Cranberry Cinnamon Pinwheel Cookies

I always want to incorporate fresh cranberries into my holiday baking somehow. I usually find a bar cookie that contains fresh cranberries and this year I was hoping to find something a little bit different. I saw a link for these Cranberry Cinnamon Pinwheels on Pinterest and I knew that they would be made for the holidays.

First you make a fresh cranberry filling that contains a little sugar and some cinnamon. You have to set that aside and let it cool completely. The filling is spread over a basic cookie dough, flavored with cinnamon and then the dough+filling are rolled up cinnamon roll style. The dough has to be frozen and for good reason. I wouldn't want to try slicing these when the filling is gooey. The freezer time makes these cookies easy to slice and bake.

I haven't been eating sweets for a couple of months, but I tried one of these and thought they were really good. I was surprised that my kids really liked them too. They aren't very sweet, but they have just enough sweetness to be a great cookie. The cranberry filling is tart and delicious and the cinnamon in the dough and filling really brings it all together. Plus, they look festive and are fun to share!

Here is the link for Cranberry Cinnamon Pinwheels

Pumpkin Spice Cinnamon Roll Cookies

I've made Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls in the past and also tried Cinnamon Bun Cookies, so when I saw a recipe that combined those 2 ideas, I had to give it a try. I made a few changes to the recipe that I found and made these very delicious, unique cookies.

The dough is mixed together like a typical cookie dough, but it is rolled out like you would cinnamon rolls. A cinnamon-sugar mixture is sprinkled over the dough and then it is rolled up and chilled. I actually made the dough on a Tuesday afternoon and didn't have time to slice and bake the cookies until Friday morning. I had rolled the dough out on parchment paper, so once I had it filled with the cinnamon sugar and rolled up- I wrapped it in the parchment and kept it in the fridge for a couple of days.

The amazing part about these cookies is that they actually taste like a cinnamon roll and have the texture of both a cookie and a cinnamon roll. I was really quite surprised when I bit into one and it had such an amazing, interesting texture. I was able to share these cookies with quite a few people and many others had the same reaction and look of surprise when they bit into these cookies. These cookies are the perfect fall treat and a wonderful cookie to share with friends!

Pumpkin Spice Cinnamon Roll Cookies adapted from this post
who adapted from Dine and Dish

Yield: 3 dozen

Filling:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1Tbls ground cinnamon

Dough:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups all- purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4-1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
dash of ground cloves

For the glaze:
2 Tbls butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1-3 Tbls hot water

Cream together butter and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl, until light and fluffy. Add egg, pumpkin, and vanilla and beat until well incorporated. While this is beating, combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk together. Add dry ingredients to the butter mixture in several additions and mix until everything is combined.

In a small bowl, stir together the filling (sugar and cinnamon) until well mixed. Turn out dough onto parchment paper and spread or roll out into a large rectangle. Sprinkle the filling mixture over the dough, leaving about an inch around the edge. Roll up the dough jelly-roll style, using the parchment paper to help. If the dough starts to break as you're rolling, don't worry, just pinch it back together. Wrap and refrigerate for a few hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove dough from refrigerator, unwrap from plastic and cut into 1/4" thick slices. Place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet or baking stone, 1-2" apart. Bake in preheated oven 9-11 min, until just beginning to brown around the edges or until just set. Cool a few minutes on the cookie sheet and then transfer to a wire rack.

Once cookies have cooled, make the glaze by using an electric mixer to mix the butter, powdered sugar and vanilla. Add hot water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the glaze has reached desired consistency.

Place glaze in a ziploc bag, cut a small hole in the corner, and pipe glaze onto cookies, following the swirl of the cookie. Allow to set.

Cinnamon Roll Muffins

My daughter requested cinnamon rolls for breakfast on the first day of school. For some reason, when it comes to cinnamon rolls, I am always looking for some sort of shortcut. A few years ago, I found these cinnamon biscuits and they were fabulous. I still make them, but decided to find something new for this year.

