Cinnamon Braid

This is my new favorite way to use cinnamon roll dough. This turned out a really pretty loaf with several layers of gooey filling. I rolled the dough like usual--a rectangle, then filled it, then rolled it up. Then, I turned it so it was facing me the same way it is in the picture (sorry, still on the pan) and cut it in three strips, stopping about an inch from the end. I cut off a half inch from the end that was still intact to use as the "glue" on the cut end. I braided the strands (will be a little messy), then stuck them together with that extra half inch of dough from the other end.
I'm still using this cinnamon roll recipe because it's just so good.

Cheddar Herb Drop Biscuits

This recipe is super simple and yields great results. Norris claims them to be better than the Red Lobster biscuits, so you'll have to try them and decide for yourself! Making these was made more fun with my two year old helper friend!
 

Cheddar Herb Drop Biscuits

(link to recipe on Tasty Kitchen)

Apple Cider Baked Donut Holes

Fall in a bite! These are really great. We couldn't keep our hands out of them. If you run out of butter or don't want to use butter, you can roll them in cinnamon and sugar without it, but be warned you won't get as much coating. We also made a pumpkin version and they're amazing as well. They're baked, so they're healthy, right? :)
Link to recipe

French Toast Sticks

I really like French toast, but hate when it gets soggy or when all of the slightly crispy edge is gone. These French toast sticks remove both of those factors and taste great doing it. I love the crunchy outside and they're just the right amount of sweet when sprinkled with powdered sugar and drizzled in syrup.
The hardest part about this recipe is finding the Texas toast (because the best French toast is made with Texas toast...figures, right?). I found one brand at Dillon's/Kroger and my grandma said she finds it at the day-old bread store. Good thing, because you need this bread to be at least a day old anyway. I set it out on the counter overnight to let it get stale, which really helped during the soaking and coating process.
These are great because you can make them and just pull a couple out of the freezer to bake whenever the mood strikes you. Or, if you're making them for a party, they're completely make ahead besides the bake time! They'd probably be fun with other crushed cereals (we tried a pumpkin spice cereal that would be great on them) for a kid treat. The only thing I changed was to use more cornflakes, so I changed that in the recipe below.


I have no idea how I managed to do this, but I must have deleted some of my pictures from my camera. Half of the food/drink photos are missing. Oops!!

French Toast Sticks

6 servings

6 slices day-old Texas toast

4 eggs
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups crushed cornflakes
Confectioners' sugar
Maple syrup


Cut each piece of bread into thirds; place in an ungreased 13-in. x 9-in. dish. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon. Pour over bread; soak for 2 minutes, turning once. Coat bread with cornflake crumbs on all sides if desired.
Place in a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan. Freeze until firm, about 45 minutes. Transfer to an airtight container or resealable freezer bag and store in the freezer.
To use frozen French toast sticks: Place desired number on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 425° for 8 minutes. Turn; bake 10-12 minutes longer or until golden brown. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar if desired. Serve with syrup. Yield: 1-1/2 dozen.

slightly adapted from Taste of Home

Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake

One of my very favorite people is going to have a baby soon, so we recently had a baby shower to celebrate! I hosted with two other girls and it was a breeze to plan (all via email from different cities!) and so fun to have so many of her friends in the same place. We had it at 11 AM, so we went with brunch food and the theme was the colors--bright-ish coral, pink, yellow, orange, and green. I'll share some of the decor pictures, too--I hope I can figure out how to make the poms like she did!!
When I was looking for a muffin or bread to try for the shower, I had a few different recipes picked out. Heath bar coffee cake, cinnamon-sugar muffins....they all sounded good but weren't quite right and weren't sounding like something the mom-to-be would just love. We went to the lake for a weekend with the family and our cousin made this cake and I knew I had to make it and that mom-to-be would love it! Well, we all loved it and there was only a tiny bit left, and that was probably because we were all being too polite to eat the last. This stuff is excellent! It's also really pretty with the blueberries throughout and the sugar sprinkled on top. It's definitely not a healthy breakfast by any means, but it's a great indulgence that you'll probably pull back out for dessert the very same day!

