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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Hash Brown Casserole

Every year we take a road trip from New Jersey to Virginia to visit my in-laws. We usually stop at a Cracker Barrel along the way because the bathrooms are decent, they have a cute little store there to amuse my daughter and I love the hash brown casserole. Unfortunately I never knew about their reputation for practicing both racial and homosexual discrimination (actually, I shouldn't say practicing - it sounds like they've really got it down to a science). I was extremely disappointed by this news, to say the least. It made me have second thoughts about posting this recipe (which, you've probably guessed by now, is a Cracker Barrel knock-off). But then I realized that's exactly what I should do. Encourage everyone to make their own hash brown casserole at home. Who needs Cracker Barrel. My work here is done.

HASH BROWN CASSEROLE

Makes 12 side-dish servings

1 stick butter

1/2 cup finely minced onion

1 can (14.1 oz.) Amy’s Organic cream of mushroom soup (semi-condensed) 

  or 1 can (10 ¼ oz.) Campbell's condensed cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup*

8 oz. sour cream

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 1/4 lb. potatoes or 1 bag (1 lb., 14 oz.) frozen shredded potatoes, thawed

2 cups grated cheddar cheese

*If using Campbell’s soup, increase sour cream from 8 oz. to 12-16 oz.

1.        Preheat oven at 350˚ F. Grease a 9” x 13” glass baking dish.

2.        Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook for 4 minutes. Set aside to cool.

3.        If using fresh potatoes, peel and grate. Drain in a colander and squeeze out as much liquid as possible.

4.        In a large bowl, combine, onions, soup, sour cream, salt and pepper; mix well. Add potatoes and cheese; mix well. Spread mixture evenly into the baking dish.

5.        Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until golden brown on top and slightly bubbly around the edges.

onion and butter

Amy's Organic Cream of Mushroom Soup

back of the can

soup, sour cream, salt and pepper

mixing with the onion and butter

mixed and ready to add the potatoes and cheese

adding the potatoes and cheese

mixed and ready for the pan

spread out in the pan

baked

I'm sure you're wondering what that pile of lumpy red stuff is next to the
eggs. I roasted some cherry tomatoes in the oven with a little olive oil and
salt and served them along side scrambled eggs with goat cheese and
chives. It's good, I recommend it. That other chunk of something on the
right is baked french toast. Not our usual breakfast (we had friends over).

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