I did some sort of search and found these cinnamon roll muffins. They were perfect! The process is easy. Mix up the dough, roll it out, spread the filling, roll it up, slice, bake and serve! I love that the dough uses buttermilk because I always have low-fat buttermilk in my fridge. These were such a fun way to start the first day of school and everyone loved them!

Here is the recipe for Cinnamon Roll Muffins
* I used low-fat buttermilk

Lighter Everyday Cinnamon Rolls

Cinnamon rolls are a once in a blue moon treat for us around here.
Mostly because I think the work required is not really equal to the result. I do not mind a cinnamon roll every once in awhile but they aren't a favorite of mine.

I decided to give these particular cinnamon rolls a chance because they were both quicker and healthier, well, if a cinnamon roll can really be healthy in any way, shape or form. You know what I'm getting at.

This recipe is actually the first recipe that I have tried from The America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook and if this recipe is any telling of what the rest of this book has to offer, then I can't wait to get busy cooking and baking from it.

We could all tell that these weren't as decadent as a normal cinnamon roll, but they still had great flavor and the texture was just as good. Plus, they were ready in a fraction of the time. I mixed up the dough and right after that I rolled it out, filled it up and popped these in the oven.

My son was so excited that these were called "Everyday" cinnamon rolls because he figured that meant I could easily make them on a school morning. It is a possibility!
Recipe for Lighter Everyday Cinnamon Rolls
* using a bench scraper is essential so you can get this dough to roll up- it is very sticky and soft, but it is possible if you follow the directions
* I used low-fat buttermilk

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

My daughter wanted cinnamon roll pancakes for her birthday a couple of weeks ago. I had never heard of them, but I figured some one out there had attempted something of the sort, so I researched until I developed a plan for making the cinnamon roll pancakes happen.

I ended up using a buttermilk pancake recipe that I have used before and then just used the filling from a cinnamon roll pancake recipe I found.
I poured enough batter to make a pancake and then drizzled the filling around to make it look like a cinnamon roll (kind of).
I made a simple icing and there you have it- Cinnamon Roll Pancakes.
My daughter loved it and everyone else in my family was pretty happy about it too.



I saw the idea Here
and used the cinnamon filling recipe from that post.

1/2 stick butter, very soft
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 Tbls cinnamon

Warm this mixture up in the microwave in 3-4 second intervals, until it reaches a pourable consistency- you don't want it completely melted, but if it is too thick, it won't work either.
I transferred it to a plastic container with a small tip, so I could make circles in the pancakes.

* note- the cinnamon filling will thicken as it cools, so you might have to rewarm it in the microwave as you go, in order to get it drizzle correctly.

I used this buttermilk pancake recipe from Cooking Light

for the icing, I just combined powdered sugar with skim milk until it was the perfect consistency for drizzling over the pancakes.

TWD Rewind- Mini Brown Sugar-Apple Cheesecakes

This week we were given the chance to go back and make any Tuesday's with Dorie recipe that we wanted. I made the Brown Sugar-Apple Cheesecake, but in mini form for a dinner party.

This recipe was the 6th recipe chosen for Tuesday's with Dorie, back in February 2008. It is a wonderful, light cheesecake, flavored with brown sugar & cinnamon which also has apples that are sauteed in butter and brown sugar layered in between the cheesecake.

This cheesecake was amazing. Flavor, texture- everything.
I topped the mini's with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream and they were enjoyed by everyone.

Go check out what everyone else picked to make for this week's Tuesday's with Dorie rewind!


You can find the recipe in many places, like HERE on The Way the Cookie Crumbles

Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes

These are the perfect little treat. They combine a yummy graham cracker crust and a creamy pumpkin cheesecake filling. I found the recipe on Pinch My Salt and it was a real winner.
These were 1 of 4 mini treats I made for a recent fall dinner. Two of the desserts were pumpkin based and two were apple.
I have a mini cheesecake pan but couldn't find it, so I just used a normal muffin tin and baked these up in paper liners.

