cinnamon

King Cake Donuts (aka Mini King Cakes)

February 9, 2018

I had never even heard of King Cake until I went college. If you live on the West coast and have never been remotely near the South during Mardi Gras, you may not have either.

Everything I know about King Cake I learned from my college roommate who was from Louisiana. For her first Mardi Gras, her mom sent her a King Cake all the way from Baton Rouge. From that point on, I knew you can’t celebrate Mardi Gras without one of these cakes.

Although, I wouldn’t classify it as a cake. It’s a light enriched dough that is filled with a cinnamon-sugar filling formed into a giant ring. Sound familiar? It’s almost like a giant cinnamon roll formed into a donut.

Which sounds to me like it’s just begging to be made into a mini King Cake donuts!

How to Make Them

I made this super handy video of me making these King Cake Donuts so that I wouldn’t drown you in the wordy explanation of the process. It’s so much easier to watch!

Things to Know

Even though I didn’t want to inundate you with words, there are a couple things that are important to know about making these donuts.

The Yeast

The first step to making these King Cakes is to make the dough. And like most bread doughs, this one starts with yeast.

Yeast can be a little tricky if you aren’t familiar with it. So here are three things I want you to remember about yeast:

It is a living thing, so it can go bad very quickly. Make sure your yeast is fresh by keeping it in the freezer and abiding by the expiration dates.
It also loves sugar! Always add sugar to your yeast so that it has something to feed off of which creates that foaminess.
But it doesn’t do well in heat. When you mix together your liquid, sugar, and yeast, your liquid should lukewarm and never be more than 110 degrees F.

Got it?

Ideally, after 10 minutes, your yeast should have “bloomed” and look something like this:

See how nice and fluffy? If it doesn’t look like this either your yeast is bad or the liquid was too hot. But there is no need to fret, just try it again!

The Dough

Once you mix the yeast with all the other dough ingredients, you will have a very loose shaggy dough like you saw in the video. While you can let your stand mixer to the work and knead in the dough, sometimes it’s very therapeutic to knead the dough by hand.

You will know the dough is ready when it forms a ball and no longer sticks to your hands or the counter.

Let the dough rise in an oiled bowl covered with a bit of plastic wrap and place in a warm spot. If it’s cold in your neck of the woods, it may take longer for the dough to rise.

You can use my favorite trick when I am in a hurry and want my dough to rise faster.

Turn your oven on to it’s lowest temperature (ideally less than 200 degrees F). Once it’s up to temperature, turn the oven off and place your bowl of dough in there to rise. It will have doubled in size in no time!

The Cakes

Once you are ready to make your individual cakes, you have a couple of choices. You can make one big King Cake or you can make the donut version. If you choose to make the King Cake donuts it does not mean you need a donut pan. It just helps them keep their shape.

You can easily form them into small rings and place them on a baking sheet as is.

And now you know everything you need to know to make perfect and delicious King Cake donuts (or a full-size King Cake if you so choose!). Remember, you can’t celebrate Mardi Gras without them!

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Easy Mulled Wine Recipe

December 24, 2017

Christmas is just a few short hours away, which means that hopefully, you have done all of your holiday shopping, you have your holiday outfit picked out, and you are already enjoying time with your family.

If you answered no to the first two, I am not sure how much I can help with that. But if its spending time with your family you are worried about, I have just the trick: mulled wine!

Mulled wine is the perfect holiday drink for those who are not into eggnog. First of all, it’s wine. Who doesn’t need a little wine when hanging out with the fam? Also, it’s a warm drink which is great for these cold winter days. Lastly, it’s actually really easy to make! Of course, that is key when you are running around the day before Christmas trying to tie up any loose ends.

Mulled wine gets its flavor from oranges and some classic Christmas spices. Mainly, clove, cinnamon, and cardamom.

