Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls

My love of cinnamon rolls began on a camping and rock climbing retreat as young teenager.  The camp counselor/cook made homemade cinnamon rolls right at camp from kneading, raising, filling cutting and baking in a clever camp stove oven. As the smell permeated the camp, I couldn't wait to sink my sugar addicted teeth into something that smelled so good.  Yeasted sweet dough treats were not part of my childhood so this was a new and wonderful taste experience. But then for more than a decade, I did not think of cinnamon rolls, outside of the grocery store tube can variety, until the mall chain store pumped out giant, thickly frosted cinnamon rolls to the mall crowds.  Neither the tube can nor mall store rolls ever stood up to those camping rolls.  Then bread machines came on to the market in the early 1990s and cinnamon rolls became a mainstay in my home. My first bread maker was the Panasonic machine from 1994. That machine was extraordinary and didn’t break down until 2012 after making many loaves of bread and many more doughs for rolls of all kinds.  Though the bread machine does have its limitations as the breads produced are not artisanal and the bread quality tends to be the same across recipes, the bread machine fills a place in the home for fast and easy homemade bread for even the most unskilled or skilled and overworked person.

Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls

1 ½ pound loaf	1 pound loaf
3/8 cup milk or non-dairy milk	¼ cup milk or non-dairy milk
3/8 cup water	¼ cup water
1 egg	1 egg
3 cups all-purpose flour	2 cups all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons butter or  nondairy butter substitute	3 tablespoons butter or  nondairy butter substitute
1/3 cup sugar	¼ cup sugar
1 ½ teaspoons instant yeast or active yeast	1 ½ teaspoons instant yeast or active yeast
*Roll dough into 9X18 inch rectangle	*Roll dough into 8X14 inch rectangle
Filling	Filling
3 tablespoons of softened butter	2 tablespoons of softened butter
4 tablespoons sugar	3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon	1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons cocoa powder if desired	1 ½ teaspoons cocoa powder if desired
Icing	Icing
3 tablespoons softened dairy free butter	2 ½ tablespoons softened dairy free butter
1 cup powdered sugar	3/4 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons non-dairy milk of choice	2 ½ tablespoons non-dairy milk of choice
½ to 1 tsp vanilla, lemon juice, or lemon extract – adjust to personal taste preferences	½ to 1 tsp vanilla, lemon juice, or lemon extract – adjust to personal taste preferences

Line a sheet pan with a Silpat or parchment paper.

Place all ingredients in bread machine pan.

Select dough setting and press start.

When dough has risen long enough, the machine will beep.

Turn off bread machine, remove bread pan and turn out dough on floured countertop or cutting board.

Turn on proofing setting in oven, if have, or warm oven at lowest temperature for a few minutes then turn off.

Roll dough into the loaf size rectangle - *see above*

Filling

Spread the softened butter edge to edge across the rectangle.

Mix the sugar, cinnamon, and cocoa powder in small bowl.

Sprinkle the sugar mixture edge to edge across the dough rectangle.

Roll rectangle tightly into a log starting from the long end.

Pinch seam.

Put seam side to cutting board or counter and cut with a sharp thin bladed knife into the desired number of rolls and place rolls 1 inch apart on prepared pan

**see below if making ahead.

Thicker rolls 8-12 pieces 13/4 inches thick

Smaller rolls 12-16 pieces 1/1/4 inches thick

Cover with a lint free towel and let rise for 30 minutes until doubled in size in proofing oven, warmed oven, or warm place.

Once nearly doubled, remove from oven.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Bake rolls for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown.

Icing

Mix in a large bowl with whisk, hand mixer, or bowl mixer the powdered sugar and softened butter until combined.

Whisk in milk until smooth and at the consistency of a soft slow flowing icing or preferred desired consistency

Adjust consistency by alternately adding more liquid or powdered sugar.

Frost by stringing, pooling, spreading etc. – any coverage level and pattern desired.

**At this point, if desired, cover tightly with aluminum foil, and refrigerate overnight. 

Remove from refrigerator and let rise in proofing oven, warmed oven, or warm place until doubled in size - plan for extra time for the proofing step.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Yogurt Muffins

When muffins came on the scene in the 1980's, everyone was crazy about them. People said goodbye to donuts and cheese danish in favor of the healthy muffin.  Despite the fact that nearly every summer Sunday of much of my childhood was punctuated by my Grammy’s Wonderful BlueberryMuffins, muffins were new, exciting, healthy, and fast. They were a wonderful way to eat something that was like cake but not as decadent and seemingly healthy.  Muffins started showing up at coffee shops and bakeries in the common variety of blueberry and cornmeal but bakers were experimenting with new flavor combinations to entice consumers. The favorite muffins were lemon poppy seed, oat bran, carrot and cream cheese and banana chip. 

These whole wheat pumpkin yogurt muffins truly are healthy, they are lightly sweetened and loaded with nutrition.  These were filling and delicious and easy for my teenagers to take and eat on their way to school.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Yogurt Muffins

Makes around 1 dozen

1 ¼  cup whole wheat flour

½ cup all-purpose flour

¼ cup flax seed meal

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

½ teaspoon fine sea salt

2 large eggs

1 cup pumpkin purée

6 ounces plain yogurt (Greek or regular)

½ cup brown sugar or coconut sugar

3 tablespoons molasses

3 tablespoons canola oil or oil of your choice

2 tablespoons green pumpkin seeds (also known as pepitas)

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Preheat the oven to 375°F

Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, flax seed meal, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice and salt.