These mix up fast and the crust isn't prebaked. The crust is baked along with the filling and they are done in about 15-20 minutes.
Can you beat that? Cheesecake in such a short amount of time?

These are topped with cinnamon whipped cream.
You can't really feel guilty about a mini serving of delicious cheesecake.
These were just perfect.


Recipe for Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes
from Pinch My Salt

* I used a normal sized muffin tin instead of a mini cheesecake pan and increased the baking time by a few minutes

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

I haven't participated in Martha Stewart's Cupcakes Club for many months, but I wanted to make cupcakes the other day and the choice for this month seemed perfect- Snickerdoodle Cupcakes.

You can find the recipe HERE.

I made 1/4 of the cupcake recipe and ended up with 6 cupcakes. I made 1/2 of the 7 minute frosting recipe and got to use some of the egg whites that have been hanging out in my freezer.
I thought the meringue-like frosting was perfect for these cinnamon-y, but not too sweet cupcakes. My kids loved this combination and so did my husband. I had extra frosting, so I piped it onto a plate in little shapes ( it didn't take long for little fingers to find these little mounds).

You can find these cupcakes all over the internet with lots of different frosting choices- I have seen them with cinnamon cream cheese frosting and different types of buttercream, but I think that the 7 minute frosting compliments them perfectly. Of course, if you don't like meringue or marshmallows, you would probably want to choose a different frosting option.

To see who else made this month's cupcake, go to MS: Cupcake's Club!

TWD-Chocolate Oatmeal Almost-Candy Bars

This weeks TWD recipe, Chocolate Oatmeal Almost-Candy Bars, was chosen by Lillian who blogs at Confectiona's Realm. You can find the recipe on her blog.

These bars are like a really thick oatmeal cookie batter, with a chocolate-y layer on top and then more of the cookie batter scattered on top of the chocolate. I made the recipe as is. I kept the peanuts in both the cookie batter and the chocolate layer, the raisins in the chocolate layer, and the cinnamon in the cookie batter. These are just some of the things that other people were talking about leaving out or subbing with something else.

Luckily, I had a lunch that I was scheduled to bring cookies to, and these were all given away.

We did sample one tiny slice, because after these are chilled in the fridge, it is possible to slice off 1/16th-inch slices, and it was a sugary, chocolately, peanutty, cookie delight.
Tasted good and I am pretty sure almost anyone would be a fan of these.

Check out the TWD Blogroll to see what everyone else did with these bars. Did they leave the raisins out? Swap out the nuts with something else? Go and see!

Spiced Pumpkin Soup

You probably thought I was done with pumpkin. I think this is the last one.

My sister sent me the link to this recipe and told me that she had made it, but that she left out the banana because she didn't know how that would affect the taste. Yes, this soup recipe has you saute chopped banana along with the onion, carrot, and celery when you start out making the soup.
She said she absolutely loved the soup but was curious if the banana made a difference.
I decided to give the soup a try.
I cut the recipe in half and made it with the banana. The only thing I changed was that I started the whole thing out with canola oil instead of butter.
I try to avoid butter in cooking whenever I can and just use canola or olive oil instead.

This soup definitely has some very interesting ingredients. Besides the obvious- pumpkin and spices, there is the banana, coconut milk, condensed milk, chicken broth, curry powder, cinnamon, sage, allspice, nutmeg, coriander, bay leaf, etc. I mean, this soup really has it all.
It is really interesting how all those flavors and spices melded together to make a delicious soup!
This is definitely an adventure in the making and the tasting.

My son was not a fan of this soup. He said it tasted like pumpkin pie with vegetables. I had to laugh at his comment because some of the flavors and spices were there, but I didn't exactly agree with him. I thought it was delicious.


