Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

It's be forever since I've had a new post because I don't have a kitchen. Well lucky for you, the other day my friend Alison and I made the best cinnamon rolls I've ever tasted. Think fall in the form of cinnamon rolls. It was awesome!

Sooooo good. Fall is my favorite season and these cinnamon rolls were the perfect kick off for it, especially since fall food is the best. The flavors and spices that go along with a lot of stereotypical fall foods just make me so happy inside. Fall food just has a warm and comforting taste that reminds me of home. So I hope you enjoy these! They are a little bit time consuming but I promise they're worth it!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients:
for rolls:

• 1 cup warm water
• 2 tablespoons yeast
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt

for filling:

• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 2/3 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar

for icing:

• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons milk

Cooking Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl add warm water, yeast, sugar, and oil and stir together.  Allow to set for 3 to 5 minutes or until bubbles start to form.  Stir in egg and pumpkin.  Add 2 cups of flour and combine. Add salt and 1 cup of flour.  Stir until a soft dough forms and starts to pull away from sides of bowl. Add additional flour if needed.

Pour dough onto a floured surface and knead for 5 minutes, adding flour as needed until dough is soft and smooth but no longer sticky.  Allow dough to rest about 5 minutes. Roll out to a rectangle shape about 12 x 15 inches.

In a medium size bowl mix butter and pumpkin puree together until smooth.  Stir in cinnamon and nutmeg.  Spoon filling over dough and spread into a thin, even layer.  Sprinkle brown and white sugars evenly over dough.  Starting from a long side, carefully roll up dough, pinching the edges to seal.

Using a sharp knife (I like to use my bread knife) cut into 1 1/2 inch slices.  Place onto a greased cake pan, pie plate or other baking dish.

Bake for 25 minutes or until rolls are cooked through and lightly browned.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix cream cheese, butter and powdered sugar together.  Stir in vanilla and milk, mixing until smooth.  Pour over warm cinnamon rolls, gently spreading to cover the rolls.

My recommendation is to eat these warm out of the oven...but it's totally up to you.

Peach Cobbler

If you really know me then you know that there is one dessert I will never ever turn down. This amazing dessert is cobbler. It's like pie but so much better! I'm not a big fan of berry cobblers...I mainly stick to apple and peach cobbler. Simple and delicious!

I bought the new Cook This, Not That by David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding and found a recipe for apple cobbler in the dessert section. I didn't have granny smith apples so I substituted peaches for the apples. Such a good choice.

I really like this recipe because it's a healthier version than most cobbler recipes. One day I'll have to post my mom's cake mix cobbler...BEST THING EVER. But anyways, Enjoy!

Peach Cobbler

2 peaches
1/2 cup apple juice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
4 Tbs brown sugar
1 cup rolled oats
2 Tbs butter, chopped

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Peel and dice your peaches. Place them in a bowl and add the apple juice, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/8 tsp cinnamon and 2 Tbs brown sugar. In a separate bowl, combine the oats, remaining cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar. Mix in the butter with your hands until the mixture is in little clumps. Take 2-4 (depending on how big you want your serving sizes to be) ceramic dishes and divide up the peach mixture. Evenly distribute the oats mixture over the peaches. Place in the oven for 25 minutes. When done, the peaches should be bubbling and the oats slightly brown.

Cream Puffs

These past two days, I was in McPherson visiting my grandparents on my mom's side. Usually we go to Galva to get the most amazing cream puffs I've ever had. They're about the size of a softball, filled with your choice of filling flavor (chocolate, vanilla, peanut butter or hazelnut) and they are so delicious! Sadly, my Grandma told me that they were closed but instead we would make our own.

I eagerly accepted the challenge and we started making them. My conclusion: cream puffs are weird. They have a weird process or at least this recipe does because it's an older recipe. The dough also had a really weird consistency but it's turns out tasting pretty good!

Our cream puffs didn't peak up like they should but they still tasted delicious. The pudding was my favorite part! I kept adding more and more to my cream puff.

