Cinnamon Roll Scones

Before I was pregnant with Sophie, I could have cared less about cinnamon rolls. They have never been my favorite - I found them kind of dry and flavorless. I really don't know what the hell was wrong with me, honestly. That all changed with an intense craving for cinnamon rolls that persisted throughout my pregnancy with her, and has lasted ever since. I would eat them every day, no joke.

A few weeks ago I was in the mood for cinnamon rolls, but my family didn't feel like waiting the two hours it takes to whip up a batch. Aaron said something about scones, and I fired up the old search engine, because I knew somewhere out there, someone had combined these two things into one, fabulous recipe, and I was right!

In a guest post on Erin's blog, Cassie from Bake Your Day had posted this recipe for cinnamon roll scones that were a huge hit in our house, to say the least. Gabbie cried when they were gone, she liked them so much. Even she-who-doesn't-eat-anything ate an entire one by herself. Now that I'm bringing them up again, I may have to make them this weekend!

Cinnamon Roll Scones

Source: Cassie/Bake Your Day, on Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts

For the scones:

2 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1/4 c. plus 2 Tbsp. sugar

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces

1/2 c. buttermilk (or sour milk) 

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

For the filling/topping:

1/3 c. sugar

1/3 c. brown sugar

2 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Line a medium baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, sugar, and cinnamon in a large bowl and combine well with a whisk. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients using a pastry cutter, two knives, or your fingers, until the mixture is crumbly.

In a small liquid measure, combine the buttermilk and vanilla. Create a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the milk mixture. Gently stir the dough with a fork until just combined; do not over-mix!

Combine the fililng ingredients in a small bowl and crumble most of it into the dough. Gently knead the mixture into the dough, leaving some visible streaks to resemble the swirl of a cinnamon roll.

Transfer the dough to the prepared baking sheet, forming a circle about 8 inches in diameter and 1 inch thick. Sprinkle the remaining topping over the dough and cut into 9 wedges, separating them slightly to leave space for baking.

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes. Top with icing, made from powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla if desired. (As you can see from the picture, above, we definitely desired, but I have to say that they were nearly as good without the icing, and we didn't put any on those we saved for later.)

Monday Meal Planning 11.21.11

I both love (3-day work week!) and hate (I can't believe November is almost over!) that Thanksgiving is this week. We'll be making the trek down to Ann Arbor yet again (we've gone at least once a week since early this month) to spend the day with family. I can't wait to dig in to all that great food! In the meantime, though, here's what we're planning to eat this week:

Monday: Sweet Potato Foil Packet Tacos, Not-So-Quick Spicy Rice

These are a big hit with everyone in the family. Even Sophie gets one, except hers just has sweet potatoes with a side of unseasoned, smushed beans. As unappealing as that sounds, she LOVES it. She has finally decided to eat real people food and is happy to try anything and everything that's placed in front of her. Ask me how she feels about pumpkin pie! (Hint: It disappeared in no time flat.) The rice is not-so-quick because I've been using brown rice lately. The family is not so hot on the brown rice version, but I'll win them over eventually!

Tuesday: Hot Browns, Broccoli

I make a variation on the above similar to what my mom has always made with leftover turkey (and, I hear, the same as my grandma used to make). We had an early Thanksgiving dinner with Aaron's mom's mom on Saturday, so I have leftover turkey to use even before the actual holiday this week. I'll hopefully post the recipe later this week, but it's basically an open-faced turkey, bacon, tomato sandwich with a beer-cheese sauce over top. It's good enough that I look forward to this once-yearly meal all year, and am very, very sad if there's no leftover turkey to use.

Wednesday: Taco Chicken

I wanted an easy meal for the evening before Thanksgiving, as I'll be making pies and an appetizer, and didn't want to have too much extra mess around.

Thursday: The Big Day!