Recipe for Spiced Pumpkin Soup

Cinnamon Bun Cookies

A couple of my blogging/twitter friends started Secret Baker. Basically, a bunch of us bake and then send treats to our "secret" person, once a month.
This month I got these Cinnamon Bun Cookies. So, I didn't make them, but I took a picture of them because Margaret is going to post a round-up of all the goods that were received.
These were just so yummy, I thought I would give you the link, even though I didn't make them myself. They would be a great addition to a holiday treat plate!

Thanks to Whitney of Nosh and Tell who sent these to me!

The post on Nosh and Tell about these cookies.

Recipe for Cinnamon Bun Cookies

TWD- Cafe Volcano Cookies

This week's Tuesday's with Dorie recipe is Cafe Volcano Cookies. These cookies were chosen by MacDuff and you can find the recipe by going to her blog, The Lonely Sidecar.

What is a Cafe Volcano Cookie? Well, that is a really good question. I guess it is a nut mixture/meringue, although when I was making these I really believed they would not turn into anything edible.
This is the easiest cookie ever.
You toast some nuts. I used sliced almonds and chopped pecans.
Once those are toasted you combine them in a saucepan with egg whites and sugar. And in my case cinnamon, because I don't drink or use coffee and so there is no espresso powder in my house and there never will be.
You let the ingredients get warm and then you drop that syrupy/nutty/sugary mixture onto a baking sheet covered with parchment.

At this point, I figured I had done something wrong because it looked like I was just dropping blobs of wet nuts on my baking sheet. Which is what I was doing.
But, I had followed the recipe, so I popped them in the oven and waited for some miracle.

They did puff a little and turned into a cookie shape, so I figured that must be what they were supposed to look like.
I tried a piece of one and they tasted like spiced nuts.
I sent these along with the other Christmas goodies I made in the mail to my family members in different states.
One of my sisters said these were one of the best cookies of the bunch.

Go check out the TWD Blogroll to see what other bakers thought of this weeks recipe!

Spice-rubbed Pork Loin with Acorn Squash

(The MSC Bonus Cupcake post is below this one)

I am not usually excited about making recipes that have a big piece of meat as the star of the show, but for some reason this pork loin and squash recipe really caught my eye. I saw it in the November issue of Everyday Food and both parts look amazing. The caramelized squash just looked so delicious and the spice combination sounded perfect for the pork.
I used a smaller pork loin than the recipe called for and for that reason, did away with one of the steps, which I noted in the recipe below.

The squash was so tender and delicious, it was simply amazing. The best acorn squash I have ever had.
The pork was an absolute hit. My hubby declared it the best meat he has ever tasted and my kids went crazy for it. The perfect combination.
Plus, I had enough pork and squash leftovers to make 2 other meals later in the week. That was even better.
You must try this recipe, I promise you will love it.

Spice-rubbed Pork Loin with Acorn Squash from Everyday Food November 2009

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ancho chile powder or other single chile powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 pounds acorn squash, seeded and cut into 1-inch-thick wedges
• 1 boneless pork loin (3 pounds), tied (I used a 1.5 pd pork loin, not tied)
  
• Coarse salt and ground pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425. In a large bowl, stir together 3 tablespoons oil, sugar, chile powder, cinnamon, cumin, and 2 tablespoons water. Add squash and toss to coat. Set aside.
2. Generously season pork with salt and pepper.( Heat a cast-iron skillet or other heavy pan over high. Add 1 tablespoon oil and swirl to coat. Cook pork on all sides until deep golden brown, about 10 minutes total. Place pork on a rimmed baking sheet; pour oil from skillet onto sheet and spread evenly. I skipped this step because my pork loin was smaller and I knew it wouldn't take as long to cook in the oven. I just added a little oil to the sugar mixture that I used on the squash)
3. Arrange squash around pork. Brush pork with sugar mixture from bowl. Bake until pork is cooked through (an instant-read thermometer inserted in center should register 135 degrees), 40 to 45 minutes, brushing meat with sugar mixture and turning squash every 15 minutes. Tent pork with foil and let rest 10 minutes before slicing.