Buttermilk-Blueberry Breakfast Cake

Serves 6-8

½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature

2 tsp. lemon zest or more — zest from 1 large lemon

7/8 cup* + 1 tablespoon sugar**

1 egg, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 cups fresh blueberries

½ cup buttermilk (or 7 1/2 Tbsp milk + 1 1/2 tsp white vinegar..stir and let it sit for about five minutes before using)

* 7/8 cup = 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons

** This 1 tablespoon is for sprinkling on top

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Cream butter with lemon zest and 7/8 cup of the sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Meanwhile, toss the blueberries with ¼ cup of flour, then whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder and salt.

Add the flour mixture to the batter a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk. Fold in the blueberries.

Grease a 9-inch square baking pan (or something similar) with butter or coat with non-stick spray. Spread batter into pan. Sprinkle batter with remaining tablespoon of sugar. Bake for 35 minutes. Check with a toothpick for doneness. If necessary, return pan to oven for a couple of more minutes. (Note: Baking for as long as 10 minutes more might be necessary.) Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

from Alexandra Cooks

Lemon poppyseed muffins

I love lemon poppyseed and have made a few variations, most of them trying to be on the healthier side. These are made with a higher percentage of whole wheat flour than white, but still have the good stuff: butter and sugar, that would lead some to call these cupcakes. Since I'm planning to serve them for a friend's birthday breakfast, I am calling them muffins to make myself feel better:)
These are very good and have a strong lemon flavor, which I love. The greek yogurt adds some extra moisture and a tiny bit of tang, which I also love. With a simple powdered sugar glaze on top, they're perfect!

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

makes 9 muffins

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp lemon zest
1/4 lemon juice
1/3 cup plain greek yogurt
1 tbsp poppy seeds

Glaze:
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp milk
1/4 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 400 F and line muffin tins.
In a medium bowl, combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Cream together butter and sugar. Add egg and lemon zest and beat until combined. With mixer on lowest setting (or use a spatula), alternate adding 1/3 of the flour mixture and the lemon juice until just combined. Stir in yogurt and poppy seeds.
Fill muffin tins 2/3 full (batter is thick) and bake for 15-17 minutes, or until they test done.
For glaze, stir together ingredients and drizzle over warm muffins.

adapted from forgiving martha

Pizza Focaccia

This would be great party food for adults or kids. It has such a quick rise time and the dough comes together so easily that you could have it all made and just pop in the oven or let kids make the dough and top with their favorite toppings and bake while the party's going on. Cut it into breadsticks and it makes the perfect appetizer; add a side and it makes a great dinner!
Norris claims there is not enough cheese for amount of bread, but I think it's perfect and took the leftovers to school where the kids agreed with me. I haven't made focaccia in a while and need to get back to making the Blitz Bread focaccia--that made some killer paninis!
I loved this a quicker alternative to pizza and with a side of roasted asparagus, this made a great dinner (despite the fact that it was already dark at 6:30 when we ate...depressing!!).

Pizza Focaccia

from Macaroni and Cheesecake

(I didn't change anything besides the toppings and using my own sauce, so I'm just linking there!)
Tip: focaccia dough is stickier than cinnamon roll dough, so don't be alarmed by that fact!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffin Tops: Lightened Up

Yes, still putting pumpkin everywhere I can. I used to have a pumpkin face mask from BBW that I looooved. Wish they still made that!
The original recipe calls these cookies, but Nikki had the right idea of changing the title to muffin tops. Pumpkin makes things so moist that they could be called really moist, cakey cookies, or muffin tops. Muffin tops is much more appealing, and with my lightened up version, they won't give you a muffin top!:)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffin Tops

adapted from Pennies on a Platter

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 egg
2 egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup Splenda
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 F.
Combine flours, soda, salt, and spices.
Cream the eggs and sugar/Splenda. Add oil, applesauce, pumpkin, and vanilla and beat until blended. Stir in flour just until blended. Stir in chocolate chips.
Drop by ice cream scoop (1/4 cup size) onto Silpat lined baking sheets, about two inches apart. Bake for about 16 minutes. Cool on wire racks. Store in airtight container for up to 4 days.