First, bring water, sugar, and the orange peel to a boil to get all those flavors out of the orange zest. Then add the spices. Hopefully, you already have some whole spices on hand (if not, you may need to make a quick trip to the store). Let the spices get all cozy with the orange zest, then turn down the heat before adding in the wine.

It is very important that you don’t boil the wine.

I repeat, DON’T BOIL THE WINE!

If you boil the wine, all of the alcohol will cook out of the wine, which is the opposite of what you want to happen.

After about 15 minutes, remove the spices from the wine. Now it’s ready to serve.

I like to add some orange slices to the wine to add a little more orange flavor.

For those who haven’t had mulled wine before, it reminds me a lot of sangria with a little extra spice. It delicious, trust me.

And it’s perfect for holiday parties, family gatherings, or when you can’t decide between a warm drink and wine. With mulled wine, you can have both!

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Apple Pie Overnight Oats

October 16, 2017

Breakfast is definitely my favorite meal of the day. Not only does it get my day started off on the right foot, it is also the only meal where it is socially acceptable to eat sweets. (Think about it, muffins are just breakfast cupcakes and pancakes are literally pan cakes!) While I will happily take full advantage of the pancake/waffle section of any brunch menu on the weekends, during the week I do try to be a bit healthier in my breakfast choices while still satisfying my 24/7 sweet tooth.

Which is why I love this new(ish) overnight oat trend! It takes a good ol’ breakfast standby (oatmeal) and turns it into something that could almost be dessert. Or in the case of these apple pie overnight oats, it takes a favorite dessert and turns it into a respectable breakfast.

I should say, a very respectable breakfast. To make these apple pie overnight oats, I didn’t use a single gram of sugar. I did use honey and maple syrup to sweeten it up a tad, but if you are watching your glucose intake, you could cut them out completely.

First, I mixed together the applesauce and the apple pie spice in the bottom of a jar. Then I poured in the milk. In this case, I used unsweetened almond milk, but you can use whichever milk product you prefer. Lastly, I poured in the oats and mixed them in with everything else so that everything was evenly distributed.

I popped the jars into the fridge so that they would be ready for me in the morning!

The oats are delicious on their own. But to really conjure up that apple pie flavor I made an apple topping that is basically just apple pie filling, minus most of the butter and all of the sugar.

The apples on top also added just a bit more sweetness to the oats which really made me feel like I was eating dessert for breakfast. Except unlike the muffins, pancakes, or waffles I have most weekends, this breakfast is actually pretty dang healthy.

One other benefit of overnight oats that I forgot to mention is that you can make a bunch up ahead of time; then, in the morning you can grab your oats and go! I have found that the oats stay good in the fridge for three or four days. So I make up a couple jars on Sunday night, and I have breakfast planned for the rest of the week!

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Pumpkin Spice Sugar Cookies

October 3, 2017

You just can’t escape it. Everywhere you look, something is flavored pumpkin spice. Coffee, candles, even peanut butter.

Well, friends, if you are looking for some respite from the pumpkin spice overload, this is not the place. Today I am sharing my pumpkin spice sugar cookie recipe that is every bit as good as it sounds! (So good, my mother and law has already requested that her Christmas cookies are pumpkin spice flavored.) It’s my same favorite sugar cookie recipe spiced up with just the right amount of pumpkin spice.

If you have made my sugar cookie recipe (or any cookie recipe for that matter), you know that it starts with butter and sugar.

I like to cream the butter and sugar until it’s light and fluffy. Then I mix in the eggs and vanilla until the eggs are completely incorporated (and emulsified) into the butter.

To the butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla I add in the flour and spices. Of course, most recipes will tell you to mix the flour and other dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. But I like to live life on the edge and just add them straight into the bowl with the other wet ingredients.

For the spices, I used a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and a bit of allspice. Then I mix everything together until it’s just combined! Once the dough is ready, I form it into a disc then wrap it in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge until I am ready to roll out the dough.

I find that rolling out the dough is so much easier when the dough is a bit stiff. The cookies hold their shape much better and are less likely to stick to counter.

