Cinnamon Rolls

On Christmas morning, its tradition in our household to have the boys wake up to something freshly baked, toasty, and super sweet. Usually, it has been my mom's sticky bun recipe. Given that Alex is now eating everything we eat, I figured the rich, sticky caramel may have been a little too much for him to handle, so I browsed FoodNetwork.com until I found a suitable substitute! I found it- and by a woman after my own heart- Sandra Lee. I love the fact she is a semi-homemade type of gal, because I'm the same way. I'm not above using some store bough ingredients for the ease of putting meals on the table, especially on a morning like Christmas where my time could be better spent doing family things, instead of in the kitchen :)

And in case you're wondering... I did spend my morning preppin' Santa toys and stockings instead of completely slaving away- and watching Alex run towards his presents for the first time was well worth the sacrifice of fresh dough !!!

Cinnamon Rolls
Recipe by Sandra Lee

Ingredients:
* 1 loaf frozen white bread dough, thawed in fridge
* flour for dusting surface
* 1 cup packed brown sugar
* 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
* 2/3 stick butter, softened
* 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
* 1 cup powdered sugar
* 1/3 cup cream cheese
* 1 teasp. vanilla extract

To Make:
* Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to form a 15x7in rectangle.
* In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon
* Spread 2/3 cup softened butter over dough and evenly spread cinnamon-sugar mixture
* Roll up dough like a jelly roll
* Cut roll into 16 slices and set aside in a warm place to allow dough to rise (until doubled in size- about an hour)
* Divide rolls among 2 lightly battered round baking pans. Bake for 15 mins until golden brown.
* Combine  1 stick butter, powered sugar, cream cheese, and vanilla extract together for form icing.
* Frost the warm rolls with the icing before serving.

This recipe has been Alexander approved!

Mindy Bradley's Breakfast Casserole

Thank you, Bradlians, for sharing this recipe with me. I will now share it with all four of my loyal followers.

This breakfast casserole is perfect for picky eaters and those who consider themselves a 'mans-man' as there are no fancy pants ingredients and only contains protein and potatoes. Mmmmm Mmmmm!

That's all I'm going to say about this: its yummy, its Mindy's recipe, and it reheats really well! I'll let the food speak for itself :)

Ingredients:
* 9 eggs
* Bag of tater tots
* 1/4 cup milk
* Jimmy Dean's Country Mild Sausage
* Bag of shredded mexican cheese
* Can of Rotel (Mindys fav.) I wish I didn't have a little toddler who eats this stuff or I'd add this too!

Yup. that's it!

To Make:
* Cook up sausage, drain grease
* Line casserole dish with tater tots (or hashbrowns)
* In bowl, beat eggs well. Add milk. Stir in cooked sausage. Pour over tater tots
* Sprinkle with cheese
* Cook in oven on 350 for 1 hour or until golden brown

Want to feel a little healthier? Serve it with a side of fruit :)

Streusel Coffee Cake

It was the morning of my son's first birthday, so I had to make something special for breakfast.

Ok, that's sort of a lie... it WAS his birthday, but it wasn't the true reason I made this tasty breakfast.

It was mostly just because I really wanted sweets for breakfast, didn't want to drive to Wallieworld for donuts, and knew my mother and other houseguests would judge me for driving to Wallieworld for donuts.

Oh yeah, and my little boy deserves a special breakfast on his first birthday... that too!

Yes, its not a very creative picture. I'm so glad I took a picture of it hot from the oven because when I tried to flip it over, it crumbled to pieces. Dang.

Streusel Coffee Cake
Found on the Southern Food section of About.com

Ingredients for streusel topping:

* 1/2 cup brown sugar
* 1/4 cup sifted all-purpose flour
* 1/4 cup butter, room temperature
* 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Ingredients for cake:

* 1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
* 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 egg, beaten
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 1/3 cup melted butter
* 1/4 cup milk
* 1 teaspoon vanilla

To Make Delicious Coffee Cake:

* In a small bowl, mix the ingredients for the topping. Mix it with a fork until its nice and crumbly
* Combine flour, baking powder, and salt for cake in a medium bowl.
* In another bowl, mix beaten egg and sugar. Slowly add the melted butter. Add milk and vanilla.
* Stir egg mixture into flour mixture.
* Pour batter into a greased 9 inch layer pan. Sprinkle the crumb topping evenly over the batter.
* Bake at 375 for 25 to 30 minutes
* Partially cool on a wire rack before serving. (I did not bother with this step as we were all starving- hence the whole 'not flipping over and just crumbling out' part. Who cares... worth it!)

Banana Bread

My son eats everything.

Everything.

Except avocado. And italian dressing for pasta salad.

With a boy who eats everything, who knew I'd find his absolute all-time favorite food ?!

