I adore making applesauce, it’s simple and so yummy. Homemade applesauce is something that my kids adore. Some of them like it while it’s still warm, some of them prefer it after it’s cooled in the fridge awhile. Either way, there’s never any complaints and since I know exactly what’s going in it (all organic fruits and no sugar), I feel great about serving it.

This is a great twist on a simple favorite. By adding in rhubarb and strawberries kids are getting a great mix of tastes as well as added colors and vitamins! The rhubarb can tend to add a very tangy and almost sour-like flavor so feel free to add a little honey to sweeten it up (or other sweetener if you have a little one under age 1).

Strawberry Rhubarb Applesauce

Approximately 6-8 servings

Ingredients:

4-5 large apples
3 rhubarb stalks
1/2 pint strawberries
1/4 cup water

Instructions:

• Peel rhubarb and cut into small pieces.
• Core and peel apple and chop into small chunks.
• Remove stems from strawberries.
• Combine all ingredients into a pot and add water.
• Cook mixture over medium heat until boiling. Turn heat down and open cover just enough to allow a bit of steam to escape the pot.
• Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the you no longer see apple chunks, and sauce looks thick, approximately 30 minutes. Turn heat off when there is still a bit of water left in pot. Allow to cool and then refrigerate until ready to serve.

Tips: 

You can use cranberries as a substitute for rhubarb in this recipe.
If you prefer a chunkier texture simply do not simmer the mixture as long.

Image Credit: © TeamCrucillo – Fotolia.com

I adore smoothies, they are simple, quick and not only refreshing but so very good for you. This week has been gorgeous in our area and has me feeling all summery so I wanted to feature this fabulous Sweet Citrus Smoothie with all of you.

Sweet Citrus Smoothie

Ingredients:

2 cups vanilla fat-free yogurt
2 medium bananas cut into chunks
1 cup frozen strawberries
1 cup orange juice

Instructions:

Place banana chunks and strawberries in blender. Blend on low until broken up. Add yogurt and orange juice. Continue blending on high until mixture is smooth. Serve immediately.

Yes, it really is that simple! Feel free to print out or save a pdf of this recipe by clicking the button.

Photo: from fotolia.com

As promised ladies, today you’re in for Treat 3 featuring a recipe from The Looneyspoons Collection as well as another Interview segment from the authors, Janet and Greta Podleski. Once again, I’m in love with the versatility of the recipes in their cookbook and today I’m so excited to feature their Welcome Back, ‘Cotta recipe (your kids will love you forever) and the last Q&A Segment from my Interview with them where they give moms their biggest tip to make cooking more healthy.

If you haven’t already, make sure you hop on over to the first Looneyspoons post and ENTER to win this amazing cookbook for your home!!!! Hurry though today is the LAST day to enter!

Since we’re focusing a little more on the kid friendly recipes from the book today (trust me there are plenty of them), I have it on good authority that “You’re Pudding Me On” (warm banana bread pudding with chocolate chips and pecans – on pg 321) is a all-time kid fave and they don’t have a clue that it’s healthy for them. There’s not just one, but two whole sections of dessert recipes, there’s even a recipe for dog cookies for your furry family members!

For those who live in Canada, did you know that Costco’s Canada locations carry Janet and Greta’s food products? I’m soooo totally jealous!!! I must petition them at once to carry them here! Enough whining though lol…moving on to the cooking and talking!

Final Interview Q&A segment…

My question: If there was any one thing you think moms could do to make cooking more healthy, what would you suggest?

Make a plan, Stan! If you want to eat more healthfully, it takes some effort in preparing ahead, and knowing what you’re going to eat. A lot of people don’t plan, and then on the way home from work they’re so hungry they could knaw on their steering wheel, and that’s when bad choices are made—drive-thru, take-out, junk foods. If you take the time to make a grocery list and shop  for healthy ingredients, and then maybe make some recipes on Sunday that can be eaten during the week for lunches or dinners, healthy eating is a breeze. You can freeze soup, stew and chili, for instance. Healthy eating takes a little bit of planning, but after a while, it becomes second nature!

Hmmm… I love this answer, it totally supports my encouragement to all of you to plan plan plan your family’s meals. When you create menus using a book like this, wow!

