Quick Cinnamon Biscuits

I had these ready for immediate consumption when the nurse walked out our front door this morning. You see, we had to fast for 12 hours for a health assessment and I thought this was the perfect way to celebrate.

If you're looking for the real thing, this recipe is probably not for you. However, if you're looking for the delicious goodness of a cinnamon roll without having to wait for the yeast to work it's magic, then this is definitely the recipe for you. This recipe yields a cake-like version of the cinnamon roll that is both quick and simple to make - I even managed to roll the dough without disaster. I can definitely see myself making these on a semi-regular basis.

That said, this recipe confirms my desire to one day make real cinnamon rolls. There is something to be said about warm, flaky cinnamon rolls fresh out of the oven, covered in a sweet and sugary icing. Mmmm...

Quick Cinnamon Biscuits

(Source: Ezra Pound Cake)

Cinnamon Sugar Filling:
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg

Biscuit Dough:
2 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon heavy cream

Icing:
6 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
4 to 6 teaspoons milk or heavy cream

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.

2. For the Filling: In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside.

3. For the Dough: In a large bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. Add 1 1/2 cups cream, and stir until the dough forms a ball, about 1 minute. With your hands, fold the dough over a few times in the bowl, until the dough is smooth.

4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Lightly flour your hands, and pat the dough into a 1/2-inch-thick rectangle, about 9 X 13 inches. Brush the surface of the dough with the remaining tablespoon of cream. Sprinkle evenly with the cinnamon sugar topping.

5. Starting from the long side, roll the dough into a cylinder. Slice into 9 equal rounds. Place the rounds, cut side down, into an ungreased 8-inch square baking dish or a pie plate. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the biscuits are lightly browned.

6. For the Icing: While the biscuits bake, mix together the confectioners’ sugar and milk or cream until smooth. When you remove the biscuits from the oven, immediately drizzle them with icing. Serve warm.

Makes 9 biscuits

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cake

My inspiration for this cake was the Buckeye Peanut Butter-Fudge Cake at King Arthur Flour:

Doesn't that look absolutely heavenly? Unfortunately, my finished product looked nothing like this. Nope, not even close.

Where do I even begin?

All right, I'm just going to say it.

This was a disaster from the very beginning.

Don't get me wrong. The cake was delicious. The peanut butter filling was divine. Even the chocolate frosting was downright tasty.

But the presentation? Seriously needs some work. Let's just say I'm not overly skilled at layer cakes. Granted, I haven't had too much experience - I usually just opt for a simple 13x9 cake topped with frosting (and apparently for a very good reason).

I doubled the cake recipe, but opted to make one cake at a time so I didn't have to worry about making sure the same amount of batter got in each pan. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, I'm 99% positive I forgot to put half a cup of sugar into the first cake. Not really a big deal. It cooked a little faster than the other layer, but otherwise it was fine. It also probably tasted slightly less sweet, but who can really tell with peanut butter filling AND chocolate frosting?

What was supposed to be a four layer cake soon became a three layer cake because the layer with less sugar was not as tall as the other layer and, therefore, could not be cut in half very easily. I completely ruined the thick layer when I attempted to halve it. It was uneven and way too thin in places. I attempted to use the botched layer anyway, but when it started slipping and crumbling off the gooey peanut butter filling onto my kitchen counter (picture lava flowing out of a volcano), I knew I was in trouble. After hiding the evidence of the major disaster (thank God for garbage disposals!), I added more peanut butter filling to the soggy bottom layer, topped it with the sugarless top layer, coated it in frosting, and I was done. All before the clock struck 7 (in the morning, just to clarify).

This experience just confirms my dire need to take a proper cake decorating class.

Chocolate Cake
(Source: Everyday with Rachel Ray)

1 cup flour
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
7 tablespoons unsweetened (non-Dutch process) natural cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan; line the bottom with parchment paper and grease the paper.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda. Make a well in the center, add the eggs and milk and whisk gently to make a thick batter; whisk vigorously 30 to 40 times. Whisk in the melted butter and vanilla just until smooth. Scrape into the prepared pan.

3. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool on a rack for 10 minutes; invert onto the rack, remove the pan and parchment paper and invert again. Let cool completely.

Peanut Butter Filling
(Source: King Arthur Flour)

4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 1/2 cups peanut butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup milk

Mix the sugar, peanut butter and vanilla till crumbly. Add the milk and mix till smooth, adding more milk if necessary to make a spreadable filling.

"Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Frosting
(Source: Hersheys)

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount of additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

Sugar Cookie Bars

I love making sugar cookies, but it takes a lot of time an energy to decorate those oh-so-cute shapes and sometimes you just want something simple. These bars have been making the rounds in the blogging world for a very good reason. These sugar cookie bars (as seen on 3 B's, One Ordinary Day, The Repressed Pastry Chef, and My Baking Addiction) are deliciously addicting and so simple you'll kick yourself for not trying them sooner.

There is one important thing to note before making these bars. They make an entire cookie sheet worth of bars. I guess the 5 cups of flour should have been a dead giveaway, but I didn't really pay attention to what I was doing until after the dough had been made. Thankfully my work buddies were more than happy to consume them. :)

So, word to the wise: half the recipe or make these when you have guests.

