Cakespy’s Glazed Cinnamon Rolls Stuffed with Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Last month, my mom gave me a signed copy of Cakespy Presents: Sweet Treats for a Sugar-Filled Life by Jessie Oleson. As soon as I opened it, I knew that it would be my kind of cookbook. This book is packed with cute illustrations, gorgeous photos and recipes so sweet you’ll get cavities just by reading them. Like I said, my kind of cookbook!

I decided to start off with the very first recipe in the book: Glazed Cinnamon Rolls Stuffed with Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. Although I love to bake, time has not been on my side lately. Luckily, these rolls can be made quickly with store bought ingredients and are super yummy.

Glazed Cinnamon Rolls Stuffed with Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Ingredients:

1 package pop-and-bake cinnamon rolls with glaze (I used some from Trader Joe’s)

A heaping tablespoon of chocolate chip cookie dough for each cinnamon roll (I used Cougar Mountain Original Chocolate Chunk Cookie Dough)

Directions:

Roll each tablespoon of cookie dough into a log, roughly the same height as the cinnamon roll. Unroll each cinnamon roll and rewrap with the cookie dough inside. Bake and glaze according to package directions. Enjoy!

Saturday Sweetness: Red Velvet Cake Balls

It’s no secret that I love cake balls. My favorite flavor is Red Velvet. They can be a fun addition to holiday baking, so I thought I would share my method of making Red Velvet Cake Balls with you. A few years ago, my mom sent me the link to the recipe on Bakerella’s blog. I made them once and was hooked. I don’t know how many times I’ve made cake balls since then, but it has been quite often.

Ingredients:

Cake mix + necessary eggs, oil and water
1 can of cream cheese frosting
1-2 bags of dark chocolate Ghirardelli chocolate chips

Directions:

1.       Make a cake. I usually use Duncan’s Red Velvet cake mix.

2.      Turn the cake into crumbs. My favorite method is using a food processor, but you can do it by hand as well.

3.      Mix in frosting. Do NOT use whipped frosting.

4.      Roll into balls. It helps to have a friend for this step. It also helps to pop them in the freezer before the next step. Overnight is best.

5.     Melt chocolate. I prefer to use a double boiler set up. I always scorch it if I use the microwave.

6.     Dip cake balls. Mine are never pretty, but they are usually eaten too quickly for anyone to notice. Pop them in the freezer again to set the chocolate.

Cake balls are a dish best served cold. You can keep them in the freezer indefinitely. That is, if you don't eat them all first.

Saturday Sweetness: Apple Pie Mulled Cider

Last week, I made a mulled cider recipe that I found online. I received a lot of compliments on it, but it wasn’t to my taste. Mulled cider was on my mind for days afterwards, so I concocted a recipe of my own and made it today. I like it a lot better. Here’s my recipe:

Apple Pie Mulled Cider

Ingredients:

1 gallon (16 cups) apple cider or apple juice
4 cinnamon sticks
2 vanilla beans
2 oranges

Directions:

Get out your crock pot or slow cooker and place it where you want to serve the cider. Toss in the cinnamon sticks. Split the vanilla beans and scrape out the seeds. Add vanilla beans and seeds to the crock pot. Juice and zest the oranges and add to the crock pot. Pour the apple cider over the yumminess already in the crock pot and give it a good stir. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours. Grab your strainer and take out the cinnamon sticks, vanilla bean pods and some of the zest.  Enjoy!

Note: The backdrop of the picture above is a table runner given to me by Debbie of A Quilter’s Table. Check out her Tuesday at the Table link-ups for more yummy recipes.

Saturday Sweetness: Chocolate Candy Corn Cupcakes

Do you ever get an idea in your head that won’t let you rest until you see it through? I had an idea like that this October: candy corn flavored cupcakes. Over and over I see recipes for “Candy Corn Cupcakes” that are for cupcakes that look like candy corn, but don’t taste like candy corn. Since I couldn’t find a recipe for what I wanted to make, I made one up. A little part of my brain pointed out that if there wasn’t a recipe for Candy Corn Cupcakes yet, there was probably a good reason, but I ignored it.

The first thing I did was make candy corn infused vodka, which was the closest thing to candy corn extract that I could think of. I threw a bunch of candy corn in a jar, covered it with vanilla vodka, and then stuck it in the pantry for the better part of the day. Once most of the candy corn was dissolved, I added a couple teaspoons to the frosting (I used i am baker’s buttercream recipe). Unfortunately, the vodka made the frosting rather flat and sad-looking. It tasted good, but not enough like candy corn. If I ever try this again, I will use more candy corn and less vodka. I’ll also let it sit longer.

In addition to the “candy corn extract,” I added half a dozen candy corns to each baking cup before filling them with chocolate cake batter. Predictably, they melted when baked. In some cases, when the melted candy corn cooled, it made a nice chewy layer at the bottom of the cupcake. In other cases, they just stuck to the baking cup. Next time, I might add them near the end of the baking time, so that they retain more of their candy corn shape.

My Chocolate Candy Corn Cupcakes were yummy, but they didn’t have the strong candy corn flavor that I was looking for. Guess I’ll have to try again next October.

UPDATE: Linking up to Tuesday at the Table at A Quilter's Table. Head on over there for one of my all-time favorite soups recipes!

