until smooth and let batter set for a few minutes.

4. Heat griddle or pan over medium heat.

5. Pour ¼ cup of batter onto the griddle.

6. 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.

7. Flip the pancake over with a spatula and cook until golden brown. Repeat until all the batter is gone.

Tortilla Biscuit Bites

Tortilla Biscuit Bites

1 tube of Pillsbury Grands Buttermilk Biscuits
1/4 cup of butter
1 cup crushed tortilla chips (regular corn chips or Doritos of any flavor.)

1. Cut each biscuit into six pieces.

2. Combine the biscuit pieces and chips in a large ziploc bag.
3. Shake and press to adhere the chips to the biscuits.
4. Pour into a round pan, and drizzle with butter.
5. Bake at 400 for about 15 minutes.

6. Invert onto a plate and serve with soup.

Easy Drop Biscuits

I made this biscuits tonight with some soup. It was definitely a hurry-up meal. The soup was about five minutes from done when I realized that I didn't make anything to go with it and we had no bread in the house. Usually we'd do soup and salad, but there were plenty of veggies in the soup, and I decided to go this route.

So here they are. The worlds easiest no-fail biscuits. 15 minutes, start to finish.

Easy Drop Biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup milk

1. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.

2. Slowly drizzle in butter and and mix a little bit.

3. Add in milk, and continue mixing until a soft dough forms.

4. Scoop, by 1/4 cupfuls onto baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray.

5. Bake at 450 for about 12 minutes.

Baked Buttery Garlic Bread

Baked Buttery Garlic Bread

1 loaf of french bread
1/2 cup butter
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 Tbsp parmesan cheese

1. Cut loaf of bread into 1" slices, but don't cut all the way to the bottom of the loaf.
2. Mix together butter, garlic, and cheese.

3. Between each cut you made on your bread, spread the garlic butter mixture.
4. Take the leftover butter and spread it over the top of the loaf of bread.
5. Wrap in foil, and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.

6. Unwrap, cool a few minutes, and tear apart slices.

Popovers

These are A-Maz-Ing! I love popovers. My mom made them when I was a kid, a lot. They always turned out perfect. I started making them about 8 years ago, and maybe every other batch I made would turn out. The secret is simply having a hot oven, and room temperature ingredients. If you don't believe me, try it with cold ingredients. You'll be disappointed but at least now you know.
The best way to eat this is right out of the oven. They are piping hot! When you take them out of the pan, they are crisp on the outside. Open them up, and they are totally hollow, except for a few little pockets. . . which are great little nooks and crannies to fill with butter.

Popovers

4 eggs
2 cups milk
2 tbsp oil
2 cups flour
dash of salt

NOTE: ALL INGREDIENTS MUST BE ROOM TEMPERATURE!!!
(Your popovers will not "pop over" if the ingredients are cold. Instead, they will be more like muffins.)
1. Whisk together the eggs and milk.

2. Slowly drizzle in the oil.

3. Stir in flour, but do not overmix or the popovers will not turn out. (Your batter should be a bit lumpy.)

4. Add in a sprinkling of salt.

5. Spray a regular muffin tin (12 servings) with nonstick cooking spray.

6. Divide batter equally between all 12 spots. Batter will almost completely fill each spot.

7. Bake at 415 degrees for about 50 minutes. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN!
8. Popovers should be big, and when you open them, they will be hollow and delicious.

9. Douse them in butter, and enjoy!

Twisted French Toast

This recipe is an original of my Dad's. . .that my husband revamped a little bit. As I've said before, on anything "breakfast" that I post, I tell you that I am not a "breakfast" person. I am however, a "breakfast-for-dinner" person. SO tonight for dinner, we had sausage, hashbrowns, and french toast. Dad's recipe, with Dave's twist. . .Hence the "Twisted" in the "French Toast." It's SO GOOD!

I think what makes this recipe insanely delicious is the fact that you butter both sides of the bread before dipping it in the egg mixture. Then it's cooked at a low temperature for a long time. It gives it a super crispy texture on the outside, and a soft pillowy center. Not the healthiest french toast you'll ever eat, but surely the tastiest.

Twisted French Toast

8 pieces of Texas Toast Bread
6 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup milk
4 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp cinnamon (I never measure, just toss in what looks and smells delicious.)
1 Tbsp brown sugar (Dave's twist.)

