Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins

There is nothing more fantastic than waking up to the warm aroma of freshly baked goodies. Whether it be banana bread, muffins, or (my fave) cinnamon buns, the sweet smell of dough paired with a hot cup of coffee is hard to beat. Today I present to you the best combination of morning goodies, donuts and muffins (!). These muffins are super light and airy, reminiscent of those timbits from Tim Hortons that you used to eat way too many of. Except these are better, and don’t leave you feeling like your arteries are going to explode. Each donut/muffin is coated in a cinnamon-sugar topping, just like the real deal.

Get up early tomorrow morning to make these for everyone in your house. They will love you, trust me. I adapted the recipe from Sweet Pea.

Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins

Muffin

• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/3 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 1-2 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup oil
• 3/4 cup milk

Topping

• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 tbsp cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin.

In a medium sized bowl, mix together all dry ingredients. (I like to sift them to make sure there are no chunks). In a small bowl, whisk the wet ingredients. Slowly beat in the wet ingredients to the dry. Pour batter into muffin tin, filling up 10-12 of the cups, depending on how small you want your muffins.

Bake for 22-24 minutes, until tops are slightly brown and a tooth pick comes out clean. Mix together the sugars and cinnamon in a small bowl, and put melted butter in another small bowl. With each muffin, gently dip the top first into the butter, and then into the cinnamon sugar mixture. Now grab the newspaper and your cup of coffee and enjoy your delicious morning!

Happy Baking! xxx

Caramel Pecan Cinnamon Buns

It is Monday, hailing, and not exactly pretty outside. What happened!? The weekend was so nice here, with no rain and lots (by Vancouver standards) of sunshine. My grandma Judi came out Thursday afternoon to visit me from Calgary, and I swear I have never had a such a good weekend. We packed it full of shopping, good food, spa massages, more good food, great wine, and some fun times at the art deco exhibit at the Vancouver Museum. (Also, why is the Vancouver Museum tucked away in the middle of no where?! I swear that there were maybe three or four other dudes in the whole building whilst we were there. Shouldn’t a museum be kind of a popular place to hang out? Vancouver needs to get its’ act together.) Anywho, I hugged the gran good-bye on Saturday night, and then all of the roomies were off to join in the St. Patty’s Celebrations. Sigh.

Legend. We be poundin' guiness.

In order to make this Monday ten times better, I decided to make cinnamon buns! Is it weird that I call them cinnamon buns and not rolls? Is there really a difference? I think calling them buns is cute. Wittle buns. Anywho, I made these lovely caramel drenched cinnamon buns and I’m in love with them! I usually don’t pour in a layer of caramel before they bake- instead I cover them in a creamy icing after they are cooked. But these are so much better! I love how toasty and flavourful the pecans get.

 

Warm, fluffy, and buttery

I adapted the recipe from The Catalyst: Cupcakes. I have been missing cinnamon buns and this was such a great recipe. Do you ever get serious cravings for particular foods? I had a huge craving for cabanera a couple days ago, and wanted to eat cheese all weekend (which I did).

 

Make these because they are very easy and people will love you and tell you that you’d make an excellent wife (true story).

 

Caramel Pecan Cinnamon Buns

Buns

• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp + 1/8 tsp yeast
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 heaping cups all purpose flour

Sugary-Cinnamon Filling

• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup butter, room temperature

Caramel

• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

 

Mix together the milk, sugar, and butter and microwave for thirty seconds. Whisk until the butter and sugar is evenly

Toasted, candied pecans are the best

melted. Cool until mixture is slightly warm (not hot) and add yeast. Whisk a few times and then let sit with a cloth over bowl for ten minutes. When yeast smell is apparent and bubbles have formed in the mixture, whisk in egg and salt. Slowly stir in flour in 1/3 cup portions, until all flour is incorporated. Dough should be elastic but not sticky! If it is still sticky, add a tablespoon at a time of flour to the dough, and kneed it till it is desired texture.

Kneed dough on a floured surface until all flour is incorporated. Shape into a ball and place in a different bowl, covered, and let rise in a preheated (but then quickly turned off!) oven for 40 minutes. When dough has risen, punch it back down and let rise for 15 minutes more.

While you wait, make caramel. On high heat, stir like crazy the cream and sugar in a small sauce pan. When mixture comes to boil, whisk for a minutes more until a deep caramel colour forms and mixture thickens. Remove sauce from heat and pour into a greased baking pan- 11x11x4 or similar dimensions will work perfectly. Cover the caramel with all the chopped pecans.