To make sure all my cookies are exactly the same thickness, I use these rolling pin bands. I also love this rolling pin!

While the cookies bake, they will fill your kitchen with the most wonderful smell. Think about how great your kitchen smells with you make normal sugar cookies. Then add pumpkin spice!

You don’t even have to decorate them, and I guarantee they will be a hit! But if you would like to decorate them, I will show you how I did it later this week! You can make them simple pumpkins or add some more fun details like burlap, flowers, and leaves. They are the perfect cookies for Fall!

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Cinnamon Roll Bread (Two Ways!)

August 11, 2017

If you subscribe to my newsletter, then you heard me rave about a recipe I tried a couple weeks ago: Kindred’s Milk Bread. Kindred is a restaurant just outside of Charlotte that is amazing on its own. But what makes it even more amazing is the bread they serve when you sit down. Their milk bread is light and airy but also has this butteriness like a croissant or brioche. After making it the first time, I knew I would be making this bread a ton and in a ton of different ways. First on the list: this cinnamon roll bread.

This cinnamon roll bread almost blows the original milk bread out of the water (almost). While the bread is awesome on its own, adding a little cinnamon and sugar never hurt nothin’ (pretty sure that is what should be written on my tombstone).

Not going to lie though, this recipe is a bit of a commitment. Well, most breads are. But this one especially. I can assure you that it completely worth it. It may seem like there are a lot of steps, but it is actually pretty fool proof.

Start by making a slurry of water and flour in a sauce pan over low heat. Stir until the slurry thickens into a paste like consistency. Pour in the cream and honey and stir until the honey has dissolved.

Pour the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer and let it cool for about 5 minutes. Then sprinkle yeast over the mixture and let it bloom, basically it should be really foamy and bubbly.

Add the flour, eggs, milk powder, and salt and mix with the dough hook until it forms a solid ball of dough. 1 tbsp at a time, mix in the butter. It may stubbornly just smear around the side of the bowl, but if you are patient, it will work itself in and form layers of butter within the dough.

Form the dough into a ball and toss it (don’t actually toss) it into a greased bowl. Cover the bowl with some plastic wrap and place the bowl in a warm place to let rise.

The recipe will make enough dough for two loaves of bread, so split the dough in half and loosely wrap one of the halves in plastic wrap and place in the fridge.

With the other half, roll out into a large rectangle. The short side of the rectangle should be as long as your loaf pan. Spread some softened butter over the dough then sprinkle a sugar-cinnamon mixture over top. Starting from one end, roll the dough into a spiral.

Place the dough into the loaf pan and let it rise again. Brush an egg wash over the top so that the crust get’s nice and golden brown. You can see that I split the top of the bread. That is totally unnecessary. I would recommend that you just leave it unsplit…it just looks better that way.

If you don’t want to make a loaf…or if you want to bake the other half of your bread…you can instead make it into a large roll. Instead of rolling the dough from the short end, start rolling from the long end and make a really long log. Then you can roll it into a spiral and pop it into a cake pan. Then let it rise and give it a good egg wash.

Since I made both halves of the dough (because you can never have enough bread) I decided to mix things up and glaze the round loaf with a simple icing with butter, milk, and powdered sugar. Holy cow…it was like eating an oversized cinnamon roll. By that I mean amazing!

But really this bread is perfect all on its own or just with a tiny spread of butter. There is no wrong way to eat this bread.

Seriously, it’s so good. I will be making this bread again and again. It seems like the perfect thing to make for Christmas breakfast, Easter brunch, baby showers, or just any Tuesday.

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Mexican Chocolate Brownies

May 1, 2017

Looking at these brownies and you may think there is nothing special about them. Sure, they look like plain ol’ brownies. They even smell like plain ol’ brownies. But they are anything BUT plain ol’ brownies.

They are Mexican chocolate brownies!