MSC Bonus- Applesauce Spice Cupcakes

I decided to do the Bonus recipe for MSC (Martha Stewart's Cupcakes Club) yesterday morning. I made 1/4 of the recipe and I got 6 cupcakes.
I would have to say these turned out more like muffins because I decided to use whole wheat flour and they already had applesauce in them.
I upped the spices and instead of adding toasted pecans at the end to the batter, I decided to add gingersnap cookie crumbs that were leftover from the Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake that I made for Thanksgiving.
I also skipped the frosting because I was going for a muffin type breakfast item. I just dusted them with a little bit of powdered sugar.
My sister was very happy about these cupcake/muffins and they did seem a healthier than a normal cupcake.

To see who else made this month's bonus cupcake, check out the MSC Blog. You can find the recipe on page 55 of Martha Stewart's Cupcakes or here, where they are called muffins :)

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Maple Cinnamon Sage Brown Butter

I had to get to this last Thanksgiving side dish today- Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Maple Cinnamon Sage Brown Butter.
I never watch tv, especially during the day. For some odd reason, one day my kids wanted to watch something and I flipped by the Food Network. I saw that Giada was making some side dishes for Thanksgiving and we decided to watch for a little bit.
I saw her whip up this gnocchi and I was astonished because it really seemed like it took her a few minutes to get it ready. I realize that since it was tv, they edited out some of the steps, but it really didn't take long.
My kids told me they wanted me to make this gnocchi.

I had some sweet potato puree left from when I roasted sweet potatoes awhile ago and I had recently defrosted it for the Candied Sweet Potato Cupcakes. I didn't use all of the sweet potato puree for the cupcakes and I thought this would be a great way to use up the sweet potato puree I had left.
It really wasn't too difficult to mix the gnocchi together. You just add whole milk ricotta, cinnamon, salt and pepper to the sweet potato puree. Then you add flour, a little bit at a time, until you get the right consistency. That was the hardest part for me, is knowing when the gnocchi dough was the ready. I didn't want to add too much flour, but also didn't want to add too little. I am sure this is something you learn the more you make gnocchi.
The next step is dividing the dough and rolling it out into a long, snake-like rope. When I saw Giada do this, I couldn't help but think about play-doh. Then you have to shape the gnocchi.
My first batch were too big and wide, they tasted good, but looked horrible.
The second batch were the right size, but I cooked them too long, so they were mushy.
Finally, on the third batch I got it right. The shape was ok- not too big and not too small, and I cooked them just the right amount of time.
So, my analysis is, that they more you make gnocchi, the easier it becomes.

The sauce, is butter, which you brown and then you add whole sage leaves, cinnamon and pure maple syrup.

I wasn't really expecting my kids to like this dish. I made it purely out of curiousity for myself, well, and partly because my kids said they wanted me to make it, but they say that about almost everything.
I guess since my kids saw the tv episode where Giada made this, they were very interested in trying it.
They all loved it. I barely even got to have any, because they were scarfing it down.
I think this would be a really good way to serve sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving, with a twist.
Fairly quick and delicious.

Recipe for Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Maple Cinnamon Sage Brown Butter

Spiced Pumpkin Doughnuts

Let me just start out this post by saying that I do not enjoy frying foods at home. I rarely ever do it. And even when I do fry things, I use just a tiny bit of oil.
I saw these Spiced Pumpkin Donuts in, (surprise!), a holiday baking magazine and loved the fact that the dough was very simple to mix together- there was no yeast involved, and was interested in a pumpkin flavored donut.

