Apple Cinnamon Rolls

Poorly lit kitchen strikes again

Hi. What's this? Another cinnamon roll recipe? Yeah, sorry. I love them to death. Also, where have I been for the last few months? I don't know. Death by undergrad...which I finished. Thank God. Planning a wedding (I said yes to the dress, and cried). Working two jobs which were equal parts rewarding and draining. Trying to enjoy my last semester of undergrad with the people who supported me along the way.

More recently: handling a bizarre and unpleasant turn of events that left me jobless post-graduation. After handling the aforementioned turn of events, I really just haven't felt so good, mentally or physically. Once I finished crying (change is really hard for me), I attacked the job hunt, trying to figure out what the hell you do with a BS in psychology. I have a couple things going, but let's wait until the ink is totally dry until we talk about them.

Dough is calming. Especially the proofing stage. I love.

Quick anecdote: In the process of making these, I somehow touched the heating element of the oven, which I don't recommend. That was quite awhile ago and I finally have all my fingerprints back. Yay.

In other news: I'm applying to medical school, which is weird and daunting but also fun. I've started having weekly brunches at my apartment because honestly, friends, pancakes, and good coffee are better medicine than anything else I've found. Stuff hurts, change is hard, but I think my goal shouldn't be to force joy, but to love the people I care about as deeply as I can and to find the happiness in the time I have with them. Easier said than done? Sure. But cinnamon rolls help.

Apple Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients

rolls (adapted from Joy the Baker)

1/4 oz yeast (this is the amount in the little packets)

1/2 tsp +1/4 cup white sugar

1/2 cup milk (higher fat content=better)

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1 yolk

3 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup butter

filling

1/2 stick butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tbsp cinnamon

1 tbsp maple syrup

3 green apples, diced

dash of salt (unless you're using salted butter)

glaze (only if you reallllllyyyyy have a sweet tooth)

1 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup milk

1. Start the dough by adding 1/4 cup warm water to the 1/2 tsp sugar and yeast. Let sit until foamy, about 15 minutes. If it doesn't foam, your yeast has issues.
2. Add the remaining sugar, milk, brown sugar, egg, and yolk. Stir until combined.
3. If you have an electric mixer (I'm jealous), fit it with a dough hook and add the flour half a cup at a time. If not, still add it only half a cup at a time, and use your muscles to smooth it out after each addition.
4. Let rise for 2 hours. In the last half hour of the rise, make the filling.
5. For the filling, melt the butter and combine with remaining ingredients, other than the apples.
6. When the rise is complete, dump out of the bowl onto a floured surface. It should be fairly fluffy. Gently roll out into a rectangle.
7. Spread filling on top of the rectangle, then sprinkle on the diced apples.
8. Carefully roll up the dough into a tight tube, then slice with a sharp knife. I got 8 rolls.
9. Place in buttered pans, then allow to rise for another 30 minutes.
10. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
11. For the glaze, whisk together the sugar and milk. Pour over hot rolls. Serve and enjoy.

Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Glaze

I'm having an issue. I have a recipe and pictures, but I don't have too many words today.

These were a part of my annual holiday baking binge (which isn't much different from my every day life, but still....). I've realized I love working with dough, so I made cinnamon rolls a couple different ways, but these were my favorite.

I hope you all had a lovely holiday and wish you a happy new year.

Yum.

Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Glaze
Ingredients

dough (adapted from How Sweet Eats)
2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 package dry yeast (or 2 1/4 teaspoons)
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon

filling
1 stick butter, melted
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar

glaze
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 tbsp maple syrup
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Heat milk in microwave for about 1 minute, until lukewarm. Add vegetable oil and sugar, stir. Sprinkle in yeast and let sit about 15 minutes, or until foamy.
2. Move mixture to an electric mixture and add flour, baking soda, powder, and cinnamon. Stir until combined, then run mixer for about 6 minutes, kneading until dough is elastic and smooth.
3. Allow dough to rise for 90 minutes or until doubled.
4. Punch the dough down, then empty onto a floured counter. Roll out into a rectangle, making sure dough is roughly 1/2 an inch thick.
5. To make filling, combine melted butter, sugars, and cinnamon. Spread evenly on the dough, then roll into spiral tube.
6. Slice into 1-inch sections, then place rolls into a buttered pan. Let rise for 30 minutes.
7. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes, or until golden brown.
8. To make glaze, blend ingredients together. Pour over warm rolls and enjoy.