Well, I've found it. Banana bread. Good thing I could eat an entire loaf a day if I wanted to because I plan on having some on-hand at all times. Although, I won't eat an entire load a day- I have a son to share with now (shoot).

Banana Bread Recipe
Source: My little red recipe box in my dining room

Ingredients:

* 1 cup granulate sugar
* 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
* 2 large eggs
* 3-4 ripe bananas (I always use 4)
* 1 tablespoon milk
* 1 teaspoon cinnamon
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon salt

To Do:

* Preheat oven to 325 F. Butter loaf pan.
* cream the sugar and butter until light and fluffy
* add eggs one at a time, beat well after each addition
* mash bananas with fork in bowl. Mix in milk and cinnamon
* mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in another bowl
* add banana mixture to creamed sugar/butter mixture. then add dry mixture 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition
* Bake for 1 hour, then remove from loaf pan and cool on baking rack for 15 mins

Serve warm with butter... Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm

Guest Blogger: Genia Castro

Hello Kelsey Cooker Readers!

I'm so glad I can share a recipe with you all. Kelsey and I met a few years back while we were both students at Montana State and serving at the local Famous Dave's. There are plenty more memories I could share but for both our sakes I'm going to just leave it at that. Like Kelsey, I recently started a cooking blog (quick shameless plug here) called Sharon Moore Recipes, when you have a few extra minutes take a look! Thanks! (Editor's Sidenote: Genia's blog in INCREDIBLE- I'm a die-hard follower- she has amazing recipes- please go check it out and show her some love !)

Okay now back to the reason I'm here... Banana Bread Scones with Brown Sugar Glaze. While the recipe name may sound complicated, it really couldn't be easier. In fact you most likely have most, if not all, of the ingredients in your kitchen already. I made these last Sunday so my fiance and I could have quick ready made breakfasts during the week. Refrain from pouring the glaze over all the scones, as the glaze will soak into the scones. So each morning, all I did was microwave each scone for 15 seconds, the glaze for 5 seconds, and then drizzle the glaze over the scone and enjoy!

Banana Bread Scones with Brown Sugar Glaze
(Original Recipe from The Kitchn)

2 very ripe bananas, mashed (1 cup)
2-4 Tbsp. milk
1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
4 Tbsp. butter

For the glaze:
1 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. milk
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1/2-1/4 cups confectioner's sugar

Directions for the scones:
Mash bananas. If your mashed bananas don't make 1 cup, add enough milk to make one cup total (if your bananas do make a cup the milk won't be necessary). Stir in the yogurt and set aside.

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Cut butter into a few pieces; using your finger tips (or pastry cutter), work the butter into the dry ingredients until there are no pieces of butter larger than a pea.

Pour the banana-yogurt mixture into the bowl and stir just until incorporate and moistened.

Line a dinner plate with a piece of wax or parchment paper and turn dough out of bowl on top. Put dough down to form a disk about 1 inch thick. Cover with another piece of paper. Freeze dough for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Peel of paper and invert dough dish onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Peel off second layer of paper. Slice dough into 8 wedges and pull apart slightly to allow for expanding while baking. Bake until the scones are firm to the tough and golden-brown, or 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely on wire rack.

Directions for glaze:
Melt butter and milk in microwave for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar and vanilla, and stir until sugar has melted (heat for another 30 seconds, if necessary). Whisk in confectioner's sugar, starting with 1/4 cup. Add more if you want a thicker glaze.

Just before serving, drizzle glaze over scones.

Buttermilk Pancakes

Sit back, relax, and grab a nice beverage- its story time.

Yesterday, Alex got to spend some time with his Aunt Mindy and Uncle Chase while I went to an appointment. I came to pick him up and the first thing Chase said was, 'he is sooo his mother's son!'. Uh oh. Ready to be mortified, I asked why. Here was Chase's response:

We were playing with toys in the livingroom with the TV on in the background. He wasn't paying attention to the TV at all, and then all of the sudden the iHop Funnel Cake commercial came on. He whipped his head around so fast and just watched the entire commerical in awe. After it was over, he went right back to his toys and never looked at the TV again.

Sigh. Yes. He is his mother's son. His mama likes herself a good carb-packed breakfast: waffles, french toast, pancakes, funnel cakes with fruit and whipped cream, bacon, eggs, toast, hashbrowns... you name it, I love it. Needless to say, I woke up craving a carby breakfast.

These were perfect. They are my uncle's recipe. They are my favorite pancakes. I remember eating them at my aunts house with lots of butter and warm maple syrup. That was the kicker- the warm maple syrup- we never heated our syrup at home.