Roll dough out on a floured surface into a long rectangle. Spread butter up to all the edges, and sprinkle on the sugars and cinnamon, evenly. Roll up dough length-wise and cut into 20 inch pieces (you’ll get about 12 little buns or you can make them bigger/smaller and lave less/more). Place buns in baking pan on top of caramel and pecan layer. Cook for 35 minutes at 350 degrees. When golden and bubbling, remove buns and let cool for five minutes. Carefully, using oven mitts, flip buns from dish and onto a large serving dish. Let cool for 20 minutes longer. Then DIVE IN!!

 

Best served warm and gooey with a honkin’ big glass of cold milk.

Happy baking!

xx.

Breakfast Mug Cake

Mug cakes are everywhere these days it seems, and whoever came up with the idea gets my nod of approval! The idea of making  single-serving sized cake, baked in a matter of seconds in your microwave, is genius. I have been making mug cakes for my last two breakfasts and it is safe to say that they will become a staple of mine.

next project...combining the coffee mug with the cake mug....

I know, cake for breakfast is not the healthiest choice, but hear me out! My recipe is very healthy because of the various substitutes you can make! The thing about mug cakes is that they don’t have to look perfect, as long as the texture and flavour is the way you want it. Of course, you could totally make yours full of butter and brown sugar and chocolate chips- I won’t tell anyone!

Rainbow mug 🙂

Like I said, there are many variations for this cake. I personally have done banana, cocoa powder, nutella, and peanut butter. But I want to try replacing the banana with grated carrot, and the chocolate with a gooey cream cheese center. Or try a cinnamon bun style!
Breakfast Mug Cake

• 1/4 cup enriched flour (all purpose plus bran)
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp cocoa powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2 tsp stevia
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 a whisked egg (use the other half for tomorrows breaky!)
• 1 tbsp milk
• 1/2 tbsp coconut oil
• 1/2 banana, mashed
• 1/2 tbsp nutella
• 1 tbsp peanut butter

Directions:

Pockets of warm, gooey nutella

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a medium/large mug, then add in the wet. Mix everything well and avoid leaving

flour at the bottom-this does not taste good when cooked. Stir in peanut butter well. Make a hollow in your batter and drop the little bit of nutella inside. Cook in mircowave for 1 minute. If it needs longer, try not to exceed 30 seconds more.

Grab a spoon and dig into a steamy mug of love!

steamy...

Happy breakfast!

xx.

Extreme Green Smoothie

Another green recipe for St. Patty’s! This is one of my favourite smoothies and I tend to have it quite often. I love my fruits and veggies, and I think of this concoction as a way to celebrate them both! Perfect for breakfast or a snack, this smoothie delivers a bevy of nutrients, plus 3 servings of produce and two servings of dairy. The green colour comes from the 2 cups of added spinach, that you can’t even taste! Don’t let the spinach stop you from making this! Believe me when I say it is tasty.

Extreme Green Smoothie

•  1/2 cup frozen banana slices
• 1/2 cup mixed berries
• 1/3 cup yogurt ( like Activia’s raspberry or prune)
• 1/2 cup 1% milk
• 2 cups baby spinach
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ginger
• drizzle of honey if desired

Directions:

Blend banana and milk together, until all banana chunks are removed.  Add in berries, cinnamon, ginger, and yogurt. When well blended, throw in spinach and honey and blend for a few minutes more until a beautiful green colour develops. Add more milk if you prefer a runnier smoothy.

Pour into a tall, iced glass and enjoy!

xx.

St. Patty’s Pancakes

In preparation of this coming St. Patrick’s Day, it seems everyone is making green, booze-filled food. I don’t know about you, but after a while green food becomes quite unappetizing. Maybe it’s just me, but glowing green anything kind of freaks me out. That doesn’t mean I’m gonna be a total party pooper. I want to experiment with green food, and I happen to love anything soaked in Bailey’s Irish Cream!

I made a batch of brownies last night that were topped with an irish cream-marshmallow layer. They were incredibly delicious and decadent, but looked more “Shrek” than pretty. Alas, I will NOT be posting that recipe, until I can make it as visually appealing as it is tasty.

Green cakes drenched in chocolate sawce!!

Instead, I bring to you a fat stack of plump, moist  pancakes. These guys are light and fluffy with that undeniable pancake flavour. I drenched them in a cream cheese, chocolate, irish cream sauce and man-oh-man were they good. They reminded me of some kind of mint candy, so maybe next time I’ll add a dash on peppermint extract to them.

St. Patty’s Pancakes

Cakes

• 1/2 cup enriched white flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup irish cream
• 1/2 tsp lemon
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 4 drops green food colouring

Sauce

• 1 tbsp cream cheese
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp irish cream
• 2 tbsp semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 tbsp confectioner’s sugar

Directions:

Mix dry ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside. In another small bowl, whisk egg, then whisk in cream, food colouring, lemon, and oil. Mix in dry ingredients but don’t over-stir! 

