Tuesday Morning Cinnamon Rolls

Recently J found his great grandmother's (which would make her "great great grandma" to Ronan) recipe for homemade cinnamon rolls. There was just something special about the torn and fragile state of the paper, the fading ink, and the idea that years ago his grandma would wake up on any given morning to make these for her family. And now, my husband is making them for our family. Family recipes are something special that can't be replaced by anything other than generation after generation continuing the legacy of those comforting smells filling the kitchen. So Ronan, J, and I spent this chilly winter Tuesday morning in the kitchen together to do just that. (recipe found at the bottom of the post)

Great Great Grandma's Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients

Rolls

2 cups sifted flour

1 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cup shortening

3/4 cups milk

2 tablespoons soft/melted butter

Filling

1/4 cup brown or granulated sugar

1-2 teaspoons cinnamon

Icing

1/2 cup confectioners sugar (sifted)

1 tablespoon milk

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

1. Sift dry ingredients into a mixing bowl

2. Add shortening and cut in until fine

3. Add milk all at once and stir until dough sticks together. Form a ball.

4. Turn out on lightly floured board

5. Knead 5 or 6 times. Handle dough lightly and work quickly!

6. Roll dough to about a 12"x8" rectangle- 1/4 in thick

7. Brush with melted butter or spread on soft butter

8. Sprinkle on cinnamon sugar mixture

9. Roll up like a jelly roll; pinch edges together and shape into an even roll

10. Cut into 12 even slices

11. Place in greased pan (cake, ring mold, or cookie sheet) closely

12. Brush tops with milk or melted butter

13. Bake at 450* for 15 minutes

16. Pour icing over rolls

17. ENJOY!

with love,

kellie

♥

No-Bake Peanut Butter, Oats, and Chocolate Chip Bites

photo via: www.chewoutloud.com

Hi everyone! So I recently posted a photo on 

instagram

 of my first legit pregnancy craving. And these guys were the culprit. A friend of mine posted the recipe for these

No-Bake Energy Bites via Chew Out Loud

 (<-- click here for a link to the original recipe!) and it was literally all I could think about. I headed straight to the kitchen and gathered every ingredient I had that I thought would work and made a few substitutions to the original recipe based on my personal preferences and the availability of what I could find in my pantry. For all those who had been asking, here is the recipe for my adapted version (and let me tell you, they were EXACTLY what I had been craving-- two thumbs up for sure!)

Ingredients

1 cup dry, old-fashioned oats

½ cup creamy peanut butter

½ cup granola with flax seed (I used Kind Healthy Grains Cinnamon Oat Clusters)

⅔ cup chocolate chips

⅓ cup honey

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients together. Cover and chill in fridge for 30 minutes.

2. Roll the mixture into small balls and store in an airtight container. Keep refrigerated until you are ready to indulge (which in my case didn't take long....).

3. That's it! So easy and so delicious and semi-healthy and pregnancy-approved by this mama. I also heard they are kid-approved as well and I'm sure you could always sneak in some other healthy ingredients into these "cookies" for them as well (or for yourself if you find tricking yourself into eating healthy is the way to go ;) ).

Even our Lay was hoping she could get a taste they looked so good ;)

Bon appetit!

with faith, love, & coffee,

kellie ann

♥

Festive Fruit Pizza

It's that time of year when BBQ's, outdoor parties, and all kinds of fun festivities are in full force. Sick of bringing the same boring bag of chips and dip to every party? Surprise your friends and family with this delicious dessert that is so easy to make, oh so yummy, and semi-healthy (I mean it does have fruit in it....). Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 roll refrigerated sugar cookies (I used Pillsbury)

1 package 8oz cream cheese (softened)

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Your fruit of choice! This time I used strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, and kiwi

1/4 cup apple jelly

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350*. Spray 12 inch pizza pan with cooking spray. Layer the pan with the cookie dough using your hands to evenly spread it out across the pan for the crust. Bake for 13-15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely, for about 30 minutes.

2. While you are waiting for your crust to cool, prep your fruit. Cut them into bite size pieces to arrange on the pizza.

3. In a small bowl, beat together cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer until fluffy. Spread the mixture over the cooled crust. In a separate bowl, stir the jelly until smooth. Set aside momentarily.

4. Arrange your fruit on top of the cream cheese mixture in whatever pretty pattern your little heart desires (it would be a fun to use a cookie sheet and place fruit in the shape of an American Flag for the 4th of July!). Spoon or brush the jelly on top of the fruit. Refrigerate until chilled, at least one hour. To serve, cut into wedges or squares. 

It almost looks too pretty to eat (not that that's going to stop me...)! Bon appetit!! 

with faith, love, & coffee,

kellie ann

♥