Bubble Bread

Hi there. Welcome back to Kimmie's Kitchen. Here's more of Carbfest 2k16. I'd apologize, but I'm not sorry. Not at all.

Did you guys watch the Tony's on Sunday? I don't ever watch award shows, but, like any good theatre nerd (even one who hasn't touched a stage since 2013), I was in front of my best friend's TV on Sunday night cheering every time Hamilton won. All eleven(!) times. I also cried during pretty much every speech. I'm not kidding. Especially Renee Elise Goldsberry and Lin-Manuel Miranda. Wow.

My current oven situation

But anyway, on to talking about this bread. It's so good. I'm a little embarrassed to call this a recipe, but here we are. It's basically monkey bread with chocolate, and if you're anything like me you'll agree that chocolate always improves food. This is the perfect thing to bake and then take to a friend's apartment late at night. That's what I did with it anyway. I highly recommend doing the same. 

Also, you can totally bake this in the little ovens we have in Infinity Hall. It's doable, I promise. As evidenced by the above photo. 

Bubble Bread
Ingredients
1 can refrigerated biscuit dough
16 unwrapped Dove chocolate promises (or you could use Hershey's kisses or any other little chocolate chunks)
4 tbsp salted butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon

1. Cut each biscuit in half. Roll each half into a ball around a piece of chocolate.
2. Blend together the sugar and cinnamon.
3. Roll each ball in butter then in the cinnamon sugar to coat thoroughly. Stack in a loaf pan. Repeat until all balls are coated and stacked.
4. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. If the top gets too brown, cover with foil and continue baking. Enjoy!

Banana Bread French Toast with Salted Pecan Caramel and Bourbon Whipped Cream

So....that's a mouthful. But look at it. It was going to just be the banana bread and the whipped cream, but I found pecans in the freezer and can't leave well enough alone. So now there's caramel sauce too.

So what is this? Dessert? Breakfast? Brunch? I mean, technically it's probably all of them, but I like to think it's brunch, because I'm honestly infatuated with brunch right now. Like, I love the food, but something about brunch is just so inherently classy (at least in my head). It seems like the type of thing you pull out the nice fancy plates for and wear your pearls and some pretty lipstick.

But, knowing me, I'm usually in yoga pants and a sweatshirt. Or pajamas. And an apron. Sometimes. Because if I'm eating brunch there's like an 80% chance I made it, or at least helped make it. 

I think brunch sounds fancy because it usually involves champagne? Or some other type of cute cocktail, at least. And those are fancy. In my 19-year-old opinion.

Anyway, welcome this to your brunch party. It's a fun guest. I promise.

Banana Bread French Toast
banana bread (adapted from How Sweet It Is)
1/2 cup butter
3 oz. cream cheese
1 cup brown sugar
3 ripe bananas, mashed smooth with a fork
1 egg
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

French toast
2 eggs
3 tbsp half and half
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp butter

salted pecan caramel
1/2 cup pecans, chopped roughly
1/4 cup salted butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp half and half
1/4 tsp salt

bourbon whipped cream
1 cup heavy cream
2 tsp bourbon
1 tbsp confectioner's sugar

1. Start by making the banana bread. Cream together the butter, brown sugar, and cream cheese. Add the banana, egg, and Greek yogurt, mix until smooth. Add in dry ingredients. Bake at 350 in a greased loaf pan for 70 minutes.
2. While the banana bread is cooling, start the caramel. Add the butter and brown sugar to a pot over medium heat. Stir until totally melted. Add in the pecans, bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients.
3. Make the whipped cream. Place the bowl and whisk attachment of an electric mixer in the freezer for 5 minutes.
4. Add the cream to the mixer and beat on high speed for about a minute. Add sugar and bourbon. Continue to beat until soft peaks form.
5. Once the banana bread is cool, cut two inch-thick slices.
6. Whisk together the eggs, half and half, cinnamon, and vanilla. Soak each slice of banana bread in the mixture for 2 minutes, flip, then soak another two minutes.
7. Melt butter in a skillet over medium-low heat. Add French toast, cook for 3 minutes per side, then plate.
8. Top the toast with caramel sauce and whipped cream. Enjoy!
   
   
   

Skillet Monkey Bread

Um, hi. Carb Fest 2k16 continues. Welcome to Kimmie's Kitchen. But LOOK AT THIS STUFF.