1. Start but getting your griddle nice and toasty. I keep the temp at about 300 degrees.

2. Butter both sides of each piece of bread.

3. Whisk together milk, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, and sugar.

4. Dredge the bread into the egg mixture. Let the bread set in the egg for a few seconds to absorb a little of the egg.

5. Set on griddle and cook low and slow until the edges are crispy.

6. Turn, and continue cooking on the other side.

7. Serve with additional butter and syrup. . .or if you're like my kids. . . slather on the peanut butter too!

Nancy's Corn Muffins with Honey Butter

This is hardly a recipe, however every time I make these muffins, everyone asks how I get my cornbread to not be so crumbly. Well. . . here's the secret. Yellow Cake. Got this one from my Aunt Nancy.

Nancy's Corn Muffins with Honey Butter

MUFFINS:
1 small box of Jiffy Corn Bread (plus ingredients to make as directed on box.)
1 small box of Jiffy Yellow Cake Mix (plus ingredients to make as directed on box.)
3 Tbsp honey

1. Prepare corn bread batter as directed on box.

2. Prepare cake batter as directed on box.

3. Mix the two batters together, and add in the honey.

4. Bake in muffin tins sprayed with nonstick baking spray.

5. Serve with Honey Butter.


HONEY BUTTER:
1/2 cup butter
Few Tbsp honey
Salt

1. Mix together butter, and honey.

2. Lightly sprinkle with salt.

3. Spread on warm Corn Muffins

Cheddar Pull Apart Bread

Cheddar Pull Apart Bread

2 loaves of Rhodes Frozen Bread Dough, thawed
1/2 cup butter
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup melted butter

1. Cut bread dough into 24 pieces per loaf.

2. Place dough pieces into a 9 x 13 dish sprayed with non stick cooking spray

3. Sprinkle with garlic powder, salt, pepper, and cheese.

4. Drizzle with butter.

5. Let rise in warm place until doubled in size.

6. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until browned.

Homemade Flour Tortillas

My kids are taco-obsessed. It's their favorite food. Most kids like spaghetti, or pizza, but mine can't get enough tacos. My youngest, Tessa, especially. It's one of the only meals that she gets truly excited about. We rarely if ever, eat fast food. Their extent of fast food is the occasional Happy Meal from McDonalds. But one day last week, Tessa took notice of a Taco Johns by our home. Now we've driven past this place at least once a day for the past 7 years, but for whatever reason, she never noticed it. She was just staring, in awestruck wonder, out the window and says, "Look Mom, a Taco Store!!!" So needless to say, we eat tacos (or something Mexican) at least once a week. This was the first time I had ever made my own tortillas. I couldn't believe how easy it was, and how good they were! While eating, Justin told me never to by the "crusty store ones" again.

Homemade Flour Tortillas

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup water
3 Tbsp oil

1. Mix together with a fork. Will be a very sticky dough.

2. Dump onto a well floured surface and knead by hand 6 or 7 times.

3. Divide dough into 8 portions.
4. Roll each portion of dough into a ball.

5. Roll each dough ball into a 7 inch circle.
6. Spray a frying pan with a small amount of nonstick cooking spray.

7. Fry each tortilla in for 1 1/2 mintues on each side.

Mom's Waffles

Mom's Waffles

1 cup flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs - separated
1 2/3 cup milk
4 Tbsp melted butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Mix together flour, baking powder, and salt.

2. Add in egg yolks, milk, butter, cinnamon, and vanilla.

3. Mix until smooth.

4. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.

5. Fold into batter until evenly combined.

6. Drop, in 1/4 increments onto each waffle grid of a hot waffle iron.

7. Close waffle iron and let cook for 3 minutes.

8. Remove from iron, and serve.

Pancakes!

Pancakes!

1 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
3 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 cup milk

1. Mix together all ingredients.

2. Drop, 1/4 cup at a time, onto hot griddle.

3. Cook until bubbly on top and flip.

4. Continue cooking a few more seconds, and take off of heat.

5. Repeat until all the batter is gone.

NOTE: I have three kids and a husband. . .If I want enough pancakes for everyone to eat. . .I double this recipe.

