Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls

I love a good sweet roll, especially one that is cinnamony. Throw in a little cream cheese and I'm in heaven. These cinnamon rolls are just right. They're moist, but not gummy or soggy in the middle. They have a great ratio of bread to filling. And even though the long directions may sound complicated, they're really very easy. You can even do all the work the night before and bake them the next day (perfect for Christmas morning). I already made these again this morning for New Year's Day (no wonder my stomach looks like a cinnamon roll).

 CREAM CHEESE CINNAMON ROLLS

Yield: 8 large rolls

Dough:
1 (¼-oz.) package active dry yeast
½ teaspoon plus ¼ cup sugar
½ cup milk, at room temperature
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 ¾ cups flour, sifted, plus more for kneading
¾ teaspoon fine salt
1 stick unsalted butter (room temperature), plus more for the pan

Filling:
½ cup sugar
¼ cup dark brown sugar
¼ cup finely chopped pecans
¼ cup finely chopped walnuts
¼ cup raisins
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon fine salt
⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
2 tablespoons maple syrup
4 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1 stick unsalted butter, melted

Icing:
2 cups confectioners' sugar
¼ cup buttermilk

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1.      Make the dough: In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a hook, combine yeast, ½ tsp. of the sugar, and ¼ cup water heated to 115° F. Stir to combine and let sit until foamy, about 10 minutes. Add remaining sugar, milk, light brown sugar, vanilla, egg, and egg yolk. Beat on low speed until thoroughly combined, 1 minute. Turn mixer off and add the flour and salt. Mix on medium speed until the dough just comes together. Turn mixer speed to high and knead dough for 4 minutes. Add the butter and continue kneading until dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, about 6 minutes. Remove bowl from the mixer, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside in a warm place. Let the dough rise for 1 ½–2 hours, until it has doubled in size.

2.      Meanwhile, make the filling: Combine sugar, dark brown sugar, pecans, walnuts, raisins, cinnamon, salt, and cloves in a large bowl; stir to combine. Stir in maple syrup. Set aside.

3.      Punch the dough down and turn it out onto a heavily floured surface. Gently knead the dough until it's no longer sticky, adding more flour as necessary, about 1 minute. Using a floured rolling pin, roll the dough into a 10" x 10" square. In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese with a rubber spatula until it's smooth and spreadable. Spread the cream cheese evenly over the dough square; then fold square into thirds as you would fold a letter to fit it into an envelope. Take the open ends of the resulting rectangle and fold into thirds again, to make a smaller dough square. Invert the dough so that the seam is face down and, using the rolling pin, gently roll into a 10" x 20" rectangle.

4.      Turn the dough so that the short sides are parallel to you. Brush the top of the dough with half of the melted butter. Drizzle the reserved filling over the dough, leaving a 1" border at the edge farthest away from you. Lightly press the filling into the dough. Using your hands, lift up the bottom edge of the dough and roll it forward into a tight cylinder. Place dough cylinder, seam side down, on a cutting board and, using a thin, sharp knife, trim off the ends; cut cylinder crosswise into 8 equal-size slices. Nestle the slices, cut sides up and evenly spaced from one another, into a buttered 9" x 13" light-colored metal baking pan. Cover pan with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place to let rise for 2 hours. (Alternatively, the rolls may be refrigerated overnight.)

5.      Heat oven to 375° F. Uncover the rolls. (If refrigerated, let them sit at room temperature for 15 minutes.) Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the rolls comes out clean, about 30 minutes.

6.      Make the icing: While the rolls are baking, whisk together the sugar and buttermilk in a small bowl until smooth.

7.      Transfer the pan of cinnamon rolls to a cooling rack; brush with remaining melted butter. Let cool for 5 minutes. Dip the tines of a fork into the icing and drizzle all over the rolls. Serve immediately.

from saveur.com

yeast, sugar and water

yeast foamy; adding remaining sugar,
milk, brown sugar, vanilla and egg

adding flour and salt

adding butter

The dough never really pulled away from the sides
and it looked so soft to me, I was a little worried
I'd done something wrong - but as you can see,
it all worked out. Adding lots of flour as you
knead and roll helps get the right consistency.

all the filling ingredients mixed
(I used golden raisins, so they're hard to spot.)

dough risen

kneading the punched down dough (or more
accurately, trying to knead the dough with my right
hand while I take a photo with my shaky left hand)

dough rolled into a 10" x10" square (roughly);
starting to spread the cream cheese

cream cheese spread

first fold

second fold

third fold

fourth fold

dough rolled into a 10" x 20" rectangle
(again, roughly)

dough brushed with butter
and topped with filling

rolling

rolled

sliced into 8 pieces

placed in the pan

rolls after rising

I made mine the night before and put them in the fridge
right away because I was going out. And even though
the recipe says to take out and leave at room temperature
for only 15 minutes, it was chilly in the house, so I let
them sit out for about 2 hours so they would rise enough.

baked cinnamon rolls

brushing with butter

drizzling with icing

I didn't use all the icing, it seemed like a little too much.

cream cheese cinnamon rolls

cinnamon roll cross section

In case you're wondering why my kitchen looks so different...I didn't move;
I was at my in-laws' house (these were baked on Christmas morning).