Yeah. So, now that I've got your attention, let's talk about life. I've recently rediscovered my love for the humanities. No, I'm not saying I suddenly love people. I LOVE literature. And linguistics. And poetry. And theatre. AND PSYCHOLOGY (which isn't actually one of the humanities, but shhhh).

I don't know how I managed to convince myself that I just wanted to take science classes all through college. I was sitting in the library the other night, studying for Developmental Psych, when all the sudden I just really wanted to read some poetry. And analyze it. Take me back to AP Lit, I guess? I don't know. We've read some poetry for my Spanish Composition class, and I think that's helped to reawaken my love.

So, the next day I marched myself back to the library (post exam) and checked out Sylvia Plath's complete poetry. And The Bell Jar. And Jane Eyre. And y'all, I'm reading Jane Eyre right now, and I'm loving it. Just getting closer to being the pretentious literature nerd I am deep down inside. Living the dream.

Skillet Monkey Bread
Ingredients
1 stick butter (I prefer salted)
1/3 cup brown sugar
5 cans refrigerated biscuits
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

glaze
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Melt the butter in a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add brown sugar and stir until they melt together. Remove from heat.
2. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl. Cut each biscuit into quarters, then roll each piece into a bowl and roll in cinnamon sugar until coated. Add to pan.
3. Continue until pan is full, then cover loosely with tin foil. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes, remove foil, then bake for another 15.
4. Stir together glaze ingredients. Dip the baked bread in it. Yum!

   

   That's a BUTTER RIVER down the middle, friends.

S'more Pull Apart Bread

So, I'm in a phase of my life where I bake things at odd hours. This bread was made at midnight. And it's delicious. I then realized that I didn't need to eat the entire loaf, so I took it to Bible study the next night, where it was devoured very quickly.

Guys, this bread is gooey and sweet and sticky and wonderful. I highly recommend making it. You won't be able to eat a ton of it; it's very rich, but you'll want to. It's so good. 

Pull apart breads have been all over Pinterest for the last few years, so I'm sure you've seen them. But I decided I wanted one that was different. Chocolate, with a little buttery crunch. And then this happened. Make it, eat it, share it, love it. Treat yourself.

S'more Pull Apart Bread
Ingredients
1 pizza dough (like the Pillsbury kind)
1 stick butter (I like salted)
6 graham crackers
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1/4 cup mini marshmallows

1. Line a loaf pan with foil, making an overhang on each side. Melt the butter and drizzle about half of it in the foil, making sure it gets into the corners/on the sides.
2. Unroll the dough and pour on the remaining butter, spreading it all over.
3. Crush the graham crackers, leaving some larger crumbles too. Scatter around the dough.
4. Add the chocolate and marshmallows to the dough.
5. Cut the dough into twelve rectangles. 
6. To get them into the pan, I propped mine on its little side and then stacked the pieces. This gets sort of messy, but you can do it.
7. Scatter any spilled toppings on the top of the bread.
8. Bake at 425 for 17 minutes. Enjoy!

Spaghetti and Garlic Bread

Hi there! We're kicking off the new blog with a very traditional recipe. Who didn't grow up with spaghetti?

My goal with this blog is to create recipes that are simple enough and easy enough to follow that any other college student can make them.

This garlic bread can solve all your problems. I promise. Didn't do so hot on that exam? Bad break up? Extra homework on a long weekend? Did a frog jump in your car while you were buying groceries? (yes, this happened. I panicked.) Deep breaths. Eat some garlic bread.

Not pictured: my laptop blasting "Arrested Development"

Spaghetti & Garlic Bread

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil

1/3 cup onion, chopped (I used red for the looks, but you do you)

1/4 cup celery, chopped

1 tsp minced garlic

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp dried basil

1 lb ground beef

1 6 oz can tomato paste

1 8 oz can tomato sauce

1 28 oz can diced tomatoes

1/2 cup water

cooked spaghetti

Garlic Bread

1 loaf French bread

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 tsp minced garlic

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp oregano

3 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

1. Cook onion and celery in the olive oil over medium heat, stirring occasionally until they are soft. This took about 5 minutes for me.
2. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
3. Add beef and cook until brown, stirring to break up any chunks.
4. Add all the tomatoes and water, bring to a simmer.
5. Simmer for 30 minutes, uncovered. Serve with spaghetti in desired ratio.

Bread:

1. Slice the bread in horizontal slices.
2. Mash together the garlic and spices using a fork.
3. Spread on bread, then sprinkle with the cheese.
4. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Happy cooking!