(Also, the picture isn't the greatest. I'll admit, I have a very hard time cooking pretty-looking pancakes on the stovetop. I do not have a nice griddle- so they usually come out looking a bit dark and unevenly cooked. These were my first two attempts- of course I ate the better looking, fluffy ones first and forgot to take a picture of them. Oh well, I swear they are still delicious!)

Ingredients:
* 1 cup flour
* 1 cup buttermilk
* 1 egg
* 1 tablespoon sugar
* 2 tablespoons oil
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

To Do:
* Throw all the ingredients in a mixer. Turn on mixer. Mix.
* Heat skillet or griddle. Ladel pancake mixture onto hot skillet.
* Flip pancakes when batter is nice and bubbly.
* Smother cooked pancakes in butter and obscene amount of nice hot syrup

Beignets

Bonjour,
  Soyez bienvenus à tout mon poste français. Pourquoi français ? J'ai pensé qu'il ferait le fait que ce plat suivant ajoutera 10 livres à votre fin de fond toujours vous les mangez, juste un peu plus fantastique et agréable. Attendez, vous ne vous souciez pas qu'ils ajoutent 10 livres à votre fin de fond toujours vous les mangez ? Bonbon. Vissez cette conversation française sophistiquée alors! Laisse la conversation donuts!

What? You don't speak French? Or at least, Google-translated-English-to-French-so-who-knows-if-its-actually-correct? Dang. Ok, lucky for you, I can provide subtitles!

Translation:

Hello,
  Welcome to my french post. Why French? I figured it would make the fact that this next dish will add 10 pounds to your bottom end everytime you eat them, just a little more whimsical and enjoyable. Wait, you don't care that they add 10 pounds to your bottom end everytime you eat them? Sweet. Screw this fancy French talk then! Lets talk donuts!



oui !

The first time I discovered beignets was at the recommendation of my dear friend Jaren Rabe. Chris and I had taken a celebratory trip to New Orleans last month and she basically told me she'd stop being my friend if we didn't hit up Cafe du Monde. For the sake of our friendship, I thought it best to go. Long story short, I left New Orleans with 9 boxes of the donut mix to distribute to friends and family. Did I remember to grab myself a box? Of course...... not. Luckily, I did find a great recipe to make them from scratch! Beware, this recipe makes 24-36 donuts... that comes out to about 240-360 lbs on your tushie... hit up the gym after to get rid of some of that guilt (if you even have guilt that is!)

Ingredients:

* 1 envelope active drive yeast
* 1 1/2 cups warm water
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1 tsp salt
* 2 eggs, beaten
* 1 cup evaporated milk
* 6 1/2-7 cups flour
* 1/4 cup shortening, softened
* oil for frying
* powdered sugar

To Do:

* In large bowl, sprinkle yeast over the warm water. Stir to dissolve and let stand 5-10 minutes.
* Add the sugar, salt, eggs, and milk. Mix well.
* Add 4 cups flour and beat until smooth
* Add shortening and blend in remaining flour
* Cover and chill 4 hours or overnight (yes, they are GREAT for breakfast)
* Roll out on floured surface to 1/4 to 1/2 in. thickness
* Cut into three inch squares.
* Heat oil to 350F
* Deep fry a few at a time until lightly browned on both sides. Drain on paper towel.
* Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve immediately (best when nice and toasty)

Mama Sue's Variation: Cover freshly fried donuts in cinnamon and sugar!!!!

Sidenote: If you don't feel like attempting them from scratch, you can buy the mix from their website online and have it shipped to you! Just add water and fry! Also, if you live in Columbus, MS- they sell the boxes at Walmart.

Sticky Buns

Some people say their childhood memories are triggered by familiar scents. Some say its their grandmothers chocolate chip cookies, their dads cologne, the smell of the flowers outside their home. The intoxicating aroma I associate with my childhood came on special occassions, or lazy Saturdays. Mine is the smell of sticky buns! I never understood why we never had this tasty breakfast treat more often, until I had a family of my own to make them for. Its not that they are hard to make, it is just that I'm an impatient person and I hate waiting for dough to raise! The outcome is worth the waiting though!

Commence drooling in 5...4...3...2...1...

Ingredients:

* 2 packages vanilla pudding (cook and serve type)
* 1/2 cup butter, melted
* 1 cup brown sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
* 2 tablespoons milk
* 1 package Rhodes rolls

To Do:

* Mix pudding, butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and milk together to form thick caramel sauce.
* Spray 9x13in pan with Pam cooking spray
* Rub rolls in caramel mixture, and place into pan
* Pour extra mixture inbetween rolls in pan
* Let dough raise in fridge 2.5 hours
* Bake rolls in oven at 370F for 30 minutes
* Let rolls cool after baking slightly, then flip them over onto foil so caramel side faces upwards
* Enjoy the mess !