What is Mexican chocolate, you ask? Well, I am sure someone can give a very technical definition of it, but to me Mexican chocolate is a rich chocolate that is flavored with cinnamon. Sometimes it packs a little punch with some chili. All you really need to know is that it’s delicious and that it makes one damn good brownie.

Don’t worry, you don’t need any fancy or expensive Mexican chocolate to make Mexican chocolate brownies. Actually, your favorite brownie mix and a couple of spices will do the trick just nicely.

Now’s the time I will throw in my quick unsponsored PSA about my favorite brownie mix. I have still yet to find a brownie mix better than Ghirardelli. In fact, I have no motivation to make my own brownies from scratch because this mix yields some of the best brownies that I have ever made. (No they aren’t paying me to say this. I bought that bulk sized box of brownie mix with my own cash money.)

But I do have a trick to making really good brownie mix even better: Replace the water with milk and oil with butter. It will give you the richest, moistest (is that a word?) brownies.

Now you can not take my advice and use another brownie mix or you can make your brownie batter from scratch. But if you want to make them Mexican chocolate brownies, you will need these three things: cinnamon, cayenne, and nutmeg.

You don’t need a lot of any of them to pack a punch. In fact, I recommend only using a dash of cayenne. Just enough to give the brownies a little bit of a kick without people actually realizing what it’s from.

I also used Ceylon cinnamon versus the cinnamon you just buy at the grocery store. I know, you are thinking, “what’s the difference?” If you subscribe to my newsletters you already know the answer. The short story is that the cinnamon that we all know and love isn’t “true” cinnamon. It’s actually a close relative of cinnamon that sort of tastes the same. Ceylon cinnamon is what is used in Mexican chocolate and has a much spicier, richer taste. Of course, if you can’t get your hands on Ceylon cinnamon, you could use the cinnamon you have in your spice cabinet. I am lucky enough to live next to a great spice shop, so I am pretty well stocked with a couple different varieties of cinnamon.

After the spices are added, they are just like any other brownie. Mix up the batter and pour it into a pan. I like to line my pans in parchment so that I can easily lift out the brownies when they are done.

The parchment make it so much easier to get the brownies out of the pan that way they can cool faster…which means you can cut into them faster! The worst part of making brownies is the waiting! Sometimes I will stick them in the fridge to help them cool faster.

If you find that your brownies don’t have enough cinnamon or cayenne, you can always dust them with a little bit of powdered sugar mixed with either….or both. If you want really rich brownies, you could sprinkle on some cocoa powder with some cinnamon mixed in. You can’t go wrong with whatever you do. The brownies are just delicious on their own, but with the added spices they are just at a whole other level. Definitely not your plain ol’ brownie!

Just make sure you have a cup of milk handy when you dive in!

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Vanilla Chai Snickerdoodles

December 21, 2016

My love affair with chai tea started in high school. I wasn’t a big coffee drinker until after college. So instead of feeling left out when all my friends would get their Starbucks Mocha Frappuccinos (which, at 16, was the most coffee they could handle), I decided to make the Chai Creme Frap my drink of choice.

As I’ve gotten older, I have maintained my love for chai. I just swap my overly sweetened, calorie dense Frappuccino for a warm cup of honey-sweetened tea. My favorite is Rooibos Chai, which is naturally a bit sweet and has a warm vanilla flavor. The rooibos chai is also not quite so spicy as some chais tend to be. Cinnamon isthe dominant flavor, but its balanced nicely by the citrusy cardamom and spicy ginger.

Which is why I have always maintained that chai can be a wonderful baking spice! And it perfectly translates to the snickerdoodle cookie! Sure, a plain old cinnamon-sugar snickerdoodles are great. But I think adding in a couple more spices could only make it better.

The spice mixture I use is a combination of cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, all spice, and vanilla bean. Because I ended up making these cookies for my cookie swap, I toned down the cardamom (which is pretty prominant in chai tea) just in case not everyone had the same appreciation for chai tea as I do. But if you like chai tea, then follow the exact recipe below. If not, you can adjust the spices as necessary.