Sugar Cookie Bars
(Source: One Ordinary Day)

1 cup butter, room temp.
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
5 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp soda

1. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.

2. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each egg. Add vanilla & mix well.

3. In a separate bowl combine flour, salt & soda & stir with a whisk to combine. Add to wet mixture and mix just until combined.

4. Spread on a greased baking sheet (use a 13 x 18 pan). Bake at 375°F for 10-15 min, until light golden brown or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely and frost.

Buttercream Icing
(Source: One Ordinary Day)

1/2 cup butter, room temp
1/2 cup shortening
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
4 cups powdered sugar
5 Tbsp milk
food coloring (if desired)

1. Combine butter and shortening until smooth and creamy. Add vanilla and salt.

2. Add powdered sugar in 1-2 cup increments until combined, then add milk & mix until smooth and spreading consistency.

3. Spread over cooled cookie, then cut into bars.

Makes a ridiculously obscene amount of (delicious) bars.

Irresistible Peanut Butter Cookies

Out of nowhere, I got a serious craving for peanut butter cookies this week. I found this recipe over at Brown Eyed Baker and I knew it was the recipe for me. This recipe yielded cookies that reminded me of the peanut butter cookies my great grandma used to make. They were one type of cookie she ALWAYS made and they were so incredibly delicious. I can't remember the last time I had peanut butter cookies - probably not since my days of eating in Stav Hall at St. Olaf (3 years ago, people!). And those weren't even what I would consider a true peanut butter cookie because they lacked the crisscross pattern.

Irresistible Peanut Butter Cookies
(Source: Brown Eyed Baker)

1 3/4 all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup vegetable shortening
1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
3 Tbsp milk
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 egg
Granulated sugar, for rolling cookies

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line baking sheets with parchment or a silicone baking mat.

2. Combine the flour, salt and baking soda in a small bowl and set aside.

3. Combine the peanut butter, shortening, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in a mixing bowl. Beat at medium speed until well blended. Add the egg and beat just until blended. Reduce speed to low and add to the creamed mixture gradually, mixing just until combined.

4. Put the granulated sugar in a small bowl. Scoop a tablespoonful of dough and roll into a ball between the palms of your hands. Roll the dough into the sugar and place on the baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Dip the tines of a fork into the sugar and make a crisscross patern on the cookies, flattening them slightly.

5. Bake for 7 to 8 minutes or until set and just beginning to brown. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet before removing to a cooling rack.

Storing: Store these cookies in an airtight container for about a week. You can also freeze these cookies in a freezer bag for approximately 3 months and thaw when you are ready to eat them.

Oatmeal M&M Cookies

Same great cookie, but with a different spin this time. Instead of raisins, I added mini M&Ms to the cookie dough. Okay, fine. I made another batch of oatmeal raisin cookies for my dad (that's 3 times now, if you're counting) and added mini M&Ms to half of the dough instead of raisins. The recipe can be found here.

O'Henry Bars

These bars are my coworker Jeff's favorite bars in the world (he starts drooling just thinking about them) and I decided to make these for our department picnic, which ended up being in our building's warehouse because of severe weather (some of the highlights of the picnic included "seeking shelter" in the secret hallway and breaking a fluorescent light bulb playing kickball). The recipe I used warned against over baking the bars, but I would also add that you need to be equally as careful not to under bake them or they will be very gooey. I also took people's suggestions and added 3 tsp vanilla to the oat mixture. The bars are easy, delicious, and very addicting!

O'Henry Bars
(Adapted from Allrecipes)

4 cups rolled oats
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup butter
3 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup white corn syrup
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup peanut butter

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180 degrees C).

2. Mix the oats, brown sugar, butter or margarine, and white corn syrup. Pat into a 10 x 15 inch pan. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes.

3. Melt chocolate chips and peanut butter. Spread over baked crust while hot. Cut into bars right away.

Makes 36 bars.

Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting

While most cakes use the 'creaming' method (butter and sugar are creamed together first and then the eggs, followed by the flour and milk, are added), this recipe uses what we call the 'one bowl' or 'quick method'. This means all the dry ingredients are first put into a mixing bowl (sugar included) and then room temperature butter, along with a little milk, are added. These ingredients are beaten together and then the eggs, vanilla extract, and remaining milk are beaten into the batter.

This method produces a cake that literally seems to melt-in-your-mouth and it has a very moist, dense, and velvety texture. The only downside to this method is that you will notice that the cake layers do not have quite the volume of cakes that are made with the creaming method. I think, however, that it is worth sacrificing a little bit of volume to get the outstanding taste and texture this cake had.

Yellow Sheet Cake
(Source: Baking Bites)

2 1/2 cups cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 eggs
1 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9×13 inch sheet pan with parchment paper, or lightly grease it with shortening or oil (butter will produce a harder “crust”).

2. Sift cake flour, baking powder and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer. Add sugar and, using the paddle attachment, mix on low speed to blend. Cut butter into 4 or 5 chunks and drop into the bowl with the flour. Blend on low speed until mixture looks sandy and no large chunks of butter remain, 1-2 minutes.