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, pumpkin, yogurt, brown sugar, molasses and oil. Stir flour mixture into pumpkin mixture just until combined.

Spoon the batter into muffin cups, filling each almost full.

Sprinkle tops with pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds.

Bake until tops are browned and a toothpick inserted into the center of each muffin comes out with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it, about 25 minutes.

Cool in the pan for 10 minutes and serve, or transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container up to 2 days or freeze.

Recipe adapted from Whole Foods

Multi Grain Pancakes

Pancakes are my favorite breakfast food.  I love thick buttermilk pancakes, blueberry pancakes, crepes, my granny's thin pancakes and now these multi-grain pancakes!  They are everything pancakes are so supposed to be - soft, sweet, filling, and wholesome except these are hearty without being too grainy or to heavy with whole wheat.  These fill the craving for pancakes with the added benefit of being nutritious.  

Multi Grain Pancakes

makes 16-18 medium size pancakes

4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

2 cups whole milk

1 cup no-sugar-added muesli 

1 ¼ cups  all-purpose flour

½ cup whole wheat flour (2¾ ounces)

2 tablespoons brown sugar (light or dark)

2¼ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon table salt

2 large eggs

3 tablespoons canola oil or melted and cooled butter

¾ teaspoon vanilla extract

Whisk lemon juice and milk together in medium bowl or 4-cup measuring cup; set aside to thicken while preparing other ingredients.

Process 1¼ cups muesli in food processor until finely ground, 2 to 2½ minutes; transfer to large bowl. 

Add flours, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; whisk to combine.

In a separate bowl whisk eggs, melted butter, and vanilla into milk until combined. 

Pour in milk mixture and whisk very gently until just combined (few streaks of flour and lumps should remain). 

Do not over mix. 

Allow batter to sit while pan heats.

Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-low heat  (I use a square skillet). 

Add 1 teaspoon oil and brush to coat skillet bottom evenly. 

Pour ¼ cup batter onto 3 spots in skillet, using bottom of ladle to spread batter smooth if necessary. 

Cook pancakes until small bubbles begin to appear evenly over surface, 2 to 3 minutes. 

Using thin, wide spatula, flip pancakes and cook until golden brown on second side, 1½ to 2 minutes longer. 

Repeat with remaining batter, brushing surface of pan lightly with oil between batches and adjusting heat as necessary.

Crepes

I absolutely adore crepes. I love their elegant simplicity combined with their comfort food goodness.  My love goes even deeper and more personal back to when I stood at my grandmother's elbow as she made "thin pancakes."  When my grandparents would come and visit my family as we lived across the country, it was a treat that I looked upon with excitement.  With my grandparents came all their old world mysteries of stories, food and accents, and the special attention only a grandparent can give.  My grandparents were children of immigrants that came through Ellis Island.  Standing beside her on a stool I watched with fascination as she would put a teaspoon of Crisco into a saute pan, after it melted she would pour in the batter swirling it the pan to spread the batter. I loved watching the edges of the pancake bubble up forming lacy edges as they fried up.  I don't remember if she sprinkled powdered sugar on her pancakes like I have seen in some of my friends' family traditions. We topped ours with syrup and of course lots of butter. Now I prefer a quick fruit syrup made in the microwave or in small sauce pan .  I don't use my grandmother's recipe any longer but I have included it in her honor.

Granny's Thin Pancake Recipe
2 cups flour
2 cups milk
4 eggs
dash of salt

Mix ingredients together until smooth with no lumps.

Crepes
makes 20-25 medium size crepes
2 cups flour
2 1/2 cups milk
2 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
dash of salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla optional
1 tablespoon sugar

Whisk together flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder ingredients in large bowl.
Add to the same bowl the milk, eggs, oil, vanilla if using.
Whisk the ingredients together (I use the whisk attachement on my hand mixer or you can use a blender).
Let the ingredients stand for 15 minutes.
Generously oil sautepan and pour thin layer of batter in pan swirling batter to make thin circle.
Using a thin edged spatula lift edge of crepe and turn cooking a few minutes on each side.  Cook until desired browness is achieved.  I always try to stay on the extreme light side.

Blueberry Scones

I have always wondered about the scones and why I hear people raving about them. I have had them at various tea and coffee shops and thought they were very much like a biscuit. I love biscuits and learned to make them years ago when PBS was the only station that ran food programs and Jeff Smith of the Frugal Gourmet showcased them. Up until that time I had only, sadly, experienced canned biscuits. I make biscuits at least once a week because my family loves them. I love biscuits but are the rave worthy? After watching and listening to many English chefs talk about scones, I found a recipe to try, and they are Oh My Goodness good!!! You must try these.

Blueberry Scones

makes an 8 inch circle for wedges or 10 medium biscuits

2 cups flour

3 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons butter cut into small pieces (make cubes)

1 large egg lightly beaten

1 teaspoon lemon zest

3/4 cup of heavy cream

1 cup blueberries (don't thaw if they are frozen)

Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl

Add butter and lemon zest. Cut butter into flour with a pastry blender or two knives until the flour looks like coarse meal with peas in it. Don't over work the butter and flour. It should be crumbly.

Add the blueberries and toss in the flour butter mixture.

Add the cream and stir until batter comes together but still crumbly.

Dump out the dough mixture onto a floured board and knead the dough lightly a couple of times.

Cut out with a biscuit cutter or any round shape or a larger circle for wedges.

Brush tops with softened butter.

Bake at 425 F for 12 minutes on a greased or parchment lined baking sheet.