To make the cookies, I portioned out about tablespoon size portion of cookie dough using my favorite cookie scooper. Then I rolled them into balls and into the sugar-spice mixture so that they were thoroughly covered.

These cookies do spread out and puff up, so I placed the cookies on the baking sheet about 1-2 inches apart. If you like your snickerdoodles a little flatter and not so puffy, you could use a fork to press them down (like I did in the original recipe). But I kinda like them to be nice and puffy.

I did some experimenting on the perfect baking temperature. The first batch was baked at 350 degrees and while the spread out a lot, then didn’t really get that signature snickerdoodle crack. I tried 400 degrees next (which is the temperature most snickerdoodle recipes call for), and the cookies cracked, but didn’t really spread out. They also seemed to be a bit crunchier.

The last batch was baked at 375 degrees, which seemed to offer the best of both temperatures. They cookies spread out a bit, but they also cracked and weren’t overly dried out.

While these cookies (like most cookies) are best straight out of the oven, they actually keep for quite a while. I had a couple cookies left over even a week after the cookie swap, and while they weren’t as soft, they were still delicious!

And of course these cookies are the perfect pair for a nice warm cup of chai tea! The flavor is relatively subtle, which makes these cookies great for anyone. But they will be especially well received by my fellow tea-drinkers.

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Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies

August 26, 2016

Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies

So this is actually an old recipe that I had published way back in the day. However, if you were to go back and look for it, the pictures won’t load and the recipe isn’t correct. Not all the helpful is it? I finally decided to take one for the team and make a batch of these yummy Mexican Hot Chocolate cookies so that I could post an updated recipe.

It’s a hard job, but someone has to do it.

What I love about these cookies is that they are so unexpected. They look like a chocolate cookie, but they are so much more than that. They are definitely chocolatey. But they are also spicy! Not like “whoa, that’s hot” kind of spicy. Like a “hmmm…what is that flavor I’m tasting?” kind of spicy. Don’t worry, it totally works! The cinnamon and chocolate flavor combination is somewhat unusual, but they go together so well. The cinnamon almost makes the chocolate a little sweeter by balancing out the bitterness.

Mexican Hot Cocoa Cookies-1

But the kicker is that teeny tiny bit of cayenne pepper that I throw in there, too. I don’t actually tell people that it’s in there because it’s not all that evident. No one is going to take a bite and immediately think there is cayenne pepper in the cookie. But its just that little but of heat that you pick up a the end that really makes these cookies interesting, in the most delicious sort of way.

Mexican Hot Cocoa Cookies-5

To add to the “hot chocolate factor” I of course add some marshmallows. Why the heck not!? Because marshmallows will melt completely if I threw them in with the batter, I actually just stick them on the top of the cookie when they are about 5 minutes away from being completely baked. The cookie is still soft and the marshmallow just sinks right in. The last 5 minutes of baking, the marshmallow puffs up and gets very soft.

Mexican Hot Cocoa Cookies-3

These are definitely not your average cookie, but they are so good! Soft, rich, sweet, and a teeny bit spicy. If the extra spices make you nervous, you can omit them from the recipe and just make hot chocolate cookies. But I promise they won’t be as good!

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Homemade Zucchini Bread

July 27, 2016

I had my very first piece of zucchini bread at a place called Bread Winners in Dallas. As one can assume by their name, they have pretty great bread. If you are ever in Dallas, I would highly recommend going for brunch. Not only is their menu amazing, but they serve you a nice warm basket of bread (that includes their delicious zucchini bread) when you sit down.

But up until then I had absolutely no interest in making or tasting zucchini bread. No offense to all the zucchini out there, but putting it in bread didn’t sound all that appealing. If you haven’t had zucchini bread before, you may feel the same way I did. And like Bread Winners did for me, I hope I can change your mind!