Welcome Back ‘Cotta

(used with permission from The Looneyspoons Collection pg. 332)
Lemon-ricotta pancakes with fresh blueberry sauce

Blueberry Sauce
2 cups fresh blueberries
¼ cup water
¼ cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp freshly squeezed
lemon juice
1½ tsp cornstarch

• To make sauce, combine blueberries, water and sugar in a small pot. Heat over medium-high heat  until mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for about 2 minutes, until some of the blueberries begin to burst.
• Combine lemon juice and cornstarch in a small bowl and mix well. Add to blueberry mixture. Cook and stir until sauce thickens, about 1 more minute. Remove from heat, cover and keep warm.

Pancakes
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
¹⁄³ cup oat bran
¼ cup granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 cup part-skim or extrasmooth ricotta cheese
¹⁄³ cup 1% milk
¼ cup freshly squeezed
lemon juice
2 eggs
2 tbsp butter, melted
2 tsp grated lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla

• Preheat griddle to medium-high heat. To make pancakes, combine flour, oat bran, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Mix well. In a medium bowl, whisk together ricotta, milk, lemon juice, eggs, butter, lemon zest and vanilla.
• Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Batter will be thick. (You’ll notice an almost instant chemical reaction and the batter will begin to fluff up…that’s the baking powder and baking soda in action! Don’t dillydally, get these babies on the griddle!)
• Spoon batter by ½-cupfuls onto preheated griddle that has been lightlycoated with cooking spray. Gently spread batter to about a 5-inch diameter. Cook for about 1½ minutes per side, until pancakes are light golden brown and cooked through. Be careful not to burn them. Serve hot, topped with blueberry sauce.

As promised, today is Treat 2 featuring The Looneyspoons Collection by Janet & Greta Podleski. Today I will not only be featuring another Q&A from my interview with them, but I am also featuring their fabulous Corn, Black Bean and Mango Fandango (which is a yummy fresh salad) recipe straight from the book that they so graciously offered me to feature for all of you.

The image to the right is actually the bottom portion of page 40 from The Looneyspoons Collection. See that Nutrition Nugget there? Yep, you can find tons of those throughout the book and many other amazing and hilarious fun facts and drawings.

It’s truly a treat to read this cookbook, I have been hard pressed to seriously get down to planning my weekly menu from it as I get so caught up in all the extras!!!

It was actually very difficult for me to decide which to feature first, the interview or the recipe. I decided that since you all needed to get a “taste” of their recipes, I would put that up first, but you definitely will not want to miss the interview part either!

Corn, Black Bean and Mango Fandango

(used with permission from The Looneyspoons Collection – pg 40)
Colorful corn and black bean salad with mango and avocado

Ingredients
1 can (19 oz/540 mL) no-salt-added
black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (14 oz/398 mL) whole-kernel corn, drained
1 large mango, peeled and diced
1 cup quartered grape tomatoes
1 cup diced red bell pepper
½ cup chopped green onions
2 tbsp minced fresh cilantro
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tbsp olive oil
¼ tsp each salt and freshly ground black pepper
¹⁄8 tsp each ground cumin and chili powder (see tip)
1 cup diced avocado (see tip)

Directions:

• Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Serve immediately or chill before serving. (We prefer this salad at room temperature.) As with most dishes containing avocado, this dish tastes best when eaten the day it’s made.

Recipe Tips: For added kick, try chipotle chili powder—it’s sold beside the regular chili powder in the spice aisle. Avocado turns brown quickly, so peel, slice and add it to the salad just before serving.

Interview Q&A

One of the questions I asked them for our interview is how the two of them got started in creating and publishing recipes. Their answer was so insanely thorough and intriguing I decided it deserved it’s very own segment! I truly hope you enjoy this little glimpse into these ladies’ history with recipes and more as much as I did!

The road to where they are now…..

Fifteen years ago, we had a crazy idea to create a cookbook that would take the intimidation out of healthy eating by making it outrageously fun, easy and absolutely delicious. One month after coming up with the idea, we both quit our safe, secure jobs (on the same day!) so we could work on our idea full time.

We went 14 months with NO income, and ended up $80,000 in debt! But we refused to quit, and instead had yard sales to raise money. At one of the yard sales, I drove my car onto the front lawn and sold it for $5,000 because we so desperately needed the money! (I also sold my wedding dress. I tried to give my husband as a gift with purchase, but there were no takers!) Eventually, we finished the book and sent our manuscript to publishers, but were rejected by

all of them. They said our book was too different, and that “food and humor don’t go together.” They told us not to quit our day jobs. Too late!

