Easy Cinnamon Rolls

This is my favorite cinnamon roll recipe... but it wasn't always. The book I found it in had an error. Like a big error. Like missing 2 cups of flour error. The picture got me though, and I kept making these, tweaking each time and finally landed on the extra two cups of flour. This is Nigella Lawson's recipe. I love her, and her frothy, voluptuous, candlelit show. She's gorgeous. She's British and therefore wonderful. In my humble opinion, she's missing two cups of flour.

 

These really are easy. Start to finish these take less than 2 hours. And they aren't too sweet. They are not frosted. In fact, they are healthy. These are a smart choice. Like I said, I've made these a million times, but this time I thought I'd mix things up to get 3 sorts in one recipe. I added chopped chocolate (WIN) to a third of the dough and chopped apple to another third (needs refining) and left one third OG (AWESOME.)

I'll totally try the apples again, but I will use less chopped apple and will arrange things in the pan more strategically.

Cinnamon Rolls - by Nigella Lawson

Makes 15-20 rolls

Preheat oven to 450 and line a 9x13 baking dish with parchment paper

For the Dough

6 cups all purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons instant yeast

1/2 cup butter

1 2/3 cups milk (I used whole milk)

2 eggs

For the Filling

1/2 cup softened butter

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 egg, beaten for glaze

In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt and yeast. In a measuring cup, melt butter and add milk and whisk in eggs. Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture.

Knead dough until smooth and springy, about 7 minutes in a stand mixture fitted with a dough hook. A bit longer if kneading by hand. 

In a warm spot, let dough rest for 25 minutes. (We keep our house pretty cold, so to rise bread, I microwave a hand towel or hot pot holder and let the dough rise sitting on the warmed fabric in the microwave. I do not microwave the dough!)

While the dough rises, mix together the filling. And chop apples and chocolate if using. (I used a cup of chopped apple and a cup of chopped chocolate. I will cut these amounts in half the next time I do this.)

Roll out a small hunk of dough - about 1/6th the total dough and place this in the bottom of the parchment lined pan. This will form the bottom of the rolls so the cinnamon goodness doesn't leak out.

With the rest of the dough roll a VERY large rectangle, about 24 inches by 16 inches and spread the entire thing with the butter and cinnamon mixture. The coverage will be thin, but it's OK.

Spread apples and chocolate along a long line, if using, and roll up from the short side to have three different types of rolls or along the long side to have one type of rolls, each with three flavors. Slice into sections about an inch to an inch and a half wide. Place each roll in the lined baking dish and bush with the beaten egg glaze. Let rolls rest for 15 minutes.

*If making three types of rolls, place the plain ones in the middle and surround them with filled rolls along the edges of the pan. Due to the added moisture and volume of the filling, the chocolate and apple rolls take longer to bake.

Bake at 450 for 20-25 minutes. These will be nicely browned and they will spring out of their rolls and look gorgeous. 

Things made this time last year...

Black Bean and Chorizo Bake - an awesome appetizer! 

 

Spiced Nuts and Bourbon Cocktails

 

Zucchini Brownies

World War Z. Not to be a spoiler, but it's about zucchinis and how they take over the world. Brad Pitt is amazing, but he's helpless against the zucchini invasion. Basically, it's an epic drama. 

So just like last year, we have a little veggie patch at home, and a little veggie patch in a community garden. You would think that I would know by now, two veggie patches with zucchinis in both means overwhelming zucchini, but when spring is drizzling it's way through the Pacific Northwest zucchinis are somehow optimistic plants to me. I heart them. So I possibly, maybe, could be, over plant them. C'est la vie. I learn to make things like Zucchini Brownies. Awesome. Brad Pitt, THIS is how you save the world.

These DO NOT taste like veggies. They only taste wonderfully of rich chocolate and they are super moist and really delicious.

Zucchini Brownies - adapted from Kitchen Treats
Preheat oven to 350
Grease a 9x13 baking dish

2 cups flour (I split mine 50/50 whole wheat and white flour)
1/2 cup cocoa
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 vegetable oil
2 1/2 grated zucchini
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups chocolate chips (divided)

In a large bowl, combine flour, cocoa, salt, baking soda and sugar. Mix until everything is combined. Stir in vegetable oil and vanilla. The mixture will look dry and crumbly.

Then mix in the zucchini. Its kind of hard to get this going, and I used my hands a bit, but all of a sudden the zucchini releases all it's water and you finally have brownie batter! Once incorporated, stir in 1 cup of chocolate chips.

Pour mixture into the prepared baking dish and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted towards the middle comes out with just a few crumbs on it.

While still piping hot, and while the oven is still hot, sprinkle the remaining cup of chocolate chips on top of the brownies. Pop the dish back in the oven for 1 minute. 

Remove the brownies from the oven. Spray a rubber spatula with cooking oil and gently spread the chocolate over the brownies. This makes and awesome and chocolate faux frosting. 

Let the brownies cool completely and enjoy!

A few things about this recipe...

Like I said, it doesn't taste veggetably. It's just good!
Since there is no egg in this recipe, if you're a fan of gooey, undercooked brownies, this recipe is for you.
These were almost truffle-like the first day, they were so moist! The second day our house liked them even more!

Made this time last year...
Peach and Raspberry Crisp

Chicken Milanese

Enjoy!!

PS - I have not seen World War Z. I don't think it's really about zucchini.