I mixed up the donut dough/batter the night before I wanted to fry the donuts because it had to rest for at least 3 hours in the fridge, so I figured why not overnight?
I decided to make them on a school morning, so I had to get up a little earlier than usual to get them done. It was the day that I was taking my mom back to the airport. It also happened to be my son's teacher's birthday. He wanted to take her something, so he ended up bringing her a warm donut.
These donuts couldn't be easier. (Sorry the picture above is so blurry! My camera was dying and I was hurrying to get to the airport)
Like I mentioned before, you mix up the no-yeast-involved dough and let it rest in the fridge for couple of hours. Then you roll out the dough, but it into donut shapes and fry them for a few minutes on each side. Then they are rolled in a spiced sugar mixture.
I let my kids each have one, my son took one to school for his teacher and my hubby took the leftovers to work. The flavor was good and the spiced sugar was really tasty on these donuts.

When I went to fry them, I only had a tiny bit of canola oil, so I barely had enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan I was using. I was scared that the donuts wouldn't puff up or cook because I didn't have enough oil, but they still came out just right.

If you have a special occasion over the holidays or want to make a special breakfast, these donuts would be a perfect addition!

Recipe for Spiced Pumpkin Doughnuts

Pumpkin Pie Snickerdoodle Bars

These taste so much better than they look in this picture. I was too eager to photo them and cut them before they had cooled completely.
I saw this recipe for Pumpkin Pie Snickerdoodle Bars on Megan's Cooking, a couple of weeks ago and put them on my baking list. I love pumpkin and I am not sick of it yet. I didn't know when I would bake them, and when my mom was here she talked me into it.
Basically this is a thick layer of cookie dough that is topped with a pumpkin pie type filling and then a cinnamon-sugar layer is sprinkled on top. So kind of a twist on pumpkin pie.
I made 1/2 a recipe in a 8x8-inch pan.
My kids loved them. My mom loved them. We each had a small slice and then I packed them up and put them in the fridge. I made my hubby take them to work the next day. They were a hit.
I think these would be a great addition to a Thanksgiving dessert menu, still nice and pumpkin-y but a little bit different.
Megan had a white chocolate drizzle on her bars, which made them a bit cuter, but I didn't have any, so I left it off.
Delish!

Recipe for Pumpkin Pie Snickerdoodle Bars

Pumpkin Pie Snickerdoodle Bars

Recipe by Julia, author Of Dozen Flours

Snickerdoodle Layer

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup butter, at room temperature
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla

Pumpkin Pie Layer

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup white sugar
1 stick butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin

Topping

2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Drizzle

1 oz white chocolate, chopped
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9×13 inch pan and lay a piece of parchment paper across the pan, so that it extends the pan slightly. The parchment paper is an optional step, but it will make it easier to get the bars out later

To make snickerdoodle layer:

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. In large bowl, beat together butter, sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth.
Stir in the flour mixture until well blended. Spread evenly in prepared pan (mixture will be thick and cookiebatter-ish.)

To make pumpkin pie filling:

In a mixer bowl (you can use the same one you used to make the snickerdoodle batter) with a paddle attachment, mix together butter and sugar. A dd the rest of the ingredients and mix until well combined. This layer will be less thick and more pourable. Pour over the snickerdoodle layer, smoothing out the top.
Combine white sugar and cinnamon in a little bowl. Evenly sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture over the top of the batter.
Bake for 33-40 minutes (maybe more depending on your oven) or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan comes out clean. Let the bars cool completely (about an hour). They will deflate a bit and remain a bit pie-like on the top layer. The bars that are closer to the edges of the pan will be more firm.
After the bars are completely cool, place the chopped white chocolate into a bowl or zip-lock bag and melt on low power. When it’s completely melted, add the pumpkin pie spice and mix (or knead if using a zip lock bag). Use a spoon or cut a small corner off the bag and drizzle the melted chocolate over the top of the bars and let it cool and harden.
Use the parchment paper to lift the bars out of the pan. Place on a cutting board and cut into bars. Store in a covered container.