It was like the Kevin Costner “Field of Dreams” movie… “If you build it, they will come.” We were so passionate and so determined, and so convinced that this book would change
people’s lives for the better, we refused to give up. Desperate, but undaunted, we eventually decided to self-publish our book, entitled “Looneyspoons.” That book, published in 1996, went on to sell 900,000 copies, and spent 85 weeks on Canada’s national bestseller list (8 months at the #1 spot!) This led to a second book, “Crazy Plates” (a finalist for the James Beard Cookbook Awards) and a third book, “Eat, Shrink & Be Merry!” (voted top-selling cookbook of the entire decade 2000-2009 by Canada’s largest book chain, Chapters. It outsold Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay, Rachel Ray, Martha Stewart and all of the other top chefs!)

Our willingness to risk it all eventually led to a Food Network TV series called Eat, Shrink & Be Merry, a line of grEATing cards with Hallmark, and a line of healthy food products at Costco in Canada. And now, with The Looneyspoons Collection, we have our best-ever creation (if we can humbly say so ourselves!). It’s the culmination of 15 years of hard work and experience and passion. It was a true labor of love to create, and we literally drained our
brains on it!

Our inspirational, “rags-to-riches” self-publishing success story is featured in many university marketing textbooks across the country, and it’s even the subject of several Trivial Pursuit questions! You can read the whole story at JanetandGreta.com/thesisters.

I hope you’ve enjoyed these segments as much as I have! Another great recipe and my very favorite Q&A from the interview will be featured on Tuesday so be sure to check back then!!!

Disclosure: Please read our full disclosure policy here, as with any feature, we likely received product and/or other compensation. We stand by our policy of honesty in all we say. All thoughts and opinions expressed are unique, original and solely that of the author.

I had no idea… it was one of those moments that had me completely speechless. As I was hopping about the internet for fun Easter/spring photos to pin for all of you I stumbled upon Williams-Sonoma. Yes, I most certainly knew that they existed… but I HAD NO CLUE about the recipes and such goodness.

As the mouth watering list went on and on {this was only the Springtime Desserts page mind you}, I was mesmerized by all the wonderful sounding names {sure, a few are difficult to pronounce, oh but they are beautiful words}. Obviously, as I stared transfixed at my computer screen {which in reality could simply be pure exhaustion}, I knew I was hooked and I had to dig deeper.

Side dishes was my next stop {and the last for today} since that is what I have to bring to Easter dinner this Sunday. From there I chose vegetables, what pray tell in the vast selection of images displayed before me could I make into something the multitudes of family members could enjoy?

Then I saw it… on page 2 of 16 {thank goodness!} and I knew it was THE ONE! Baked Tomatoes and Zucchini!

Ok, so maybe that’s not something that everyone would jump for joy over, but it’s simple {I love simple}, yet everything about it is fresh and so easy to get this time of year around here. Plus the beautiful colors in rows even in my large and vastly unattractive bakeware is still something to behold.

Below is the recipe for you, and be sure to check {and follow} our Pinterest boards for more amazing ideas!

Baked Tomatoes and Zucchini

Recipe and Photo from Williams-Sonoma

Look for plum tomatoes and zucchini with similar diameters so that you have uniform slices to arrange attractively atop the sautéed red onions that form an aromatic base for this Mediterranean-inspired side dish.

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbs. olive oil
• 1 red onion, sliced
• Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 3/4 lb. plum tomatoes, sliced
• 2 small zucchini, about 3/4 lb. total, sliced
• 1 Tbs. minced fresh basil
• 1 Tbs. minced fresh marjoram
• 1/4 cup water or chicken broth

Directions:

Preheat an oven to 350°F. Butter or oil a shallow 2-quart baking dish.

In a fry pan over medium heat, warm the oil. Add the onion and sauté slowly until very soft and beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Transfer the onion slices to the prepared baking dish, spreading them evenly over the bottom. Season with salt and pepper.

Arrange the tomato slices and zucchini slices over the onion in alternate rows. Sprinkle with the basil and marjoram and season with salt and pepper. Pour the water evenly over the vegetables.

Cover and bake until the vegetables are bubbling and tender, about 40 minutes. Remove from the oven, uncover and serve hot directly from the dish.

*Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Lifestyles Series, Chicken for Dinner, by Heidi Haughy Cusick (Time-Life Books, 1998).

As Valentine’s Day quickly approaches, I wanted to share some super fun ideas that aren’t going to completely ruin your healthy eating plan! So I went to work searching the internet and since I plan to do a Fun Fondue night here at home with the family for Valentine’s Day, this recipe I found for Chocolate Fondue from Eating Well was perfect!

If you’re a little daunted by the idea of making fondue for your family, don’t be! You don’t have to have a fancy 1970′s fondue set, a crockpot (or three in my case) and bamboo skewers work perfectly well.

Note that this recipe is only for 2 servings so be prepared to adjust accordingly. Also, I know that the recipe calls for heavy cream, but you can totally substitute in a healthy non-fat yogurt.

I recommend bananas, strawberries, graham crackers, pound cake, angel food cake and any other fruit that can be portioned well for dipping and tastes great with chocolate.

Chocolate Fondue – Eating Well

From EatingWell: January/February 2008
The chocolate will stiffen if it gets cold, so enjoy it while it’s still warm. Skewer and dip anything you like—pear slices, dried apricots, even marshmallows.

2 servings | Active Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon brewed espresso, (see Kitchen Tip)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
1 banana, peeled and cut into 8 pieces
8 1-inch chunks fresh pineapple
4 strawberries

Preparation

Place chocolate, cream, espresso, vanilla and salt in a medium microwave-safe bowl; microwave on Medium, stirring every 20 seconds, until melted, 1 to 2 minutes. (Alternatively, see “No Microwave?” below.)
Pour the chocolate mixture into a serving bowl. Serve with fruit.
Nutrition

Per serving : 345 Calories; 19 g Fat; 10 g Sat; 2 g Mono; 20 mg Cholesterol; 54 g Carbohydrates; 4 g Protein; 7 g Fiber; 81 mg Sodium; 382 mg Potassium

3 Carbohydrate Serving

Exchanges: 2 fruit, 1 carbohydrate (other), 4 fat

Tips & Notes

Make Ahead Tip: Equipment: Fondue forks or bamboo skewers
Kitchen Tip: If you don’t have an espresso maker, look for instant espresso powder at your supermarket.
No Microwave? Place chopped chocolate in the top of a double boiler over hot, but not boiling water. Gently stir until almost melted. Remove from the heat and stir until the chocolate melts completely.

Image from Eating Well Chocolate Fondue page

The recipe I’m featuring today was such a GREAT find I am so excited! I have been wanting to do something fun and a little different for snacks and maybe even occasionally for breakfast, so I’m eager to try this. You see, we can’t seem to keep cold cereal on hand (nope, not even the whole grain nut type), two boxes are gone in one sitting and we all know how expensive that would be on a daily basis.

There are many mornings where making a full breakfast just doesn’t work well so it’s great to have something quick to grab. Also, the hungries hit the boys frequently throughout the day and I love knowing I have something healthy to give them that will fill them up and really feed their bodies well.

So, as I was looking around online I stumbled upon eatbetteramerica.com and their wonderful Healthified Oatmeal Peanut Butter Breakfast Cookies (quite a mouthful in so many ways lol). Everything about this recipe I love! It uses natural peanut butter (you should always use the unsalted unsweetened type anyway, it doesn’t take long for the family to get used to it I promise) and honey. There’s NO white sugar in this recipe, what an amazing healthful treat for your family!

Healthified Oatmeal Peanut Butter Breakfast Cookies

from eatbetteramerica.com

Ingredients

Nonstick cooking spray
1/2 cup mashed banana (about 1 large)
1/2 cup chunky natural peanut butter (unsalted and unsweetened)
1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup Gold Medal® whole wheat flour
1/4 cup nonfat dry milk powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup dried cranberries or raisins

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly coat two cookie sheets with cooking spray; set aside. In a large bowl, stir together banana, peanut butter, honey, and vanilla. In a small bowl, combine oats, flour, milk powder, cinnamon, and baking soda. Stir the oat mixture into the banana mixture until combined. Stir in dried cranberries.
2. Using a ¼-cup measure, drop mounds of dough 3 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets. With a thin metal or small plastic spatula dipped in water, flatten and spread each mound of dough to a 2¾-inch round, about ½ inch thick.
3. Bake, one sheet at a time, for 14 to 16 minutes or until browned. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Store in an airtight container or resealable plastic bag for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 2 months; thaw before serving.

