Ooey Gooey Fluffy Sweet Rolls

Growing up, my mother made Sweet Rolls. Somewhere along the line I started calling them Cinnamon Rolls. I realized a good chunk of the world calls them Sticky Buns. Whatever you call them, you will certainly call them delicious. Behold! 

These magical rolls are made of light and fluffy dough. They have the perfect amount of sweet and spice. The oozy gooey frosting makes the melt in your mouth. They are literally finger licking good. 

Ingredients for the dough: 

1 small package of yeast

1/2 cup warm water

1 egg

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup milk

1/3 cup melted butter

1 teaspoon lavender salt

3 1/2 cups flour

Ingredients for the center: 

1/4 cup melted butter

1/3 cup sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

Ingredients for the frosting: 

4 tablespoons room temperature butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

2 cups powdered sugar

3 tablespoons hot water

Directions: 

In a small bowl disolve your yeast packet in warm water. In a separate bowl heat your milk in the microwave to almost boiling. In your kitchen mixer, use your dough attachment and mix together your milk, sugar, melted butter, egg, and lavender salt. Slowly add your flour and then add your yeast water. Mix on medium speed for about 4 or 5 minutes. The dough should form a sticky ball. Grease the sides of your mixing bowl and cover it with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel. Keep it in a warm spot on your counter until the dough doubles in size, about 60-90 minutes. 

Then knead your dough back into its original size. Using the backside of a greased cookie tray,  roll out your dough until it matches the tray in size. Cover your sheet of dough with your melted butter. Then mix together your cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle your mixture all over the melted butter. Roll it up from the long side so it makes a long skinny roll of dough. Cut it into 12 equal pieces. Place those pieces in a greased casserole dish, spaced into 3 rows of 4. Let rise again, until the dough fills the pan and about doubles in size again. This should take 30-45 minutes. 

Heat your oven to 350 degrees and back for 25 minutes or until just slightly golden on top. As soon as you pull your rolls from the oven, mix together your butter, vanilla, powdered sugar, and water until its a smooth consistency. Pour your glaze over your rolls once they have cooled slightly. Serve immediately. 

This is the best desert I have made in a long time. We made it for lds general conference this weekend, which is always a perfect time to bust out a delicious and special breakfast treat. This is the perfect desert for a morning family gathering. But if you know my family, you better make a double batch. Enjoy!

Nelson Cake

Sorry I've been a little M.I.A. on the good old blog lately. With the holidays my husband has been home and he's been manning the kitchen recently. Well his break is over tomorrow, so I guess I'm back in the saddle as they would say. 

To finish off his break, we get to celebrate  with his birthday. It's tradition in our family to make the birthday person a cake called "Nelson Cake". It is glorious. It's chocolatey, moist, sweet, and satisfying. There are never leftover pieces of this after a birthday party. In fact, you better grab a fork right now. 

Cake:

1 cup water

1 stick butter 

1/4 cup shortening

4 tbs cocoa powder (Dutch processed)

2 cup sugar

2 cups flower

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

Combine water, butter, shortening and cocoa in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Add to a bowl with sugar and flour. Add remaining ingredients and mix.  We normally make two 9 inch round cakes that bake at 350F for 18-20 minutes.

Buttercream frosting:

1 stick room temp butter

4 tbs cocoa powder 

2 tsp vanilla 

8 oz of powdered sugar

2-4 tbs milk

I like to add butter, vanilla, milk and a few tablespoons of powdered sugar and mix slowly at first, then on high for about a minute to get it light and fluffy. Add the remaining cocoa and powdered sugar and whip until light.  

Whipped cream:

1 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Assemble in layers from ground to ceiling: cake then frosting then whipped cream then cake then frosting then whipped cream on top

*if you put cool whip on this instead of homemade whipped cream my husband will track you down and haunt your dreams

** my mother in-law is holding out on the real recipe. This is as close as we can get. Maybe she will tell us the whole recipe on her deathbed someday. 

Bread Pudding

Stop. Before you scroll to the next post, hear me out. Most people turn their noses up at bread pudding. But they haven't tried this version. It's so good that when my husband made it for desert on Christmas Eve that my truck driving, deer hunting, MMA fighter brother in law went home and baked it on his own the next day. He said it was the best desert he had ever tasted. 

Sorry I didn't get a photo of the whole dish, but it got devoured before I could get my camera out. 

Ingredients;

• 1 loaf of french bread, cut into chunks. Best if it's day old or stale. 
• 4 c milk (use whole for added deliciousness)
• 2 c white sugar
• 1 stick melted butter
• 3 eggs (lightly beaten) plus 3 egg whites
• 2 t vanilla
• 1 c raisins
• 1 c chopped pecans
• 2 t cinnamon
• 1 t nutmeg

DIRECTIONS

FOR THE BREAD PUDDING

• 1

  Preheat oven to 350F and butter a 9x13 baking dish. Pour sugar and spices over bread in a large bowl. Pour melted butter over the bread and mix. Mix in milk, whole eggs, and vanilla.

• 2

  Beat egg whites to stiff peaks and fold in. Fold in nuts and raisins. Pour into prepared pan and bake for about an hour and fifteen minutes, until the pudding is puffed up and the top is golden brown. Serve warm.

• 3

  If you want to prep this ahead of time, bake for 40 minutes, cool, refrigerate uncovered overnight, then cover tightly and freeze. To finish, thaw and then bake an hour at 350F.

WHISKEY SAUCE

Cream 1 stick butter and 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar in a saucepan over medium heat until the butter is absorbed. Remove from heat and mix in 2 egg yolks. Gradually stir in 1/2 cup bourbon, stirring constantly. The mixture will thicken as it cools. Serve warm over bread pudding.

We didn't have whiskey so my husband used water and it worked great.