Perfect Cinnamon Buns

Today is my Father-in-law's birthday. He is really the best dad-in-law a girl could ask for. He treats me like one of his own, and he is one of the best Grandpas (they call him Papa) there is. Plus, we see eye to eye when it comes to dessert. He would much rather have a giant batch of cinnamon buns than a birthday cake. I hear him on that. I prefer making cinnamon buns, too. It's a win win. Happy Birthday Dad number 2!

These cinnamon buns are bar non the best I have ever had. The recipe was given to me by a good friend who got it from her sister. No idea where it came from, but if I ever find out, I'll put it on here.

Perfect Cinnamon Buns

DOUGH:

• 1/2 cup warm water
• 4  1/2 tsp quick-rise yeast
• 2 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1  4-serving package of vanilla pudding mix
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp salt
• 6 cups flour

FILLING:

• 2 cups brown sugar combined with 4 tsp cinnamon
• butter for spreading

FROSTING:

• 8 oz cream cheese
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp milk

DIRECTIONS:

Combine water, yeast and sugar, stirring until dissolved.

Prepare pudding according to packaging.

Combine pudding, butter, eggs, and salt.

Add yeast mixture.

Gradually add flour and knead until smooth. (You may need a little extra).

Grease a big bowl, and place dough in. Let rise for about 45 minutes.

Once risen, roll out to a 34"x21" rectangle. 

Spread butter all over the dough and then sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top.

Roll as tightly as you can, and cut intop rolls. I got 18, but you may get more or less, depending on how big you like them, and how big your rectangle got.

I like to score mine across the top so I can see exactly where I'm going to cut.

Grease 2 cookie sheets (with sides) put the buns on.

Cover with a tea towel and let rise again for about 1 hour.

Before rising.

After rising.

I bet you can almost smell them from there.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 12 minutes. When you take them out, they will look like this.

After they've cooled a bit, you can frost them. Combine all the frosting ingredients and mix in a stand mixer or with hand held beaters. Mix and mix and mix until there are no lumps. Spread generously on the cinnamon buns. Feel free to lick the spoon. And the bowl. And your fingers. 

-Jessica

Baby elephant for a baby boy

My sweet, darling little nephew was born last week. 11 days late. And let me tell you, that extra week and a half in the oven really made him smushy. His hands are the same size as my 7 month olds. And his feet? He'll be running by next month, most likely. He was 23 inches long. Yowza. Basically, he was a baby elephant. My poor, tiny little sister in law, with her 5 foot 3 inch frame and a baby elephant inside.

So, for the baby shower that we had last night, this cake seemed a fitting one. He really is a sweet little bundle. Happy birthday baby boy!

This cake was made with my classic chocolate cake recipe, the one I love and use for everything. You can find it here, just omit the lime.

I used a standard chocolate buttercream and added some orange, and covered it in fondant. The store bought kind -hello Wilton, thank you for making my life easier. If you want a fondanting tutorial, just give a shout out and we can do one with pics. I did this one solo, and it's hard to take pictures of yourself fondanting when you only have two hands.

-Jessica

Honeyed Gingerbread

5. The big one. Halfway to double digits. Kindergarten. One whole hand. Whichever way you slice it, 5 years old is a big deal. So of course, my big 5 year old boy started planning his party months ago. After weeks of researching and calling, we decided on a kindergym party. You know, you rent out the whole gym at a rec center and they fill it with bikes, balls, slides, and even a bouncy castle. What 5 year old would not like this? He was so excited, and with a max of 25 kids, he could invite almost his whole class. Perfect. Except not so.

It turned out his best (and I mean very best) friend would be gone. Gone for Christmas. His little heart was crushed. So, rather than just having the party without his bestie along side, he wanted to cancel the whole thing. We have a pretty small house, so his options were to keep the party as is, or to have it at our house with only 9 kids one week earlier. Guess what he chose.

So now, how to keep 9 small children entertained for 2 hours in the middle of December. Well, with candy, of course. And cookies. And icing. Put them all together and you get one hyper, delicious mess. And one happy 5 year old.

Gumdrop Buttons

Goodie bags- Mugs with candy canes, hot chocolate, caramel chocolates and stickers.

What's a cookie without sprinkles?

My big 5 year old!

Little bro.

Meticulous. This boy is a perfectionist.

Happy Birthday Baby!

Now, in theory I like gingerbread, but it's mostly based on the smell of it. Because every time I actually eat some, all I can taste is molasses. Gross. But, I figured that honey is about the same consistency as molasses, but about a billion times tastier. So I combined them.


Honeyed Gingerbread Cookies
5 1/2 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp  ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cloves
1 cup sugar
2 sticks softened butter
2/3 cup fancy molasses
1/2 cup creamed honey
2 egg whites

- Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves with a wire whisk.
- Cream butter and sugar until combined in stand mixer.
- Add molasses, honey and egg whites to sugar and butter mixture.
- Change beaters to cookie paddles and slowly add the flour mixture. (If you don't have a mixer, use
   your hands.)
- Divide dough into 3 or 4 balls, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for 2 or more hours.

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Roll out dough on a floured surface and cut out with cookie cutters.
- Bake on greased cookie sheet for 7-9 minutes.

-Jessica