Caramel Apple Sticky Buns

Yum!!!I loved these so much. I think I liked them better the day after I made them after the caramel had a chance to set up and get thick like icing instead of glaze. I'll be making them again and adding walnuts...that would just take these over the top. 
 I used my regular cinnamon roll dough and followed her instructions for the rest, so I'll just link to her site for the recipe. Try these out this fall--be sure you have someone to share them with!!

Caramel Apple Sticky Buns

Orange Pumpkin Loaf

I said I'm on a mission to try every pumpkin flavored product on the market...I think I'm also on a mission to try every pumpkin baked good recipe. I searched "pumpkin" on allrecipes.com and came up with a giant list, but many of them were variations of the same....pumpkin bread, bars, rolls, and cookies. I wanted something different but still a little pumpkin-y. And I'm not quite ready to try pumpkin soup because I just can't get in the groove for that...if anyone's tried and liked it, please let me know!
This recipe intrigued me because it includes an entire orange (peel and all) in its ingredient list. The orange gives the bread a nice bright flavor, the dried cranberries a little tang, and the pumpkin contributes a little flavor and a lot of moisture. I really loved this!! I got a little gunshy with the whole orange and wound up leaving out one chunk of orange peel. I was afraid it would be bitter, but it wasn't at all. You could zest the whole orange and then use the entire inside just to be sure if you wanted. I froze half and can't wait to pull it out again and will definitely be making this again! I healthified the recipe, but the link to all recipes below brings you to the original if you want to try it the unadapted way.

Orange Pumpkin Loaf

adapted from all recipes

1 large orange
1/3 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup Splenda
3/4 cup granulated sugar
 1 egg
2 egg whites
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/3 cup water
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan.
Cut orange into wedges and remove seeds. Place entire orange in a food processor and pulse until pureed.
Cream together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in pumpkin, water, and ground orange.
In a separate bowl, combine flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg.
Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients until just combined, careful not to overmix.
Stir in dried cranberries. Spoon batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for about 1 hour. Let stand 10 minutes, then remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.

Banana Peanut Chocolate Chip Muffins (Whole Wheat, too!)

Okay, these clearly aren't muffins, but they are the fruit of my first vegetable "garden"! It was really a planter on my driveway that I grew a few peppers in, but I was pretty excited that something came out of it. Apparently I did get a little bit of the gardening gene from you, Grandma and Papa! Wish I was as good at it as you guys are!!

Back to the muffins..

Quite a title....these hearty muffins are a good start to the day. They taste like a whole grain breakfast, not a cupcake, which is what I prefer in the mornings and for a snack anyway. Portable and perfect for a quick weekday breakfast!

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

from Taste of Home Cooking Light

makes 12 muffins

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup wheat bran
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup skim milk
1 1/3 cup mashed ripe banana
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips
1/3 cup chopped pecans (I used peanuts)

In a large bowl, combine the first seven ingredients. In another bowl, combine the eggs, milk, bananas, applesauce and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips.



Coat muffin cups with cooking spray; fill three-fourths full with batter. Sprinkle with peanuts.


Bake at 375° for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Serve warm. Yield: 1 dozen.

Vegan Blueberry Banana Breakfast/Snack Cake

I wrote the title as breakfast/snack cake because you could definitely have it for either. Norris and I both really enjoyed this, although I will admit that while I was making it, I may have covered the part of the recipe title that said "vegan" just so he wouldn't not eat it due to that! This was just as moist and good as any regular cake/bread, but much better for you!
Blueberries are so good for you that it says so right on the container! As for the bananas--if you don't already do this, once you see your bananas going south, store them in the freezer and you'll have overripe bananas anytime the banana bread/snack cake mood strikes! I was really accumulating them, so I might be making something else with them soon...or this again because it's excellent!