Nutritional Information
1 Serving: Calories 220 (Calories from Fat 60); Total Fat 7g (Saturated Fat 1g, Trans Fat 0g); Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium 35mg; Total Carbohydrate 38g (Dietary Fiber 4g, Sugars 22g); Protein 6g Percent Daily Value*: Vitamin A 2%; Vitamin C 2%; Calcium 4%; Iron 8% Exchanges: 2 Starch; 1/2 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Vegetable; 1 Fat Carbohydrate Choices: 2 1/2
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Image ©JJAVA – fotolia.com

Healthy eating is extremely important to me and my family.  That being said, there is something so wonderful about a decadent, rich, dessert, and sometimes, I just can’t help myself.  This winter, salted caramel anything has been my favorite go-to treat.

It seems like salted caramel is everywhere!  Even Starbucks has been whipping up salted caramel lattes and they are delicious!  This is a recipe that I found on BabyCenter back in December and was adapted from A Cozy Kitchen.  It was extremely easy to make, and they were a big hit at the many holiday parties that I brought them to.  I hope you enjoy it!!

Cookies:

• 1 1/2 stick of unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup of granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cup of all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Caramel: (**You can either use this recipe to make your caramel or simply melt the store bought kind.  I cheated and used the store bought kind, but it was a little bit harder than I would have liked.  Next time I will definitely be trying to make my own!)

• 1/2 cup of granulated sugar
• 2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Use an electric mixer to cream together the butter, sugar and egg. Add vanilla. Separately, sift together the flour and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture. Mix just until the dough comes together. Refrigerate for 1 hour, up to overnight.

Scoop level tablespoons of dough and roll into balls.

Place on a silpat or parchment-lined cookie sheet.  (I used a silpat and worked perfectly!)

Press your thumb into the top of each ball, creating a place for the caramel. (I let my son help me do this, because he loves to help me bake.  When he wasn’t looking, I made the thumbprints bigger.)

Bake at 350 for 10 to 15 minutes, until they’re barely golden on the sides. Remove from oven and immediately re-poke your thumbprints if they’ve faded. (Be careful!! I did a good job of burning my fingers while trying to do this.  I found that a baby spoon, if you have one around, did just as good of a job!) Let them cool. While they’re cooling, make the caramel…or melt your store bought caramel like I did!

To make the caramel:

Combine the sugar and 2 tablespoons water in a medium saucepan.  Do not stir. Cook over medium-high heat to a dark caramel color, swirling as it begins to brown to distribute the sugar. While the sugar and water cooking, heat up the cream in a saucepan or microwave just until warm.

Take off the heat and add your room temperature butter. Whisk the butter in, being sure it’s totally combined. Add your warmed cream and whisk vigorously. Mixture will bubble, then settle down to a velvety caramel.

By now your cookies should be cooled. Spoon the caramel in to the thumbprints and top with sea salt.

Enjoy!

Makes approximately 2 dozen cookies.

As we ring in the New Year, I’m on the lookout some yummy and surprisingly healthy food that the whole family will love!

Around here breakfast has the most loved foods and waffles are at the very top of that list. So as we all start trying to get a little healthier, here’s a great recipe from EatingWell. Top these amazing waffles with fresh (or warmed) berries or fruit and a dollop of yogurt for a truly delicious treat.

EatingWell Waffles

From EatingWell:  July/August 1992, EatingWell for a Healthy Heart Cookbook (2008)

6 servings | Active Time: 40 minutes | Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups nonfat buttermilk, (see Tip)
• 1 large egg, separated
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract, (optional)
• 2 large egg whites
• 2 tablespoons sugar

Preparation

1. Stir whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a large bowl. Whisk buttermilk, the egg yolk, oil and vanilla (if using) in a separate bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon just until moistened.
2. Beat the 3 egg whites in a grease-free mixing bowl with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add sugar and continue beating until stiff and glossy. Whisk one-quarter of the beaten egg whites into the batter. Fold in the remaining beaten egg whites with a rubber spatula.
3. Preheat a waffle iron. Brush the surface lightly with oil. Fill the waffle iron two-thirds full of batter. Cook until the waffles are crisp and golden, 5 to 6 minutes. Repeat with the remaining batter, brushing the surface with oil before cooking each batch.

