Cinnamon Roll Popcorn

I would like to thank my mom for kindly reminding me tonight that I have been neglecting my blog. I could make excuses - I have plenty of them... (I've been traveling 1 hour each way to a hospital out of town, I've been flying all over the country for fellowship interviews, I had 3 presentations to give in less than one week, I've been taking my dog for extra walks to enjoy the nice weather). However, in reality, it sadly just hasn't been my #1 priority the past few weeks. I have plenty of pictures ready to go, and even some of the posts started.

So, as my mom is the one who reminded me to get my blogging butt into gear, I am posting a recipe in honor of her. We LOVE popcorn in our family - butter, caramel, air-popped, kettle - you name it, we love it. On my last trip home, my mom shared some delicious flavored popcorn from a local popcorn store. This inspired me to make a "popcorn buffet" for a party I recently hosted. I made 2 sweet popcorn flavors, and 2 savory flavors. I'll post the other recipes over the next week or so.

This popcorn was heaven! Everyone loved it, and I've been tempted often lately to make it again. I will say that I probably won't add the pecans next time, they all fell to the bottom, and then eventually into the trash. If I were going to add them again, I would keep them as halves.



CINNAMON ROLL POPCORN (From Our Best Bites)

12 cups popped popcorn (about 1/2 cup kernels)
1 cup pecan halves, roughly chopped
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 stick real butter (1/2 C)
1t vanilla
1/2 t baking soda

White almond bark or white chocolate chips


Preheat oven to 250 degrees

Place popcorn and chopped pecans in a large bowl and set aside.

Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a large microwave safe bowl. Mix well. Chop butter into chunks and place on top of sugar mixture. Pour corn syrup over the top of everything. Microwave on high for 30 seconds and then stir to combine. Return to microwave and heat for 2 minutes. Remove and stir and then microwave for 2 minutes more.

Remove from microwave and add in vanilla and baking soda. Stir to combine. Mixture will foam and rise. Pour caramel mixture over popcorn and pecans and stir very well so everything is well coated.

Spread popcorn mixture onto a foil-lined jelly roll pan. Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and spread out on a large piece of parchment, waxed paper, or foil.

Melt almond bark according to package instructions. Drizzle over popcorn mixture. When almond bark is hardened and popcorn is cool, break into chunks and enjoy!

Keeps well for multiple days in an air-tight container.

ENJOY!

Doughnut Muffins

I was soooooooo excited when I saw this recipe! Around the country, it is becoming state fair season. Having spent much of my life in Minnesota, and having a husband from Minnesota, going to the Minnesota State Fair was an annual event for us. We rarely went on rides (too expensive!), but we loved to people watch, walk through the barns (to see the worlds largest pig, of course!), and eat.

I almost always came home with a stomach ache! The state fair is the one time a year I could get fresh cheese curds or mini donuts or a bucket of cookies. I would usually pass on the other "Deep fried ______ on a stick." (I've seen everything I could think of deep fried at the state fair - Twinkies, Oreos, candy bars, pickles, bologna.....) And don't forget the dairy barn with the butter princess carving & the delicious fresh milk shakes. Or how about the "All You Can Drink" Milk stand (they served over 30,000 gallons last year!), usually conveniently located near the buckets of cookies.

As we are now living 1400 miles away from "home," and all of our friends in Minnesota have Facebook updates about the state fair, I knew I had to make these muffins to remind of the fair. They were a great substitution! My husband, who isn't a sweets person, but LOVES cinnamon & sugar, quickly devoured them. He put two on his plate, took a bite, and grabbed a third before he went to sit down!

With the fall apple season quickly approaching, I'm hoping to alter the recipe to mimic the tasty apple cider donuts served at all of the local orchards. (Not that I need another excuse to make these delicious muffins!)



DOUGHNUT MUFFINS (Adapted from How to Simplify)

For the muffins:

1 3/4 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup milk

For the coating:

1/4 -1/2 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon


Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a muffin tin.