Vegan Blueberry Banana Snack Cake

from Weekly Bite via Prevention RD

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (in a pinch, you can use 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup AP flour)
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
4 overripe bananas, mashed
1 cup fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 325 F. Spray a 9-inch square baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and sugar and set aside. With an electric mixer, combine the sugar, canola oil, and applesauce.
Combine wet and dry ingredients with an electric mixer. Add in the bananas half at a time, combining after each addition but do not overmix. Fold in blueberries.
Bake for 1 hour or until it tests done.

Whole Wheat Banana Bread

I almost always have some rotten (err...super ripe--they just look rotten to me!) bananas in the freezer that I just didn't make it to when they were still yellow. They're easy to freeze, but I found myself with about 12 of them, so I decided to finally use some of them (and to buy less bananas at the grocery store). I used the whole wheat pumpkin bread recipe that I love and just subbed in mashed banana. It wound up taking about six small bananas to get two cups of mashed.

This is really great--Norris said he would only eat it if it wasn't soggy, and I came home to a good chunk of it gone, so that's a good sign:)



Whole Wheat Banana Bread

1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened

2 tbsp honey

2 tbsp sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

2 cups mashed ripe banana

1/2 tsp salt

1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup hot water

1/4 cup raisins (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 F.

Lightly grease a loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, and salt.

In a large bowl, cream together butter, honey, and sugar for two minutes. Add in the eggs and combine. Add in pumpkin and vanilla and beat just until combined. Beat in the flour mixture 1/3 at a time, careful not to overmix.

Dissolve baking soda in hot water and beat into batter.

Stir in raisins.

Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake about 70 minutes, or until baked all the way through.

Nutrition Info (1 loaf=14 slices):

Calories: 187; Carbs: 37; Protein: 3.4; Fat: 5.5

Fresh Cranberry Muffins

I love cranberries--I can eat them plain, in a sauce, and definitely in any baked good. I like that they're really tart, which I know some people don't care for. If you're not a cranberry lover, these are very versatile muffins and almost any fruit can be substituted!

These are another Cooking Light recipe, and CL suggests blueberries and lemon (which sounds fantastic), chopped apple, pear, or pineapple and cinnamon (pineapple muffins? awesome!), or mashed bananas and allspice. A reviewer on their site also suggested apricots, which sound great!

I changed their recipe up a little, so I'll list it as I made it. The original is in the link.

These also freeze great--cool completely, then place in Ziploc to freeze. Thaw at room temperatue and reheat in oven wrapped in foil.

Fresh Cranberry Muffins

from Cooking Light

Yield: 12 servings (serving size: 1 muffin)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
3 Tbsp Splenda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped fresh cranberries

2/3 cup skim milk

1/4 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon grated orange rind
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 400°.


Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl; combine. Stir in cranberries; make a well in center of mixture. Combine milk, butter, rind, vanilla, and egg in a separate bowl; add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist.
Spray or line 12 muffin tins. Spoon batter evenly into the tins.
Bake at 400° for 16-18 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center.
Remove muffins from pan immediately; place on a wire rack to cool.

Nutritional Info:

156 calories, 4.6 g fat, 26.3 g carbs, 1.5 g fiber, 3.4 g protein

Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread

Once I was on a roll with the mixer, I couldn't stop. Plus, I had an extra hour to work with!! (I loved the extra hour, but I HATE that it gets dark so early. I have pretty much no motivation to do anything after it gets dark except go to sleep.)
I saw this recipe on Annie's Eats a few weeks ago and knew I had to make it, immediately planning to make french toast from it! The goal is to make it last until Thursday since we have Veteran's Day off and make french toast for breakfast:) We love the gooey ribbon running through it, although I'm not sure why mine is stuck only on the very sides on the bottom! The bread itself has really great flavor. Norris thinks it looks like bakery "fake" bread because of the egg wash on top. I still am trying to figure out what bakery he's been to that has fake bread!!...

Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread

(click this to see recipe from Annie's Eats)

Heavenly Yeast Rolls

If you don't already have a dinner roll recipe for your Thanksgiving table, you should definitely consider this one!!

Can you believe I got my mixer Wednesday and didn't actually use it until Sunday?? I can't, either! I will admit that I walked by and turned it on a couple times just to make sure it worked and see it in action:) It has a perfect new home on our rearranged kitchen counter tops! It's SO nice to set the mixer to knead while I clean up everything else. Plus, I felt like I added less flour during the kneading process, which will result in a lighter product. I got a little anxious for the dough to rise--it looked perfect!! Obviously loving my new mixer:)

Our weekly menus have been pretty repetitive with all of our favorites lately. I was planning another double batch of loaded potato soup and decided to make some rolls to go with it. I went to Tasty Kitchen and found these Heavenly Yeast Rolls. They certainly smelled heavenly while they were baking, and they tasted heavenly, too!! Remember, use the bread flour to get a perfect result!

Heavenly Yeast Rolls(click the title for the link to recipe!)

Soft Garlic Knots

These are the perfect accompaniment to a nice warm soup. I was so excited while I was making them because I've seen them so many places lately and have wanted to try them. I don't tackle yeast breads on weekdays, but weekends are perfect for them! These were fun to make, partly because I love working with yeast, and partly because I liked the process of shaping them. They were so easy and had little hands-on time, so you should try them soon!

Shaping the knots

no more cooking in daylight!!

the final product

mmm..can you tell how soft and pillowy they are???

I wound up using the version that I saw on Annie's Eats--I'll just link you to her so you can see her step-by-step instructions of how to shape the knots. Much easier than I thought it would be for sure. Be sure to use bread flour! If I were you, I'd use just a touch more garlic, too:)

Soft Garlic Knots

I froze half of the recipe after shaping the knots. I put them on a waxed-paper lined baking sheet and put them in the freezer for about 45 minutes. After they were frozen solid, I put them in a freezer bag. To bake, I will put them out on a lined baking sheet and allow to thaw and rise in a warm place, then bake as directed.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread

Yep, another pumpkin recipe! This used my last can, so I'm hoping to find more in the store.
This recipe is definitely a keeper--it has the great pumpkin flavor and a really nice texture, but we keep this on the healthier side with whole wheat flour and honey. I cut the loaf into 14 slices and it runs about 170 calories per slice (not including any toppings, of course!). If you've worked with whole wheat flour before, you know it can get a little dense, but this had the perfect texture. Give it a try when you get your hands on a can of pumpkin!!
Also, it freezes well and tastes just the same when it comes out of the freezer. I will most definitely be making this again!

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread

from Creating Nirvana Today

1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup honey

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

2 cups pumpkin puree

1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup raisins

(she used almonds and dark chocolate chips instead of raisins)

Preheat oven to 325 F.

Lightly grease a 9x5 loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, and salt.

In a large bowl, cream butter, honey and sugar together for two minutes. Add in the eggs and combine. Add in pumpkin and vanilla and beat just until combined. Beat in the flour mixture 1/3 at a time. Be careful to not overmix.

Dissolve baking soda in 1/4 cup hot water, then beat into batter.

Stir in raisins, nuts, or chocolate chips.

Pour (well, scoop, since it's not very pourable) into prepared loaf pan and bake about 60 minutes. Test for doneness, cool on wire rack, then consume!!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

