Monday, February 11, 2013

Monday Menu Plan and .. Cinnamon Buns!


My menu plan for the week is pretty simple.  We ate lots of leftovers last week so I plan to include lots of the items I had planned to use last week for this week's meals.

Breakfasts
  • Leftover Cinnamon Buns (these are BEYOND delicious so I am posting the recipe today);
  • Yogurt w/ fruit and Perfect Granola
  • Homemade Biscuits
  • Toast w/Homemade Peach Preserves

Lunches:

Suppers:

NOW... WITHOUT FURTHER ADIEU... the cinnamon buns!

They were beyond wonderful!  I was in awe of the beautiful pastry sitting on my plate.  They were as beautiful as any I had ever seen "under glass" in fancy bakeries!  And delicious?  YUM!  I could go on and on...



But easy?  Super easy!  Seriously!  I made the dough in the bread machine, rolled them out, cut them, and placed each thickly cut roll in a large muffin tin (sprayed).  To some of the cups, I added brown sugar and pecans (I used homemade brown sugar - I think the molasses gave the buns their special sheen) which were flipped out and became true Sticky Buns!  The others, I frosted with powdered sugar/milk/vanilla glaze.  (My husband prefers sticky buns and I prefer the glazed ones!)



Here's exactly how I made Homemade Cinnamon Buns AT HOME MY WAY:

Homemade Cinnamon Buns

 (Bread Machine instructions)
  • 1 1/3 cup very warm water (hot but no hurt)
  • 1 packet of yeast (or 2 teaspoons)
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
 Instructions: Measure the water in a 2 cup measuring cup, add the sugar and yeast. Mix well and set a timer for 10 minutes. Let this get all foamy for 10 minutes and then dump in your bread machine pan.

Add:



  • 1/4 cup oil (vegetable, canola, or even olive oil is fine)
  • 1 blended egg
Next add:
  • 4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt.

Set your bread machine to the dough setting. (Mine takes 2 hours.)
When the dough setting is complete, proceed as below by forming rolls, etc.

Spray your muffin cups with cooking spray well!

Additional Ingredients needed for Cinnamon Buns/Sticky Buns:
  • flour for rolling
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • Cinnamon
  • Melted Butter/Margarine (8 Tablespoons total - Melt 4 Tablespoons for using on each half of the dough when rolling.)
  • Additional brown sugar, if making sticky buns
  • Pecan pieces, if making sticky buns
Forming Rolls:

Cut the dough ball in half.  Sprinkle the dough with flour and roll each half on a floured surface to about 11" x 14".  Spread with melted margarine.  Spread with 1/2 cup of brown sugar, sprinkle well with cinnamon.  Roll lengthwise as for cinnamon rolls.  Cut in thick slices (app.  2 inches for each slice). 

For frosted rolls, place each spiral of dough in a sprayed muffin tin.

For "Sticky Buns" (with caramel/nuts), sprinkle in each sprayed large muffin cup, 1 heaping Tablespoon of brown sugar and some pecan pieces.  Place the spiral of dough in the cup on top of the brown sugar/pecans.



Spray the rolls with cooking spray or cover with a damp cloth and let rise approximately 45 minutes in a warm place. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Bake 25 minutes or just until the the rolls are browning.



Remove from oven, let rest for only 5 minutes.  Loosen rolls with a knife from the edges of the muffin cups.  If making sticky buns, place a plate over the muffin tin, flip so that the buns land upside down on the plate.

If just making frosted rolls, remove each "bun" from the muffin cup and frost with powdered sugar/milk/vanilla glaze.  I used about 1 cup powdered sugar + 2 Tablespoons milk + 1/2 teaspoon vanilla for my glaze.



Now sit back and take in the beauty of homemade pastries!

(**I only made 6 rolls for us this weekend.  I placed the other unbaked rolls (sliced and ready to go) in the freezer on a plate, then bagged them up for baking later, as I only have one large muffin tin and since there are only two of us eating these hunks of loveliness!)



WOW!
 
Enjoy!
 
Gina


I shared this recipe at: