Itty Bitty (Easy) Maple Pumpkin Hand Pies

Let's just make it public knowledge that when I include the word "easy" in a recipe, it really just means "made with store bought pie dough."  You don't even need Google Translate for that secret code.  

Part of me feels like I should be apologizing for liberally using store-bought dough but...... I'm not sorry?  I'm just not people.  I mean, it's not to say that I don't want to master homemade dough.  I do, I really do.  But in the meantime I'll happily continue on my way with the store bought kind.  

90 Minute Cinnamon Rolls with Malt Icing

Yeasted dough.  We meet again.  And I have emerged victor!  

I want to be honest with you.  I actually made a batch, let them rise and then was crestfallen when they actually did not rise at all.  It was my own dang fault too.  I got ahead of myself and skimmed through the instructions too quickly.  So I made a batch, let them rise, and emerged victor on my second attempt! 

Cinnamon rolls have always intimidated me.  Obviously, we know my fear of yeast.  And not to mention that recipes with yeast take far too long to complete from start to finish.  Plus I own a terrible rolling pin so I tend to avoid recipes that require me to roll out dough.  All of these reasons are just code for "I'm lazy."  But I was particularly motivated last week and wanted to make something challenging and delicious and covered in icing to enjoy with my latte Saturday morning.  Oh and by the way, that's malt icing.  Yeah. 

So obviously I ate, like, 4 of them.  I ate 2 off a plate like a normal person and then I "snacked" on two more throughout the morning because snacking= no calories.  Science.  Someone please tell me that's how science works.

Here's the recipe!  

90 Minute Cinnamon Rolls
yields: 12 rolls

Ingredients:

Dough:
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup butter
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 (.25 ounce) package instant yeast
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup water
1 egg

Filling:
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter

Icing: 

3/4 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons malted milk powder

2-4 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions:

1.  Heat the milk in a small saucepan until it starts to bubble, then remove from heat. Mix in butter and stir until the butter melts.  Allow to cool slightly until lukewarm.  

2.  In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 1/4 cup flour, yeast, sugar and salt and whisk to combine. Add water, egg and the milk mixture.  Beat well with an electric mixer or using a wooden spoon.  Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, using a wooden spoon to stir well after each addition (dough will be too thick and sticky to use the mixers at this point).

3.  When the dough has just pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 5 minutes. (dough will spring back when lightly pressed and will loose some stickiness)
Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let rest for 10 minutes.

4.  Meanwhile, brown your butter by melting it in a small saucepan.  Butter will melt, then foam, then turn clear golden, then start to turn brown and smell nutty.  Keep your eyes on the saucepan and remove from heat when brown bits begin to form and the butter smells nutty.   While butter cools slightly, mix together brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.

5.  On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough into a 12x9 inch rectangle. (use your 9x13 baking dish as a guide.) Using a pastry brush- slather the dough with most of the brown butter. (It will feel like a lot, but use most of it.  I used about 3/4 of it.)

6.  Sprinkle dough with cinnamon sugar mixture and press in lightly.  Roll up dough tightly and pinch seam to seal.  Cut into 12 equal size rolls and place in a 9x13 baking dish.

7.  Drizzle with remaining brown butter. Cover and let the rolls rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes. (I let mine rise in an OFF oven) **

8.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until browned. Let cool for about 10 minutes and then drizzle with icing. (directions below) Serve warm.

Icing: 

Place powdered sugar and malted milk powder in a medium bowl and whisk to combine.  Begin drizzling in milk and whisking.  Use as much or little milk as you need to reach your desired consistency.  Add vanilla and whisk. 

**Note: I prepared my dough at night and baked the next morning.  If you chose to do this, complete steps 1-7 and then cover the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate.  When you're ready to bake, allow rolls to come to room temperature for about 20 minutes before baking.  

Recipe barely adapted from Baker Chick.

Homemade Peanut Butter

This is real life everybody!  I took some peanuts and I butter-ized them.  With success!  It wasn't even a little bit hard.  It was actually a lot of bit easy.  

And then I proceeded to just eat it from a spoon nearly every day.  Like it's a socially acceptable snack to just eat some peanut butter (and maybe some chocolate chips) from a spoon in your pajamas on a Tuesday night.