Set stove to medium-high heat and add a bit of oil to a large frying pan. When oil sizzles, drop 1/3 cup portions of batter into pan. Cook for 3 minutes each side. Remove cakes from heat.

While pancakes cook, mix together sauce ingredients. Microwave for a minute until chocolate chips melt. Whisk until sauce is thoroughly combined and pour-able. If needed, add more cream. Drizzle sauce on top of pancakes and serve.

Happy breakfast!

xx.

Long Live Breakfast!

Usually I like to dig into a big, gooey bowl of peanut butter oatmeal with bananas for breakfast. I’ve been using Chia seeds with it now, and they are great! They are like a natural thickening agent, so your oatmeal is more pudding-like. I don’t think i made that sound any more appealing, but trust me, they are great! Plus they have a ton of fiber, protein, and good fats for very little calories.

To be honest, Peanut Butter in anything is good

But sometimes I feel like eggs. Fried or poached so that they are nice and gooey, and like butter in your mouth. Topped with cheddar cheese, avocado, and salsa? Doesn’t get much better.

Huevos, anyone?

And if I am feeling more of a brunch mood, I like to get some greens in, and keep it classic with gravlax. Salmon, cream cheese, capers, and a little onion and lemon hit the spot like nothing else.

Perfect for brunch

And of course, if I wanna keep things real, I go with bacon, buttermilk pancakes, and real Canadian maple syrup. Tastes like home!

ok....now I'm hungry...

I guess what I’m trying to say is, breakfast is my favourite meal of the day. It sets the mood for your day and provides the most delicious form of energy.

Happy Breaky!

xox

Banana and Almond Butter Buckwheat Pancakes

Tasty breakfast! These are some of the best pancakes I’v ever head. Not even joking. Maybe it’s the heartiness of the buckwheat (I’ve never used buckwheat in pancakes before!), but I couldn’t stop eating these things!

These can be completely vegan, but I opted in using an egg because I didn’t have any flax meal on hand. I’ve put the vegan substitutes in brackets in the recipe.

Stack of Fat cakes

My friend Kristen just recently made these and they looked so good I had to try them.

Banana Almond Butter Buckwheat Pancakes

• 1/2 cup buckwheat flour plus 1 tbsp
• 1/3 cup quick oats
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• pinch salt
• 1 tsp honey
• 2 tbsp milk (or soy or almond)
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 egg (or 1 tbsp flax meal)
• 1 heaping tsp cinnamon
• splash of vanilla
• water to add, if you like runnier batter
• 1/2 banana
• 1/2 tbsp peanut butter

Directions:

Mix buckwheat flour and oats together. Stir in baking powder, soda, salt, ad cinnamon. Pour in milk, honey, and vanilla. Stir until combined. Add egg, mix, and finally add in the extra tbsp of buckwheat.

I love almond butter on everything

Set a pan or griddle to medium heat and spray with cooking spray. Drop batter into three pancakes on pan. Place sliced bananas on top and gently push into pancakes.Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, then transfer to plate. Top with peanut butter (or any other toppings you like).Enjoy!

xox.

🙂

Birthday Peanut-Butter Banana and Chocolate-Chip French Toast

20 years.

That is 240 months. Or 7305 days. Or 631 138 519 seconds.

That is 2 decades.

It seems like it took forever to get here, but really that’s not very old. I still look like I’m 16 and i’ll probably still look 16 until I’m thirty. Maybe i’ll get a wrinkle or two. Mom is 42 today (same birthdays weeeee!) and she hasn’t aged at all! Good genes?

Filled with peanut butter and chocolate chips

Make this for your birthday breakfast! Or any breakfast because it’s just that good.

Birthday Peanut-Butter and Chocolate-Chip French Toast

Ingredients

• 2 pieces of bread (whatever kind floats your boat)
• 1 tsp vegetable oil, or butter
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/6 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/2 medium banana
• 1 tbsp peanut butter
• 1 tbsp each of peanut butter chips and chocolate chips
• confectioner’s sugar (optional)

Directions:

Pour oil onto a griddle or frying pan and put stove on medium heat.Whisk egg, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and brown sugar together. Pour in a shallow bowl. Set aside.

Assemble sandwich: spread peanut butter on one piece of bread, and top with banana slices and the P.B. and Choco chips. Dip sandwich into egg mixture, and let soak for a couple minutes on either side.

Place sandwich onto griddle/frying pan and cook for a couple minutes on each side. Transfer sandwich to a plate, cut in half, and sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar.