I recommend trying them because they are a scrumptious little challenge! Enjoy!

Cream Puffs

Pastry:
1 cup hot water
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups flour
5 eggs

Preheat oven to 375. Heat the water and butter on the stove until the water boils. Add the flour and mix thoroughly; cook for 5 minutes. When cool, whisk in the eggs, unbeaten, one at a time. Drop by tablespoonfuls on buttered baking sheets. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Cream filling:
2/3 cup flour
1 1/2 cup sugar
3/4 tbs butter
3 cups scalded milk
3 eggs
Dash of salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix the flour and sugar together. Microwave the milk for 4-5 minutes on high. Slowly add the hot milk. Pour the mixture into a double boiler and cook for 20 minutes, continuously stir for the entire time. Remove from the heat and add beaten eggs and butter to the flour and milk mixture. Return to the stove and cook over water for 5 more minutes; continue to stir. Add vanilla and salt.

Wait until the pudding is cool, then spoon it into a Ziplock bag. Close the bag and cut a tiny hole in one of the corners of the bag. Cut the pastries in half and, if needed, use the knife to hollow out the pastry. Pipe the pudding into the pastry and enjoy!

Apple Pie

Happy 4th of July!

Goal of my life = make an apple pie. Today is the day that I accomplish the impossible. I figured it was suitable - celebrate America's independence which was thought to be impossible and make an apple pie which in my mind is impossible.

I've made ONE pie before but technically it was a crumble. Nevertheless, I made a pie crust and it turned out delicious (I'll post the recipe once I can get a hold of it). My Grandma Ediger always told me that pies were very difficult to make and that she usually bought instead of made - I think it was her that instilled this fear of pie baking in me. I always wondered why it was so difficult...I mean you make a round circle of dough, place it in a pie pan, toss some fruit in it and BAM! you have a pie. Right?

WRONG.

Pies are so hard! Not the actual making the dough or fruit part but the construction! I am a Food Network fiend so I've received many tips on how to properly place the dough in the pie tin: you roll it up on a rolling pin and then roll it into the pie tin. Easier said than done. I had troubles just rolling it on the rolling pin because it was sticking to the pie sheet. Then when I went to lay it in the pie tin, it was slightly off-centered so I had to take excess pieces and squish it into places that needed more crust.

I'm not sure if I saved myself much trouble by places stars on top instead of doing a lattice or full top.  My grandma didn't have a star cookie cutter so I had to cut out my stars by hand. But it ended up looking good!

I hope this doesn't discourage you from making a pie. Think of it as a forewarning of what you're getting yourself into. I do recommend trying it one day, though! I got the greatest rush of accomplishment when I took my first bite and it was amazingly delicious. And it looked so pretty! Enjoy!

Apple Pie

Pie Dough
1 1/4 cup flour
1 tbs sugar
1/4 tsp salt
8 tbs unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3 tbs very cold water

Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Add in the butter pieces and mix on medium-low to cut the butter into the flour; the mixture should look like coarse sand and the butter pieces should be no bigger than peas. Mix in the cold water on low speed until the dough comes together.

Shape the dough into a ball, wrap with saran wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Take out of the refrigerator. Take half of the dough and place it on a floured surface and roll it into a circle. Roll the dough onto a rolling pin then roll it into the pie tin.

Filling
8 cups sliced apples (I used Granny Smith)
1/4 cup flour
2/3 cup white sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
dash of salt

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Mix all the ingredients together and let them sit for a few minutes.

Pour the apples in the pie crust. Roll out the rest of the pie dough and create whatever crust you want - I used a cookie cutter and cut out stars. Place the dough on top (if you do a solid top, make sure to cut slits into it). Wrap the edges of the pie with aluminum foil to prevent burning.

Bake the pie for 40-50 minutes or until the crust is browned and the filling is bubbling. **Make sure to remove the aluminum foil for the last 15 minutes.

Serve warm or cold. With or without ice cream. Either way is delicious!