So what makes zucchini bread so good?

Cinnamon.

Nutmeg.

Zucchini.

Oh yeah, the zucchini actually serves a purpose (other than making you feel like you’re eating something healthy…serving of vegetables – check!)! It makes the bread super moist and soaks up all the wonderful flavors from the cinnamon and nutmeg.

Because I had never made zucchini bread before, I did a lot of research of various recipes around the internet. What I didn’t like about most of them was that they included raisins or cranberries and large pieces of nuts. Hard pass on both of those.

In the end, I pretty much adapted my banana bread recipe, swapping out the banana for shredded zucchini and adding in coarsely ground walnuts instead of whole ones.

Once I had shredded the zucchini and ground down the walnuts, the rest of the batter came together in no time. But I can’t say the same thing for the baking. “Quick” breads like this may save you time because you don’t have to let them proof, but they still take a long time to bake. One loaf took a little over an hour in my oven (which is notoriously inconsistent). It may not take as long for you, but I would recommend setting your timer to 50 minutes, and checking it every 5-10 minutes after that if it’s not done.

But it was well worth the wait! I couldn’t help but cutting right into this loaf and having a warm slice with my coffee on Sunday morning. It was delicious! There is absolutely no zucchini flavor (does zucchini have flavor?), but instead tastes so warm and rich thanks to the cinnamon, nutmeg, and walnuts.

Actually, this would be a great recipe to make in the Fall and Winter now that I think about it.

If you make this bread, tell me how you like it or if there is anything you would change. Also, if you live in Dallas and are familiar with Bread Winner’s Zucchini Bread, you will have to let me know how this stacks up! It’s been a while since I have been there.

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Crumbly Coffee Cake Muffins

May 30, 2016

I have been completely under estimating coffee cake these past few years. If I am in the mood for a sweet and decadent breakfast I would much rather have a donut, croissant, or muffin. And what is so exciting about a fluffy cake topped with a generous helping of sweet and crunchy streusel? Um, how about everything!? Okay, it may not be exciting, but boy is it delicious! Sometimes I forget that simplicity can still be delicious.

To me, the best part of any coffee cake is the super crumbly, crunchy, sweet, and salty topping. There isn’t really a trick to streusel topping, you can just about as much sugar, cinnamon, and salt you want to suite your taste. Except I would recommend that you don’t forget the flour, like I did in my first batch of muffins. The flour holds together the little crumbles of streusel so they stay in tact on top of the muffin. Without the flour, my first batch just melted down into the muffin. Don’t get me wrong, it was still delicious, but not really coffee cake material. On the second round I remembered the flour and the streusel turned out perfectly!

I know I have talked a lot about the the topping, but it is the contrast with the light and spongy cake beneath that makes it such a classic. I like to lightly season my cake with a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg to compliment the top.

You could definitely make this in a square pan as a cake and it would be just as good. But I like the muffin size because it is so much easier to transport (since I bring most of my baked goods to work) and I think the topping to cake ratio is a bit better since it doesn’t all fall off when you cut into it.

Buttery, sweet, and delicious. Perfect to accompany your morning cup of coffee.

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Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies

March 26, 2014

This is another old recipe, but it is one of my favorites. The cookies are so unexpected. Sweet yet spicy. Crispy and gooey. Rich, but not overpowering.

What kicks these cookies up a notch is the cayenne pepper and cinnamon. I used just a hint of both, and while they don’t take center stage, they add incredible depth of flavor. Upon your first bite, you may not know that these cookies have some extra spice, but you will know it’s no ordinary chocolate cookie.

And of course, what good cup of hot chocolate doesn’t have a few marshmallows. On my first attempt making these cookies, I baked the marshmallows IN the cookie. Big mistake. So on my next attempt I melted some marshmallows down (marshmallow fluff would also be acceptable), spread them on top and put the cookies under the broiler to get the marshmallow nice and brown.

Seriously, what’s not to like? Make these cookies.

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