Saturday Sweetness: French Toast Twist

Recently, I had an overwhelming craving for a maple bar doughnut. I ate a run-of-the-mill maple bar, but it did not satisfy. Luckily, a couple weeks later I was in the neighborhood of Frost Doughnuts. If you live in the greater Seattle area and haven’t visited Frost yet, you really should. They make a wide variety of doughnuts fresh daily. The day I visited, they had quite a few choices that involved maple, such as the Smokey Maple Bacon Bar and the classic Maple Bar. I decided to try a new-to-me doughnut, the French Toast Twist. It satisfied my craving perfectly. Simply put, it was a cinnamon twist with maple frosting, but it was so much more than that. The amount of maple frosting was just right, and not too sweet. The cinnamon and nutmeg added depth. Best of all, the texture was perfect: chewy and fresh. It was like the good people of Frost had scanned my brain and created the perfect doughnut for my particular craving. They also have fun seasonal offerings, and I can’t wait to try one of their pumpkin doughnuts. Trouble is, they have at least four different doughnuts that involve pumpkin right now, so it might take me awhile to decide which one to try first. Maybe I’ll just have to try them all!

Saturday Sweetness: Cupcake Royale

UPDATE: I am linking up to the new Tuesday at the Table linky at A Quilter's Table.

Very rarely do I meet a cupcake shop that I don’t like. However, my all-time favorite is Cupcake Royale. I’ve only been to two locations, but each one that I have visited reflects its neighborhood’s personality and charm. They use local ingredients and their buttercream frosting can’t be beat. A few weeks ago, I went out to dinner with a friend and we felt like cupcakes for dessert. I really wanted to try their Huckleberry Cupcake, which was September’s Cupcake of the Month. We drove all the way to Ballard in our quest for cupcakes. The bad thing about scrumptious cupcakes made fresh daily with local ingredients is that when they’re gone, they’re gone. There was not a single Huckleberry Cupcake to be found. I was able to console myself, though, with my second favorite cupcake: Vanilla Cake with Lavender frosting. (My absolute favorite is Chocolate Cake with Lavender frosting, but you have to special order those.) As a bonus, the art in the Ballard Cupcake Royale would make a great quilt. Guess I’ll just have to go back next September for the elusive Huckleberry Cupcake.

Saturday Sweetness: Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies

A while ago, my mom made cookies for a catered event. Since she knows how much I love her backed baked goods, she let me sample each of the three kinds of cookies she made. They were all delectable, but I especially like the Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies. (No surprise there.) A few weeks later, I made them myself. To make sure they were extra-special, I used Maldon sea salt and Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips. You can make similar cookies by whipping up your favorite chocolate chip cookies and sprinkling them with a healthy dash of sea salt just before baking. I will definitely make Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies again.

Saturday Sweetness: Revelations Yogurt

This is officially the Summer of Frozen Yogurt. An independent yogurt shop called Revelations Yogurt recently opened up in a neighboring town, and last weekend we decided to try it. It took us a while to find it, since I couldn’t remember the name exactly, but when we did, it was excellent. The set up is very similar to Menchie’s, with ten flavors that you serve yourself and pay for by weight, but by being a family-owned business instead of a chain, it was nicer overall. The texture of the yogurt was richer, the flavors were more robust, the service was friendlier and the toppings were fresher. Sadly, they did not have my two favorite toppings: graham cracker crumbs and mini chocolate chips. I made do with Oreos and regular chocolate chips on my Red Velvet Cake/Chocolate swirled yogurt. This place is a great treat on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Saturday Sweetness: Menchie’s

Apparently frozen yogurt is the new cupcake. There seems to be frozen yogurt shops everywhere now. A Menchie’s store recently opened near us, and we have already been there a couple times. The first time, I had the Grasshopper (mint) flavor with mini chocolate chips, oreos and graham cracker crumbs. The texture was really weird. It was kind of icy and not like normal frozen yogurt. The second time, I was much happier with my choice. I had the Cupcake flavored yogurt and it was really yummy! The texture was much better, too. I tried more toppings, like brownie and cheesecake bites, which were alright. I really like being able to chose how much yogurt and toppings I want. The rewards card works well, too. The location is really convenient, so we will most likely be back.

Saturday Sweetness: Pie

A couple of weekends ago, my family and I met friends in Fremont to check out Pie. Not surprisingly, it is a place that sells nothing but pies. I liked it so much, I went back later with my mom. It’s a small place, with not much seating, but the pies are worth the claustrophobia. (They are also worth the less than stellar restroom situation. It was difficult to change my baby's diaper in the tiny, out of the way restroom that was available.)

On my first trip, I had the Mac and Cheese Pie and my husband had the Cherry, Apple and Lemon Custard pies. I expected the Mac and Cheese Pie to be Kraft cheesy, but it was much more subtle and very yummy. My husband liked the Cherry best out of the pies he tried.

On my next trip, my mom and I both had the Chicken Pot Pie. I will admit, Chicken Pot Pie is one of my favorite meals, and I make it often at home. While I wouldn’t drive all the way to Fremont for something I can make myself, I thoroughly enjoyed their version, since I was in the neighborhood anyways. My absolute favorite, though, was their Chocolate Cream Pie, which I brought home from my second trip. I definitely should have enjoyed it immediately, since the crust wasn’t as good as the other pies I tried, but the filling was utterly scrumptious. I can’t wait to go back and try more pies!