Combine flour, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Combine oil, sugar, egg, vanilla and milk in a large bowl. Add dry ingredients and stir only to combine.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. While muffins are baking, melt butter in a small bowl. In another small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon.

Shake muffins out of the muffin tin while the muffins are still hot. Dip muffins in the melted butter and then into the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Place on a wire rack and allow to cool.

ENJOY!

Snickerdoodle Cookie Bars

Oh my goodness... These are probably the best bars I've ever tasted. If you like snickerdoodle cookies, you'll LOVE these bars! They are very easy to whip up (which is great when you have the urge to bake at 11:30 PM and you work the next morning!) and have a wonderful texture. The bars themselves are dense & chewy, with a nice crisp topping. My hubby (who doesn't eat many sweets, but usually enjoys a good snickerdoodle cookie) couldn't keep his hands off of these cookies!



SNICKERDOODLE COOKIE BARS (Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker)
Makes 24 bars

2-2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 extra-large egg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan with butter & set aside.

Beat together the butter and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the egg, and then the vanilla. Beat, scraping the bowl, until thoroughly combined.

Beat in the cinnamon, salt, nutmeg & baking powder. On low speed, gradually add the flour until just combined.

Spread the dough evenly into the pan. Combine the granulated sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and sprinkle evenly over the top of the batter.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the surface springs back when gently pressed. Cool completely before cutting. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

ENJOY!

Easy Caramel Rolls

These have got to be one of the easiest caramel roll recipes that exists. This has been an all time favorite recipe of my family for years, and is often requested by guests. As children, some of my cousins could easily eat 4++ rolls, so make sure you make enough! They reheat wonderfully, so if you have extras, just keep them in a tupperware, and heat them up in the microwave for a few seconds - just as good as when they first came out of the oven.



EASY CARAMEL ROLLS
Makes 18 small rolls

1 pkg cook'n'serve butterscotch pudding
1 1/2 dozen Rhodes frozen dinner rolls
cinnamon
1/2 cup butter or margarine (I always use butter)
1/2 cup brown sugar
nuts (optional)

Arrange frozen rolls in a 9x13 pan sprayed with a non-stick spray. Sprinkle with dry butterscotch pudding and cinnamon. Melt butter and brown sugar in small saucepan, and bring to a boil. Pour over rolls. Sprinkle with nuts.

Allow to sit overnight (on the counter) for at least 8-9 hours to rise, longer if your home is on the cooler side.



Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, invert onto plate or cookie sheet with an edge.



Serve by pulling apart the rolls.

(One of my favorite parts is cleaning out the caramel from the pan & off the cookie sheet!)

NOTE: Here in New England, the Rhode's Dinner Rolls - or any other frozen dough dinner roll - don't seem to exist (we called and visited multiple store before giving up). So, buy a bag of 3 loaves of bread & let them thaw just enough that you are able to cut up the dough (about 2 hours on the counter). I cut each loaf into 12 pieces - 6 slices, each cut in half. One bag then made 2 batches of caramel rolls. I double the recipe right away - I don't know that I'd try to refreeze dough that has started to thaw. Proceed with the recipe as stated above.

Enjoy!

Snickerdoodles

Mmmmm... These are one of my all time favorite cookies. And, while I may be a bit partial as I've grown up with this recipe, this is probably the best recipe for snickerdoodles I've run across. They are always light & fluffy - almost cake-like, and perfectly domed in shape. They are just sweet enough to (almost) satisfy my sweet-tooth, but not so sweet that my healthy husband won't eat them. They are a great with my morning coffee. And, yes, as a physician, I am admitting that I DO occasionally eat cookies for breakfast - they are so easy to eat on the T while I'm sipping my morning coffee from my spill free mug.



SNICKERDOODLE COOKIES

Dough:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Topping:
4 tbsp sugar
4 tsp cinnamon

In a large bowl, combine sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Blend in vanilla and eggs. Mix in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt into creamed mixture.

Combine topping ingredients in a small bowl.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll in topping mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake at 400 degrees for 7-10 minutes or until set.

Remove from cookie sheets immediately.

Enjoy!