Nutrition
Per serving : 241 Calories; 4 g Fat; 0 g Sat; 2 g Mono; 37 mg Cholesterol; 41 g Carbohydrates; 11 g Protein; 3 g Fiber; 450 mg Sodium; 285 mg Potassium

3 Carbohydrate Serving

Exchanges: 2 1/2 other carbohydrate, 1/2 fat

Tips & Notes

• Tip: No buttermilk? You can use buttermilk powder prepared according to package directions. Or make “sour milk”: the ratio is 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar to 1 cup milk.

Planning the food for the holiday can be fun or stressful and overwhelming. Around here, cinnamon rolls are pretty much a tradition now for Thanksgiving and Christmas morning. Yes they are a lot sweeter than what I typically serve, but when tempered by scrambled eggs, hash browns or country potatoes and applesauce or another fruit, it’s just a fun part of a traditional breakfast.

For oh-so-many reasons I usually purchase Rhodes cinnamon rolls – they are in the freezer section and our local stores used to carry them in both regular and orange (we LOVED the orange ones around here and I’m so sad they don’t have them at our local grocer anymore). The moment my schedule (and kitchen size) allows me to really bake again though, this is definitely a recipe I’d love to try!

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

(Recipe: Alton Brown – Food Network)

Ingredients

Dough:

• 4 large egg yolks, room temperature
• 1 large whole egg, room temperature
• 2 ounces sugar, approximately 1/4 cup
• 3 ounces unsalted butter, melted, approximately 6 tablespoons
• 6 ounces buttermilk, room temperature
• 20 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 cups, plus additional for dusting
• 1 package instant dry yeast, approximately 2 1/4 teaspoons
• 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
• Vegetable oil or cooking spray

Filling:

• 8 ounces light brown sugar, approximately 1 cup packed
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch salt
• 3/4-ounce unsalted butter, melted, approximately 1 1/2 tablespoons

Icing:

• 2 1/2 ounces cream cheese, softened, approximately 1/4 cup
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 5 1/2 ounces powdered sugar, approximately 1 1/2 cups

Directions

For the dough: in the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whisk the egg yolks, whole egg, sugar, butter, and buttermilk. Add approximately 2 cups of the flour along with the yeast and salt; whisk until moistened and combined. Remove the whisk attachment and replace with a dough hook. Add all but 3/4 cup of the remaining flour and knead on low speed for 5 minutes. Check the consistency of the dough, add more flour if necessary; the dough should feel soft and moist but not sticky. Knead on low speed 5 minutes more or until the dough clears the sides of the bowl. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface; knead by hand about 30 seconds. Lightly oil a large bowl. Transfer the dough to the bowl, lightly oil the top of the dough, cover and let double in volume, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Mix until well incorporated. Set aside until ready to use.

Butter a 9 by 13-inch glass baking dish. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Gently shape the dough into a rectangle with the long side nearest you. Roll into an 18 by 12-inch rectangle. Brush the dough with the 3/4-ounce of melted butter, leaving 1/2-inch border along the top edge. Sprinkle the filling mixture over the dough, leaving a 3/4-inch border along the top edge; gently press the filling into the dough. Beginning with the long edge nearest you, roll the dough into a tight cylinder. Firmly pinch the seam to seal and roll the cylinder seam side down. Very gently squeeze the cylinder to create even thickness. Using a serrated knife, slice the cylinder into 1 1/2-inch rolls; yielding 12 rolls. Arrange rolls cut side down in the baking dish; cover tightly with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator overnight or up to 16 hours.

Remove the rolls from the refrigerator and place in an oven that is turned off. Fill a shallow pan 2/3-full of boiling water and set on the rack below the rolls. Close the oven door and let the rolls rise until they look slightly puffy; approximately 30 minutes. Remove the rolls and the shallow pan of water from the oven.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

When the oven is ready, place the rolls on the middle rack and bake until golden brown, or until the internal temperature reaches 190 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, approximately 30 minutes.

While the rolls are cooling slightly, make the icing by whisking the cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer until creamy. Add the milk and whisk until combined. Sift in the powdered sugar, and whisk until smooth. Spread over the rolls and serve immediately.