This is one of those recipes I envision myself making big batches of and handing out in adorable mason jars to friends and family with handmade tags and colorful twine.  The reality is that I own one mason jar that previously was used as a cup for cold beverages because I own almost exclusively coffee mugs and I have zero twine.  A girl can dream.    

Obviously, you can expect many more nut butters coming your way in the coming weeks.  Almond butter?  Heck yeah!  Cashew Butter?  Sure!  Hazelnut Chocolate Butter?  You betcha!  Macadamia Nut Butter?  I'm sorry, but no, macadamia nuts are expensive.

If someone is willing to fund the Macadamia Nut Butter then I will gladly make it.  I will accept cash or money order.  My estimate is $2,573.  It's a rough estimate obviously, including the price of twine.  We can talk numbers later.  

Here's the recipe!  

Ingredients: 
16 oz dry roasted salt peanuts
2 tsp cinnamon (optional) 

Instructions: 
1.  Place peanuts in the food processor and begin processing.  The process will happen in stages: crushed, paste, "dough-like" ball, then peanut butter.  Some recipes estimate about a 5 minute processing time but it took me about 2 minutes.  If your food processor gets too hot, stop for a few minutes and begin again when it's cooled.    
2.  When you've reached the final stage, process for about 1 additional minute to reach smooth consistency.  If using cinnamon, you can add it at this stage to incorporate.  
3.  Pour into a well sealed container and store in the fridge for a thick consistency.  Leaving at room temperature should yield a slightly runnier peanut butter.   Eat with a spoon.     

Notes
**I'm no food safety expert but I would expect that this peanut butter will keep in the fridge for a few weeks.  If stored at room temperature, I'd recommend about one week.

**The cinnamon flavor seems to intensify once the peanut butter sits in the fridge for a few hours.  It may seem meek upon first taste from the food processor but allow the peanut butter to sit and you should notice the flavor.   



Recipe from Averie Cooks

No Knead Bread

Can you smell the bread through your computer screen?  I'm wafting the scent your way.  It's magnificent.

This bread made be no-knead but I do need.  Ba-zing!

Remember when I resolved to make more bread in 2013?  Welp, I did it.  Boy did I do it.  I faced my fears with a defiant fist in the air and I dominated this bread.

I think it's because carbs just call to me.  I'm meant to coexist with carbs.  It's the cross that I bear.

What immediately drew me to this recipe was the "no-knead" aspect.  Being that yeast is finicky and proper kneading can sometimes make or break a loaf of bread, I was looking for a shortcut wherever I could get one.  At first, I thought maybe I was taking the easy way out.  I wanted to tackle bread so was this recipe a cop out?  

But then I thought, "No, I am a genius and this bread is amazing."  It was like sick torture waiting for the loaf to cool before slicing.  Actually, I almost skipped the knife entirely and just sunk my teeth in like a rabid animal.  Almost.  

I did what any sane person would do with bread fresh outta the oven.  I dunked it in warm marinara sauce for lunch.  And dinner.  And snack.  And second dinner.  And oh my god I ate a whole loaf of bread.  

Here's the recipe!  

Ingredients: 
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 3/4 teaspoon salt
extra flour (for dusting)

Instructions: 

1.  In a large bowl whisk together flour, salt, and yeast.  Add water and mix to combine ingredients, about 30 seconds to 1 minute.  The dough may seem too dry at first but it should come together as a sticky, shaggy ball.  

2.  Cover the bowl in plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise 12-18 hours (yes, hours).  I put my bowl in an OFF oven overnight for a draft-free, warm place.  

3.  Once the dough has risen, preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  Place an empty dutch oven (or large oven-safe pot and lid) in the oven to preheat.  **see note below

4.  While the oven and pot preheat, turn the dough onto a heavily floured surface (the dough will be sticky) and shape it into a ball.  Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough sit for 30 mins while the oven preheats.  

5.  Carefully remove the pot from the oven and place the ball in the pot, seam side down.  Place the lid on the pot and return to oven.  Bake for 30-35 or until loaf is well browned and crusty.  Cool completely before slicing.  

Enjoy!  

Notes:  

**I don't own a dutch oven or a pot that's oven safe to 450 degrees.  Instead, I used a Pyrex pie dish and an upturned steel bowl as a "lid."  Improvise if you have to but it's important to have a lid to allow the loaf to steam while baking.  

Recipe from Simply So Good.