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Rhubarb Ginger Scones

Since I hardly ever use rhubarb, it feels special to me whenever I do. So when I saw that rhubarb was looking good at the store and it was also my husband's birthday coming up, I thought this would make a nice breakfast treat. I decided to add a little ginger for a very subtle kick and it was just right - a little tart and a little sweet (not too much). I'm sure it would be lovely with tea. Of course I'll never know because I don't really like tea. That's right, I'm the freak who doesn't like tea. (You're questioning my taste in everything now, aren't you?)

RHUBARB-GINGER SCONES

Makes 12-16

3 stalks rhubarb, sliced ¼-inch thick

1/2 cup vanilla sugar

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

2/3 to 3/4 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger (or more to taste)

1.      Preheat oven to 425º F.

2.      Toss the sliced rhubarb with 3 tablespoons of the sugar.

3.      Sift flour, baking powder and salt together in large bowl or bowl of food processor.

4.      Cut butter into flour mixture by hand (or pulse with food processor) until butter is the size of small peas.

5.      Blend in 1/4 cup of the sugar.

6.      Blend in the ginger and sliced rhubarb. (If using the food processor, just pulse — you want the slices left mostly intact.)

7.      Blend in cream until a soft dough forms. (Note: you may need to add more than 2/3 cup depending on the weather, etc.)

8.      Transfer dough to floured surface and divide in half. To make triangular scones, flatten into 6-inch disks and cut each circle into 6-8 scones. Sprinkle with remaining sugar.

9.      Arrange on ungreased cookie sheet and bake about 20 minutes or until reddish-brown on top.

barely adapted from food52.com (submitted by Midge)

rhubarb

vanilla sugar

To make vanilla sugar, just scrape the seeds from a few
vanilla beans into some sugar (I don't use exact amounts,
maybe 3 beans to 2 cups sugar). Then add the pods too. Cover
and let sit for at least a month (shake every once in a while).

crystallized ginger

rhubarb and vanilla sugar

adding butter to the flour mixture

adding vanilla sugar (the mixing will
separate those little clumps of vanilla seeds)

adding the ginger and rhubarb

pouring in the cream

dough mixed

2 dough circles

cut into triangles

raw

sprinkled with vanilla sugar

rhubarb-ginger scones

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Buttermilk Cheddar Biscuits

I'm totally in love with these biscuits. Head over heels. Giddy as a school girl. And to think, I made them just to use up the extra buttermilk I had leftover from making buttermilk ice cream. Little did I know they would rock my world with their fluffiness and buttermilky/cheddary goodness. Mmm doesn't even begin to cover it. If you have more than four people around, double the recipe. Trust me.

BUTTERMILK CHEDDAR BISCUITS

Yield: 8 biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt (or other coarse salt)

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced

1/2 cup cold buttermilk, shaken

1 cold extra-large egg

1 cup grated extra-sharp cheddar

1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water or milk

Maldon flaked sea salt (or fleur de sel or other coarse salt), for sprinkling on top

1.      Preheat oven to 425º F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2.      Place the flour, baking powder and salt in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. With the mixer on low, add the butter and mix until the butter is the size of peas.

3.      Combine the buttermilk and egg in a small measuring cup and beat lightly with a fork. With the mixer still on low, quickly add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and mix only until moistened.

4.      In a small bowl, mix the cheddar with small handful of flour and, with the mixer still on low, add the cheese to the dough. Mix only until roughly combined.

5.      Dump out onto a well-floured board and knead lightly about 6 times. Roll the dough out to a rectangle 10 by 5 inches. With a sharp, floured knife, cut the dough lengthwise in half and then across in quarters, making 8 rough rectangles. Transfer to lined sheet pan.

6.      Brush the tops with the egg wash and sprinkle with salt, if using. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tops are browned and the biscuits are cooked through. Serve hot or warm.

barely adapted from Ina Garten

grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese

Use the good stuff if possible - it's worth it!

adding butter to the flour, baking powder & salt

mixed

adding buttermilk/egg mixture

mixed

adding the floured cheese

rough dough

dough gathered into an oval

rolled dough

dough roughly cut into biscuits

brushing with butter

sprinkling with flaked salt

buttered and salted - ready to bake

baked buttermilk cheddar biscuits

Definitely serve these warm.

buttermilk cheddar biscuit, up close

behold the fluffiness

UPDATE: Here's a nice variation I made:
buttermilk-cheddar-bacon-chive biscuits.

Just add 6 slices bacon (cooked until crispy, blotted dry
and chopped) + 1/4 cup minced chives, when you're
adding the cheese. I also used slightly less salt (since I
was adding salty bacon). They were sooo good!

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