"Everything" Pull Apart Bread

"Everything" Pull Apart Bread

1 loaf of Rhodes frozen bread dough, thawed
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup parmesan cheeses
1 tsp poppy seeds
1 tsp sesame seeds
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp minced onion

1. Spray a 8" or 9" round cake pan with Nonstick baking spray.

2. Cut bread into 24 pieces and spread evenly in pan.

3. Mix together parmesan cheese, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, garlic powder, and minced onion.

4. Sprinkle cheese mixture evenly over the bread.

5. Drizzle bread with melted butter.

6. Let rise till almost doubled in size.

7. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

Pumpkin Pancakes

Pumpkin Pancakes

1 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup pumpkin puree or canned pumpkin
2 Tbsp oil

1. Mix together milk, egg, and sugar, and oil.

2. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.

3. whisk together the dry ingredients in with the wet ingredients.

4. Add in the pumpkin and whisk until smooth.

5. Drop onto hot griddle, 1/4 cup of batter at a time.

6. Cook until top of the pancake is bubbly and popping. Flip and continue cooking about 1 minute.

7. Serve with syrup!

Pumpkin Muffins

Pumpkin Muffins
Makes 32 muffins or 2 loaves of bread

2/3 cup shortening
3 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
3 1/2 cups flour
2 cups pumpkin puree, or canned pumpkin
2/3 cup water

1. Cream together shortening and sugar. Add in eggs 1 at a time.

2. Stir in cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, baking powder, and baking soda.

3. Next add in the pumpkin puree or canned pumpkin.

4. Mix in flour.

5. Slowly add in water.

6. Spray muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray.

7. Scoop about 3 Tbsp of batter in each muffin cup.
8. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

Chocolate Chip Puffins!

Ok, I'll admit it. I am not a morning person. At all. As far as I'm concerned, I think it would be best if the sun rose around 10:00am. Not being a morning person, I guess you could also say I'm not a breakfast person. . .however, that's not true. I love a good breakfast, I just prefer to eat it for dinner. I rarely make good breakfasts. It's sort of a weekend thing. Monday through Friday, we usually resort to toast, cereal, english muffins, or oatmeal. However, it was Saturday, and we were in need of a quick breakfast. . .the best way to make a quick, but hot breakfast is to make it the night before and pop it in the microwave as needed. I found this recipe on the Bakerella website and had to try it. Pancake or muffin? You decide! I made a few minor changes to her recipe, but they turned out great! So here goes. . .

Chocolate Chip Puffins

1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup milk
1/3 sour cream
1 egg
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar in a medium bowl.

3. In another bowl, stir milk, sour cream, egg, maple syrup and melted butter until just combined.

4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until combined.

5. Stir in chocolate chips.

6. Spray a mini muffin pan with non stick baking spray. Scoop 1 Tbsp of batter into each muffin cup.

7. Bake for 8-9 minutes.

8. Dip in Maple Syrup, and enjoy!

Makes 24 mini pancake muffins.

Maple Puffins!

Maple Puffins!
Makes 24

1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup milk
1/3 sour cream
1 egg
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons melted butter

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar in a medium bowl.

3. In another bowl, stir milk, sour cream, egg, maple syrup and melted butter until just combined.

4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until combined.

5. Spray a mini muffin pan with non stick baking spray. Scoop 1 Tbsp of batter into each muffin cup.

6. Bake for 8-9 minutes.

7. Dip in Maple Syrup, and enjoy!

Makes 24 mini pancake muffins.

Caramel Monkey Bread

We love love love caramel rolls. . .love them. Nothing better than that warm caramel gooey delicousness right out of bed in the morning. You have to make this. SO GOOD!

Caramel Monkey Bread

BREAD:
2 loaves Rhodes frozen bread dough, thawed
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

CARAMEL:
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup butter
6 Tbsp heavy cream

1. Cut each loaf of thawed dough into 24 pieces.

2. In a saucepan, combine brown sugar, butter and cream and bring to a boil. Stir for about 3 minutes until it's all melted together. Pour half into a bundt pan.

3. In a small bowl, mix together cinnamon and sugar.

4. Dip each peace of bread in butter, and then roll in cinnamon sugar. Place cinnamon sugar bread cubes into the bundt pan. Repeat until all pieces are in pan.


5. Pour the rest of the caramel over the top of the bread.

6. Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes or until the bread is golden brown. I did have some overflow of bread in the oven. I used a 10 cup Bundt pan, I recommend a 12 cup capacity.

7. Invert on a plate or serving platter and enjoy!