Enjoy!

xox

Lemon Cream Cheese Glazed Cinnamon Buns

Good evening ladies and gentlemen!

I had the most uneventful Saturday. slept in, made these puppies, attempted to do homework, and fell asleep multiple times while trying to read Hobbes’ Leviathan. For the record, that guy was crazy. Angry, pessimistic, and just downright sad. Rough life.

These were so delightful and bright-tasting this morning! The lemon flavour really came through, and the cream cheese kept it just savoury enough to keep flavours balanced. The buns had a soft, chewy texture, and that distinct yeast aroma. Yum.

Lemon glaze for a sunny morning.

There is something about the process of making cinnamon buns that I just love. Or maybe it’s just working with yeast. I want to try making more complicated breads, using starters. If anyone knows of any good recipes let me know! I have been checking out some sourdough recipes….

Lemon Cream Cheese Glazed Cinnamon Buns

Buns

• 1 tbsp yeast
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tbsp finely grated lemon zest
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Filling

• 4 tbsp butter
• 1-2 tbsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup brown sugar

Glaze

• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 3 tbsp milk (or as much as you like for consistency)
• 2 cups confectioners sugar
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• juice of half a lemon

Instructions:

Mix yeast, 1/4 cup milk, and 1/3 cup sugar together and let rise for 5 minutes until bubbly. Then add in rest of milk, butter, eggs, zest, and salt. Beat until thoroughly combined. Slowly add in flour until a large dough ball forms. Place dough ball in a greased bowl and cover. Let rise in a warm area (preheated then turned off oven) for an hour or until doubled in size.Punch down dough and roll out on a floured surface, in a large rectangle (the dimensions don’t really matter, unless you are specific about the size of your rolls).  Spread 1/4 cup of butter over dough, then sprinkle cinnamon and sugar over top. Rolly up length-wise and cut into 3 inch pieces. Arrange in a greased dish so as all buns are touching. Let rise for 20 minutes.Preheat oven to 375 degrees and bake rolls for 30-35 minutes (watch that they don’t burn!). Removes and let cool in dish.For icing: beat cream cheese, milk, sugar, lemon, and vanilla together until smooth and creamy. Pour over buns.

Serve warm, gooey and oozing.

Daaammmmmnnnnnnnn…….

Feast my friends, Feast!

The snow up at Whistler is ridiculous. If anyone in Vancouver is going up tomorrow, wanna give me a ride?? Please?? I’ll give you one of these!!

xox

New Years Cinnamon Buns

Happy New Years! How was everyones night? Get rowdy? I had a lovely night out and boogied my ass off. Fun times indeed. And, while we were all chatting and drinking, I decided to bake (CAUTION: baking while drinking is not a good idea).

I keep forgetting that my oven here in calgary cooks food much faster, and thus I keep overcooking EVERYTHING. I hate it! I made these gorgeous cinnamon buns, and sadly took them out just minutes too late. They were still delicious and gooey, but I found them to be stiff. Cinnamon buns are better under-cooked than over, so keep your eye on them in the oven!

Just over-done!

Cinnamon Buns

 

• 1 1/4 cups warm milk (not hot)
• 4 teaspoons dry active yeast
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 tablespoons melted butter, plus an additional 8 tablespoons, divided use
• 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1 2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

In the bowl, mix together milk, yeast, and 1 tablespoon sugar. Let rise for 10 minutes.

Add 1/2 cup brown sugar, eggs, 2 tablespoons melted butter, baking powder and salt, and mix on medium speed until combined. Mix in flour, gradually, and continue to beat for an additional 3-4 minutes. Grease a large mixing bowl and scrape dough into it. Dough will be sticky! Don’t add more flour. Cover the bowl with a towel or plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm area for 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in bulk.

Roll dough out onto a floured surface, using a floured rolling pin, into a 1/4-thick rectangle. Roll dough into a 1/4-inch thick rectangle and melt 5 tablespoons butter and brush 3/4 of it over the surface of the dough. Sprinkle evenly with brown sugar and cinnamon. Roll the dough up, using the shorter ends. Slice roll into 1-inch thick slices, and place into 2 greased 13×9-inch baking dishes. Brush the tops of cinnamon buns with remaining 3 tbsp butter. Cover cinnamon buns and allow to rise in a warm area for 30-45 minutes, or until doubled in bulk. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Bake cinnamon rolls for 22-25 minutes, or until light golden brown. Do not overbake! Cool for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the glaze: whisk confectioners sugar, cream, and vanilla extract until well combined. Pour glaze over buns.

Makes 9 monster sized cinnamon rolls

I can’t actually stop eating these (like everything else I guess). They are so perfect for snacking on!
Happy baking!!