I always make pie for Thanksgiving with Aaron's family, because if I don't they're stuck with store-bought pie, and I'm of the belief that everyone should be able to deal with making pie at least once per year, and this is the perfect day for it. (Also, I make pie on the regular, because it's really not that hard.) This year I'm bringing the standard pumpkin, as well as apple-cranberry-raisin, and a banoffee pie!

In addition to the pies, dinner is always about 2 hours later to the table than estimated, so I am thinking ahead this year and bringing some artichoke dip and crackers to snack on so I don't starve waiting for dinner (while smelling all those delicious foods cooking - it nearly kills me every time)!

Friday: Pierogis, Chicken Sausages, and Green Beans

Another easy, comfort food-type dinner. My favorite kind!

Saturday: Homemade Pizza

Sunday: ???

This is the start of my birthday week, and I'm hoping for a few dinners out (and that this will be one of them)!

Lemon Cupcakes with Blood Orange Lemon Curd Filling and Buttercream

Here is where I admit to being a horrible food blogger, yet again. I made some absolutely beautiful, delicious cupcakes and didn't take a single picture of them to share. We ate them all (seriously, all 12 of them - we had some help from my co-workers) shortly after they were completely assembled, and I didn't even stop to think to take a picture. I just wanted to dive in face first, because my kitchen smelled so heavenly while they were baking. And that's what we did. We ate them as soon as possible, and have been dreaming of them ever since.

While these sound fairly complicated, I promise it's all very easy. If I, a sleep deprived mother of two very small children, can make them with only a few (fortuitous, it turns out) mistakes, then anyone can make them. In fact, I'll probably make them again sometime soon (because I have quite a bit of the curd left over) (and hopefully I'll remember to take a picture this time), and if I can turn them out in an even more sleep deprived state (I blame the baby and her growth spurt followed by a head cold) then really, really anyone can make them.

(And here's where you imagine a picture of a lightly yellow cake, filled with a delicately pink citrus curd, and topped with a cream colored frosting rose.)

Lemon Cake

adapted from I Am Baker, who adapted it from Joy of Baking

2 large eggs, separated
1 3/4 c. sifted cake flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. room temperature butter
1 c. sugar, separated
1 tsp. vanilla extract
the zest of one lemon
1/2 c. milk
1/8 tsp. cream of tartar

Separate the eggs into two separate mixing bowls and let them come to room temperature.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake tins with cupcake liners (or grease and flour tins if you'd prefer). The recipe made 12 cupcakes. (You could also use the batter to make a layer cake, using two 8- or 9-inch pans, and increasing the baking time a little.)

Sift flour, baking soda, and salt into a small bowl and set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter until soft and creamy. Add 3/4 c. of the sugar and beat until well combined. Add the egg yolks one at a time, mixing until completely incorporated. Add vanilla and lemon zest and mix until combined.

Add the flour mixture and milk, alternately, starting and ending with the flour mixture; mix until just combined and do not over beat.

In a separate clean bowl with a clean whisk attachment, whip egg whites until foamy and then add the cream of tartar. Beat until soft peaks occur. Gradually add in the remaining 1/4 c. sugar, beating until stiff peaks form. Fold egg whites into the cake batter with a rubber spatula until just combined.

Put batter into prepared cupcake tins and bake for 18-20 minutes. Cakes are done when you insert a toothpick and it comes out clean or with very few crumbs.

After a couple of minutes, remove the cupcakes from the tins and allow them to cool completely on a wire rack.

When the cupcakes are cool, create a well in the middle of the top of the cupcake using a melon baller or spoon. I used the large side of my melon baller. This is where you'll put the citrus curd.

Blood Orange Lemon Curd

Adapted from Eat,Live,Run

Juice of one blood orange

Juice of one lemon

1/2 c. sugar

3 eggs

1 egg yolk

4 T. butter, cut into small chunks

Whisk together the blood orange juice, lemon juice, sugar, eggs and egg yolk in a large bowl. Place the bowl over a pot of simmering water to make a double boiler and add the butter. Whisk continuously until the mixture begins to thicken, about 10 minutes. Continue to gently stir the curd until it is thick, creamy, and can coat the back of a spoon completely (about 5 more minutes).

Transfer to a wide bowl or high-rimmed plate, and press a piece of plastic wrap to the surface. Place in the refrigerator to cool completely.

Buttercream Frosting

(Very Loosely) adapted from I Am Baker

1/2 c. butter

1/2 c. shortening

4 c. confectioner's sugar

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

3/4 c. heavy cream

In a large bowl, cream shortening with a mixer until fluffy. Add confectioner's sugar (2 c. at a time) until well blended. Add lemon juice and heavy cream and whip until frosting is light and fluffy.

TO ASSEMBLE CUPCAKES:

Place 1 Tbsp. lemon curd (more or less depending on the size of the well you made) in the well you made in the cupcake. Top with a large dollop of buttercream to cover the well, or pipe on frosting in the manner of your choosing (I used a large star tip to make frosting roses). Chill until ready to serve.

Phew, that was a long one. It took almost as long to write this as it did to make the cupcakes! If you do make these, prepare to bathe in the glorious comments you receive from those who eat them. My coworkers said they felt like these came from some sort of cupcake boutique where you would pay $6 per cupcake; quite the complement!

Oatmeal Scones

Aaron denies this, but he has had a major scone craving for a while now. We would be looking at a cookbook, and come across a recipe, and his eyes would roll back in his head, and with an acompanying Homer Simson drool, he'd moan, "Mmmm....scones...." The same happened when we saw scones on a cooking show, at the coffee shop, and a mix at the store. Yet he still claims he didn't have a yearning for scones. I made them anyway, and he's mighty glad I did. These oatmeal scones are delectable - great fresh from the oven, still light and fluffy the next day, dense and moist the third day. And that's as far as we got, because we were lucky they lasted that long. I cut them out with a heart-shaped cookie cutter, which would make them a great addition to your Valentine's day breakfast (or brunch, which is how we're celebrating). Next time I'm going to freeze half of them after shaping but before baking so that I can pop a couple in the oven on a busy morning and have fresh scones before I head off to a busy day at the office.

Oatmeal Scones

Source: Epicurious

Note: the original recipe claims this makes 30 scones, but I patted them out as written (they were about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick) and cut with a 2 1/2 inch cookie cutter, resulting in exactly 12 scones.

1 1/2 c. flour

1 c. old-fashioned oats

6 Tbsp. sugar

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

12 Tbsp. (1 1/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1 large egg, beaten to blend

1/2 c. buttermilk

1/3 c. dried currants (I left these out)

1 large egg yolk, beaten to blend

Additional sugar (I used turbinado sugar - red decorating sugar would make these extra Valentine-y)

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Blend the first six ingredients in a food processor until the oats are coarsly ground. Add the butter, pulsing to combine until the mixture looks liek a coarse meal. Transfer to a bowl. Add in the beaten whole egg and the buttermilk. Using a fork, stir until just combined (do not overmix). This dough will be quite sticky.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Using floured hands, shape the dough into an 8-inch round. Using a floured 1 3/4 inch cookie cutter, cut out scones. Gather scraps, reshape, and cut out more scones. Transfer to the baking sheet. Brush the tops of the scones with the egg yolk and sprinkle with additional sugar.

Bake the scones until golden, about 18 mintues. Cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Golden Brioche

I have been on a bread making kick lately; partially inspired by the goal I stated a while ago on my to cook/bake list, and partially because I'm trying to minimize the amount of processed foods that come into my house. My transformation to crunchy hippie is nearly complete!

Anyway, this delicious, buttery brioche was made for the purpose of trying to recreate a sandwich I had in Chicago that knocked my socks off. I started it on Saturday afternoon at around 3 and it finished baking about 24 hours later, and if that's not a lot of freaking effort for a sandwich that took me about 2 minutes to eat, I don't know how to make more of an effort.

It was also totally worth it.

I was a little nervous it wouldn't turn out. I mean, look at these:

They were supposed to rise to fill the pan within two hours. That didn't really happen, particularly not with the pan on the bottom. I'd say they probably doubled in size, but that still wasn't nearly large enough. Since I didn't need three loaves of brioche (I didn't really need two either, but this was the best looking recipe I could find) I made the other third of the dough into bubble-top brioche rolls. These, at least, looked a little more promising in the pan:

(A note about the pan: it's as old as I am (if not older) and I inherited it from my mom when I moved into my first apartment. It's so well seasoned you barely have to grease it, and I love the size.

Anyway, the rolls turned out wonderfully, so I had a little more hope for the bread after that.

The loafs were totally different sizes; the small one never really rose, while the larger one took off once in the oven. They both taste even better than the rolls, though, so I don't care that they didn't rise like I expected. I would declare this recipe completely worth the three sticks (!)  of butter it contains.

(And here's a sneak peek at the reason I made the bread in the first place.)

Golden Brioche

Adapted from Epicurious

1/3 c. warm water (105 to 115 degrees F)

1/3 c. warm milk (105 to 115 degrees F)

2 envelopes dry yeast (4 1/2 tsp from a larger container)

3 3/4 c. all purpose flour

2 tsp. salt

3 large eggs

1/4 c. sugar

1 1/2 c. (3 sticks) unsalted butter, each stick cut into 4 pieces, room temperature (This last part is very important)

1 egg, beaten to blend with 1 tablespoon water (for glaze)

Place 1/3 c. warm water, warm milk, and yeast in a bowl of a standing heavy-duty mixer; stir until yeast dissolves (this took about 2 minutes). Fit mixer with dough hook. Add flour and salt to bowl; mix on low speed just until flour is moistened, about 10 seconds. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl. Beat in 3 eggs on low speed, then add sugar. Increase speed to medium and beat until dough comes together, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add butter, 1 piece at a time, beating until each piece is almost incorporated before adding next (dough will be soft and batter-like). Increase speed to medium-high and beat until dough pulls away from sides of bowl, about 7 minutes.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rise at room temperature until almost doubled in volume, about 1 hour. Lift up dough around edges and allow dough to fall and deflate in bowl. Cover bowl with plastic and chill until dough stops rising, lifting up dough around edges and allowing dough to fall and deflate in bowl every 30 minutes, about 2 hours total. Cover bowl with plastic; chill dough overnight.

Butter and flour 3 normal-sized bread pans (my two were different sizes, and I only have two, so that's also why I made the rolls). Divide dough into 3 equal pieces. For each loaf, cut one of the pieces into four equal pieces. Roll each into a short log, about the width of your loaf pan. Arrange logs crosswise in bottom of each prepared loaf pan. Cover pans with waxed paper. Let loaves rise at room temperature until dough almost fills pans, about 2 hours. (I let mine rise 3 hours and it had not almost filled pans, but it was time to bake them so we could have dinner at a normal time.)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Gently brush top of loaves with egg glaze. Bake until loaves are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped, about 30 minutes. Cool in pans on racks 15 minutes. Turn loaves out onto racks; cool at least 1 hour.

(For the rolls, cut the piece into 6 equal pieces and each of those pieces into 3 pieces, which you then roll into balls, placing 3 balls in each cup. Allow to rise for about an hour or two, until the dough has risen above the rim of the pan by about 1/2 to 1 inch. Glaze with egg mixture. Bake at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes. Let cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes, then turn out onto rack.)

If you'd like to freeze a loaf, cool completely then wrap each loaf in foil; place in resealable plastic bags and freeze up to one month. Rewarm thawed loaves wrapped in foil in 350 degree F oven for about 15 minutes, if desired.