Pumpkin is back! Pumpkin is back! I love all things pumpkin--drinks, desserts, even savory items. I made a baked pumpkin oatmeal this week and these pumpkin rolls after finally seeing the reappearance of pumpkin at my grocery store. For a real pumpkin lover, they weren't strong in pumpkin flavor, but they were both still great!
I did notice when I logged on to write this up that I have been posting a lot of not-so-healthy items lately! Don't worry, there have been lots of veggies thrown in between, but I don't think anybody wants to see my mixed greens and chopped peppers... but I will admit that the first bite I put in my mouth this morning was a Frito left over from last night's get together, and the second bite was a sample of this caramel icing. I sampled ONE roll and promptly left for a sweaty treadmill session....only make these if you have a place to take them!!
I thought I dreamed up this recipe..I was sitting there one night and said to Norris..Oh my gosh, how good would pumpkin cinnamon rolls be??? I was thinking of my flavor combinations for about 24 hours when I decided I should check out Google, and of course, there were already a thousand recipes for them. So, why reinvent the wheel? I decided to try the one from food.com that had great reviews. It gives approximated amounts, so I'll give you the amount I used. I feel that the pumpkin in the dough just made it even softer, which was awesome. I could not decide on my icing flavor and bounced ideas off a couple of friends. I decided to make both cream cheese icing and a caramel icing (for comparison's sake, of course!!). I liked them both! "Dilemma" unsolved!
Next step is finding a pumpkin cinnamon roll that has an even stronger pumpkin flavor! If you have a suggestion, please shoot it my way!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

Serves:12

1/3 cup milk

2 tbsp butter

1/2 cup mashed pumpkin

2 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg, beaten

2 1/4 tsp dry yeast

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup bread flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/2 cup raisins

2 tbsp softened butter

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tbsp milk

1/4 tsp vanilla

a couple of dashes of salt

1/2 cup confectioner's sugar

In small saucepan, heat milk and 2 tbsp butter until warm and butter is almost melted; remove from heat. In large bowl, combine pumpkin, sugar, salt, and milk mixture. Beat until well combined. Add egg and yeast and mix until combined.

In separate bowl, combine flours. Add half of flour mixture to pumpkin mixture. Beat on low speed for five minutes (instead of kneading..yippeee!!), scraping sides frequently. Add remaining flour mix and mix thouroughly for a very soft dough.

Spray a bowl with cooking spray and place dough into it. Turn dough to coat both sides with spray.

Cover and let rise until doubled (about an hour) OR put in fridge overnight.

Punch down down and turn onto floured surface. Knead a few times for a soft dough, using additional flour as needed. Roll dough into 12x10 rectangle.

Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.

Brush surface of dough with melted butter, then sprinkle with brown sugar/cinnamon mix. Sprinkle raisins on top.

Roll dough and seal seam with a little water on your fingers. Cut into 12 1-inch pieces and place in greased 9x13 pan with a little space in between. Cover and let rise until doubled OR put in fridge overnight.

Bake rolls at 350 for about 22 minutes.

While rolls bake, make icing: In small saucepan, melt butter. Stir in brown sugar and milk and cook over medium low heat for one minute. Transfer to mixing bowl and allow to cool. Once cooled, stir in vanilla, salt, and confectioner's sugar. Beat until well blended.

Cool rolls for about 10 minutes, then drizzle with caramel icing.

Oh, and have you made these yet?? I made them again with raspberry and strawberry and a thinned cream cheese icing and they're just as great! I should have planned and had enough powdered sugar to make the lemon glaze, but this was pretty great too!!

Pretzel Bites

These pretzel bites were awesome!! Perfect for a day of football and appetizers--we all loved them. They are also from Pennies on a Platter. She also has a version filled with ham and cheese, which sounds like something you can't possibly go wrong with!
They are even easy to make! It's a yeasted dough, but there isn't any kneading required. I made the dough the night before, refrigerated it overnight, then rolled, cut, boiled, and baked the morning of. They reheated perfectly, too. Norris wanted some ballpark/concession stand cheese, so I put that in the middle, and they were gone in no time! The only thing I would change for next time (and there will be a next time!) is brushing a little less butter on them. I melted the 1/4 cup called for, and used about 3 Tbsp total, and feel like I should have used more like 2 Tbsp total. I didn't have pretzel salt, so I used sea salt, and it did the same trick.

Pretzel Bites

(I followed her directions exactly, so I'm just linking you!)