Cinnamon Chip Bread

Ahem, as Thanksgiving is only 3 days away I figured I'd throw a recipe up for some Cinnamon Chip bread!  ...Huh?  Yeah, it's not a Thanksgiving recipe but more of a straight up any time of year type of recipe, ya know what I mean?  I figured that the blog world is full of Thanksgiving recipes and ideas right about now so wouldn't it be grand to just give you something you could make today or tomorrow or well, anyday...just for funsies!  

This recipe is super easy, just mix the ingredients together and let proof...really don't let the yeast scare you!!  You can find cinnamon chips in the baking aisle alongside the chocolate chips in most any store nowadays, I even spied them at Wal-Mart.  They are super yummy particularly in this bread but also in muffins, cookies and pancakes...really, not lying here.  Okay, well enjoy your bread...maybe for breakfast on Thanksgiving morning?  :-)

Cinnamon Chip Bread -print this recipe HERE-

5-6 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 Tbsp yeast

2 eggs

2 cups water

1 1/2 tsp vegetable oil

2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups cinnamon chips

Mix 2 cups of the flour, sugar and yeast together in a large bowl.  Begin adding eggs, water and oil, the dough mixture should be slightly runny.  Add salt, cinnamon chips and the remaining flour until the dough starts pulling away from the bowl (you may or may not need the last cup of flour).  Place dough in another greased bowl, cover with a clean towel and let rise for one hour.  Then shape dough into two greased bread pans and cover again with a clean towel.  Let rise for another hour or until doubled in size.  Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes...Voila!  You now have some easy-peasy yeast bread!!

Place 2 cups of flour in your mixing bowl...

Then add your sugar and 1 1/2 tbsp yeast and mix well.

Then add the water, eggs and oil...

Your dough mixture should be runny at this point...kinda like cake batter!

Then add your cinnamon chips, salt and remaining flour (one cup at a time!!)

Once the dough starts pulling away from your mixing bowl it's ready to proof!!  

Place the dough in a greased bowl (I grease mine with cooking spray) and cover with a clean towel.  Let rise in a warm, draft-free place for one hour.  This picture is after the first hour of rising.

**I like to put it in the oven at a very low temperature like 125 degrees or so.  If your oven doesn't go that low (my old one never did, ev-ah!) than you can just place a pie plate on the bottom of your oven (not turned on!) and fill with boiling water.  This will make your oven a warm environment for the bread to rise.  You may need to heat up the water once or twice within the hour's time too so what I did was just boil water in my tea kettle cause a full kettle of boiling water stays pretty hot for quite a while.**

After the dough has proofed for one hour, take it out and shape it into two greased bread pans.

Cover with a clean towel and let the bread dough rise for another hour!

Check out that dough...doubled in size, Wahooooo!

Your bread dough should look like the picture above after your second rising!

Then just bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes...

And you'll get this...........

YUM!!!

Don't you just love fresh, warm bread right out of the oven!

Mmmm, cinnamon-y smells throughout your house!

Your family will LOVE you!

Pinky swear :-)

Happy Monday Y'all!

Easter Fun...Resurrection Rolls

Need a fun idea to help talk about the meaning of Easter to your kids? It's so easy for the Easter holiday to be all about Easter baskets full of candy, no? A great way to do it is by baking up some Resurrection Rolls. They are soooo easy to make and taste super yummy, your kids will love them. If your kids are old enough they can even help you make them...meaning Noah was my little helper and Penny was my little little helper :)

Wanna see what I'm talking about?

Resurrection Rolls are basically crescent rolls wrapped around a marshmallow that hollow as you bake them. The hollowed roll represents Jesus' tomb on Easter morning. I've even heard you can explain the story of Easter as such: Taking Jesus (marshmallow), anointing him in oils (butter) and incense (cinnamon and sugar) and wrapping Him in his shroud (crescent roll) and then placing him in His tomb (the oven)...this version may be better for an older child though. For Noah and Penelope, we just talked about them as empty tombs.

Here's the recipe for ya'll! Have fun with your kiddies :)

Resurrection Rolls

1 can of refrigerated crescent dinner rolls

8 large marshmallows

1/4 cup butter, melted

2 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and grease lightly. Separate crescent rolls and flatten out a bit. In a small bowl, mix sugar and cinnamon together. Dip marshmallow into melted butter, than roll into sugar mixture. Place marshmallow in center of crescent dough triangle and wrap carefully, pinching at seams to seal tightly. Place on baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool, break open and enjoy the empty center!!

First off, mix up your cinnamon and sugar...

Then, melt your butter.

Dip your marshmallows into the butter first...

Then, roll your buttered marshmallow into the cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Cinnamon smells so good, doesn't it!?!

YUM!

Place the cinnamon-sugared marshmallow in the center of a crescent roll and roll it up nice and tight. I flattened out my crescents first to make a bigger marshmallow-covering surface area!

Place on a greased baking sheet...preferrably one lined with parchment paper (as the marshmallows can ooze out onto your baking sheet and get pretty sticky!) I just ran out of parchment paper, total poo I tell ya! If you do it this way, wash your baking sheet quickly so your can get the baked on marshmallow off easier!!

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

When they are golden brown they are done!

Oooh, aren't they cool looking?

They totally look like they are full in the centers!

These would also make a great April Fool's Day joke...

Empty in the inside...so cool!

Crockpot Banana Bread...for Real!

Yesterday for the kidlet's after naptime snack I made Banana Bread. But not just any banana bread, a super yummy and moist bread that was really easy to make...in my CROCKPOT!!! Yup, that's right, I said my crockpot!

I bought a crockpot cookbook late last spring and had vague memories that there was a bread section in it. So, I pulled it out yesterday and low and behold there was! I was a little hesistant at first, I mean my crockpot has been making dinners for our family for a couple years now but never a bread or sweet type of food. I thought it might come out tasting like chicken and was ready to throw it in the trash upon first taste but boy was I wrong. It was soooo good! The kids gobbled it up when they woke up and my hubby was only left with 2 small pieces when he came home from work last night. Pretty good considering it made a nice sized loaf. As Noah told me yesterday, 'I like this nana bread, it's healthy for me and nummy for me!'

What did I tell you, it's for real!

Here is the recipe, really you must try it. You won't believe your crockpot can do such amazing things to breads :)

Crockpot Banana Bread -print this recipe HERE-

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/3 cup butter or margarine

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs, well beaten

2 tbsp dark corn syrup

3 ripe bananas, well mashed

Grease and flour a 4 1/2 quart crockpot. Mix flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda together in a small bowl, set aside. Cream butter with an electric mixer until fluffy. Slowly add sugar, eggs, corn syrup, and mashed bananas. Beat until smooth. Gradually add flour mixture to creamed mixture. Pour into crockpot, cover and cook on high for 1 1/4 to 1/2 hours or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool, then invert bread onto serving platter.

*My bread actually took about 2 hours to cook/bake, just so you know :) *

**You can also add 1/2 cup chopped walnuts if you like, I just majorly dislike nuts in my breads!**

First, mix up all your dry ingredients...

Then, mash up your bananas...

Then, cream your butter until light and fluffy...

Then, add your wet ingredients to your butter including your mashed bananas...

Pour your batter into a greased crockpot and cook for 1 1/4 to 1/2 hours (or 2 hours if you're like me!)

When it's done the bread will pull away from the sides of your crockpot and a toothpick inserted in the middle should come out clean.

Amazing...banana bread from a crockpot, who knew!

Healthy and delicious...

'Nummy!' as said by Noah :)