3. In a large measuring cup, combine eggs, milk and vanilla. Beat lightly with a fork until combined. With the mixer on low, pour 1 cup of the egg mixture into the bowl. Turn speed up to medium and beat for 1 1/2 minutes. Reduce speed back to low and pour in the rest of the egg mixture. Continue to beat at low speed for an additional 30 seconds, until liquid is fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for a few more seconds, if necessary.

4. Pour into prepared 9×13 pan and spread batter evenly with a spatula. Tap gently a few times to eliminate any bubbles. Bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes, until a tooth pick inserted into the center comes out clean.

5. Let cool for 30 minutes in the pan before turning out onto a rack to cool completely. You can leave it in the pan if you’re serving it casually.

Serves 16 - 24

Pumpkin Muffins

While pumpkin is typically a flavor associated with autumn, the can of pumpkin in my cupboard has been calling to me for quite some time now. These muffins were the perfect way to satisfy my craving. The muffins are a beautiful orange-gold color and have a moist and tender cakey crumb, a gentle spiciness and are not overly sweet. And while they're luscious on their own, I bet they would be even better with a streusel topping, or even some kind of glaze.

Pumpkin Muffins
(Source: Bulbaric Gulp)

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
pinch of ground allspice
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temp.
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup canned unsweetened pumpkin puree
1/4 cup buttermilk

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F. Butter or spray 12 cupcake molds in a regular-size pan or fit with paper cups.

2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices. Set aside.

3. Working with a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter at medium speed until soft. Add both the sugars and continue to beat until light and smooth.

4. One by one, add the eggs, beating for a minute after they are incorporated, then beat in the vanilla.

5. Lower the mixer speed and mix in the pumpkin and buttermilk. Add the dry ingredients in a steady stream, mixing only until they disappear. To avoid overmixing, you can stop the machine early and stir in any remaining dry ingredients into the batter using a rubber spatula.

6. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. (I took mine out after about 17 minutes.)

7. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool the muffins for 5 minutes in the pan, then carefully remove each one from its mold to finish cooling on the rack.

Snickerdoodle Blondies

Tonight was National Night Out, so I whipped up these awesome bars last night after work. I had completely forgotten I needed to make something for the get together until late Monday morning, so I had to quick scrounge for a recipe that would appeal to people of all ages. I chose these Snickerdoodle Blondies because a) they looked delicious, b) they were super easy (and quick!), and c) I had all of the necessary ingredients on hand (very important since I did not have time to run to the grocery store).

These blondies have made their rounds on the blogosphere and for a very good reason. They are divine, amazing, fantastic, mouth watering.... well, you get the point! If you enjoy snickerdoodles, then you will love these bars. They are soft and chewy on the inside with a crunchy cinnamon-sugar topping. I think I might have under baked them a tad too much because these were a little too chewy for my taste (which is saying a lot since I normally like my cookies and bars very soft and chewy).

I’m going to make these again soon, especially because there are no special ingredients involved, just the basics and some cinnamon and sugar.

Snickerdoodle Blondies
(Source: One Ordinary Day & My Baking Addiction)

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon grated or ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup butter, room temperature
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
a pinch nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease or line a 9×13″ baking pan.

2. Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt; set aside.

3. In large bowl, beat together butter and brown sugar for 3-5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, then vanilla. Beat until smooth.

4. Stir in the flour mixture until well blended. Spread evenly into prepared pan with greased spatula or hands. Combine topping: granulated sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Evenly sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture over top of batter.

5. Bake 25 minutes or until surface springs back when gently pressed. Cool.

Makes 24 bars.

Chocolate Chip-Peanut Butter Bars

My dear college friend Maggie (below, with me) is moving to Connecticut with her fiancé Aaron. She is going to PA school at Yale this fall and will be gone for about 2 years. They had a going away picnic this weekend, which was a lot fun but also very sad.

These Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Bars were an instant hit at the picnic. The rich flavor belies their simplicity—an oatmeal cookie base, a gooey peanut butter middle sprinkled generously with chocolate chips and peanuts, topped off with more of the oatmeal mixture. I think I softened my butter a bit too much because the oatmeal mixture was more doughy than crumbly, but the overall taste of the bars was not compromised.

Chocolate Chip-Peanut Butter Bars

(Source: Pillsbury Baking)

Base & Topping:
2 1/4 cups quick-cooking oats
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup butter, softened

Filling:
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup coarsely chopped salted peanuts

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease a 13x9-inch pan with shortening or cooking spray. In large bowl, beat base and topping ingredients with electric mixer on low speed until crumbly, scraping bowl occasionally. Reserve 2 cups crumb mixture for topping; press remaining mixture evenly in bottom of pan.

2. In small bowl, mix condensed milk, peanut butter, and vanilla with spoon until well blended. Pour evenly over base. Sprinkle reserved crumb mixture over top; press down gently.

3. Bake 25 - 30 minutes or until golden brown (center will not be set). Cool completely, about 1 hour 15 minutes, before cutting.

Makes 36 bars.