Mini White Bread Cinnamon Rolls

March 9, 2012 by 14 Comments

So who knew that the best thing since sliced bread would be itself? I really love finding ways to use things that I already have around my house to make easy and awesome snacks. I would totally put these into the awesome category. I mean they are cinnamon rolls made from regular old plain jane white bread. Before you get too excited, just note that these aren’t as magnificent as Grands!, they are small and dainty. But they will definitely suffice in a pinch and make the kiddos just as happy for sure.

Ya got your butter, your cinnamon sugar, and your loaf of bread. And if you want that yummy glaze for them you’ll also need powdered sugar that’s not pictured here. Use your magic wand (I have one, don’t you?) and voila! Cinnamon rolls!

Cut the crust off of each slice of bread and use a rolling pin or heavy can to flatten them out. The better you are at cutting the crusts off, the more roll you’ll have. I’m not amazing at it, but I’m working on it. Get them nice and flat, then use a brush or something like that to brush on some melted butter. You don’t want them to be swimming in it, but just enough to coat. Something for the cinnamon sugar to stick to.

Then sprinkle the cinnamon sugar to your liking on the buttered and flattened bread. It is already looking fabulous. Fold each edge into the center and then roll them up. Place on a greased cookie sheet or in a muffin pan. I used a muffin pan to make sure they didn’t try to roll on me.

After baking them at 375 degrees for a little while, they come out crusty on the outside and little soft on the inside. Mix some of the melted butter with powdered sugar and you have a yummy butter glaze to drizzle over the top.

Recipe courtesy of Circle B Kitchen

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White Bread Cinnamon Rolls

White Bread Cinnamon Rolls

Out of Pillsbury sweet rolls? Have a loaf of bread? Make your own mini cinnamon rolls in no time with this easy fix. Only 4 ingredients!

Ingredients

  • A dozen or so slices of soft white bread
  • Melted Butter (1/2 c. should be plenty)
  • Cinnamon Sugar
  • Powdered Sugar (optional for glaze)

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Cut the crusts off the pieces of bread. Roll very thin with rolling pin or can.
  3. Brush both sides of the bread with melted butter. Then sprinkle one side with cinnamon sugar.
  4. Fold each side of the bread into the center, then roll up.
  5. Place onto greased cookie sheet or muffin tin. Bake for 15-20 minutes until they start to turn golden.
  6. Add powdered sugar to the leftover melted butter for glaze and drizzle over the top.

Notes

You can freeze these too! Although, they don’t stick around long enough to get frozen here.

http://www.pennywisecook.com/mini-white-bread-cinnamon-rolls/


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Filed Under: Appetizers and Snacks, Breakfast, Desserts, Kid-Friendly

Chocolate Glazed Baked Chocolate Donuts

February 28, 2012 by 4 Comments

So you may have caught on to the fact that I’m a sweets person by now. I could eat sweets for every meal. Yes, even dinner. As long as I could have a cracker afterwards to balance the sweet with salty. I do know my limits though. Like I told you on the Fried Ravioli post, I’m not too much into frying things. Pan-searing, lightly frying in a bit of olive oil are ok. But completely submerging something in oil just makes me feel dirty. 😉

That’s why I was absolutely thrilled to come across this amazing Chocolate Glazed Chocolate Baked Donuts recipe at Prevention RD. She has got some fabulous recipes that I cannot wait to try. I really wanted to make these donuts, so I went in search of a donut pan. It’s close to impossible to find one really. Don’t expect Walmart to have them. I was delighted to find this mini donut pan on Amazon for only $9.99 shipped. When I found this recipe I was really antsy to try it out. At 93 per donut, I was floored. That is for the full-size donuts and my pan is mini so mine will only have 46 calories per. When my donut pan came in the mail, I was really giddy. You can just imagine my excitement can’t you? My mail lady thinks I’m nuts.

My pictures aren’t quite as good as her’s, but you get the picture. This recipe was surprisingly easy, however I will say this- it’s fairly difficult getting the batter into those little donut wells. Because it’s round you don’t want to get the batter on the little thing in the middle. I managed to get it done with a spatula in one hand and a spoon in the other. I’d say this is little sacrifice for chocolate donuts.

Recipe from Prevention RD

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Chocolate Glazed Baked Chocolate Donuts

14 Full-Size Donuts

Serving Size: 1 Full-Size Donut

93

Chocolate Glazed Baked Chocolate Donuts

93 calories for a chocolate donut? Sign me up! These chocolate glazed BAKED donuts will satisfy without packing on the calories.

Ingredients

    Donut Ingredients
  • 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or I used 1/2 c white and 1/2 c whole wheat)
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 Tbsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup almond milk (I used soy milk)
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 Tbsp canola oil
  • 3 Tbsp unsweetened applesauce
    • Choclate Glaze Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1 tsp canola oil
  • 1 Tbsp corn syrup
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Spray donut pan with cooking spray.
  2. Stir together flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Add the egg, milk, vanilla, oil, and applesauce for 1 minute.
  3. Fill each donut cavity in the pan 1/2 way full.
  4. Bake for 7-8 minutes until donuts spring back slightly when touched. Cool.
  5. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl. Stir in the corn syrup and oil. Microwave at 20 second increments until completely smooth. Stir in the vanilla.
  6. Dunk each donut and allow to set.

Notes

And like my husband says, these wouldn’t be what they are without the glaze so you’ll definitely want to make that along with these. They are a fantastic treat for after school for the kiddos and you don’t have to worry that they are high in calories and sugar.

P.S.- if you don't have a donut pan, no worries. Use a mini or regular muffin pan and glaze just the tops. They will still taste as yummy. Since I made these the first time, I've found donut pans at Target for around $12.99- FYI.

http://www.pennywisecook.com/chocolate-glazed-baked-chocolate-donuts/

Let me know if you make them and how they turn out!

Your turn! Have you ever made donuts before?


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Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip

February 15, 2012 by 5 Comments

How did your Valentine’s Day go? Oh really? Uh-huh. Interesting… Well if you had a less than satisfactory day (or even if you had a great one), you might just want to dig into this little sumthin’ sumthin’ here…

You are about to be amazed. How incredible does THAT look? Couldn’t you just dive right in? Well you really can, because it’s actually healthy. How many times have you been making cookies and stolen a bite or two of the dough? It’s almost humanly impossible for me not to. That’s probably why I don’t make cookies that often. I’d be as big as a house. I digress…

This cookie dough “dip” has a secret and it’s not going to tell anyone. I am- Chickpeas! Yes, that’s right. Those little garbanzos that no one knows what to do with half the time actually add something nutritional and special to this dip. It’s also been called “dessert hummus”, but I’m not too keen on that title. There are a ton of different versions of this dip everywhere right now. They are all very similar either being very smooth or very chunky. With or without sweeteners. With or without oats. It’s all a matter of taste. This recipe is the one that I enjoy the most, but you can feel free to adjust it to your liking.

Everyone always want to know what to dip these in. I’ve used vanilla wafers and graham crackers. And don’t tell anyone (I’m totally going to look like a pig now), but you can also pile some into an ice cream cone and eat it like ice cream. I don’t have ice cream in there with it, but that might be delicious too. I prefer the sugar cones over the others.

It’s fantastic and I can say that on my scouts honor. My husband and I devoured an entire bowl of this the other night. Not needing crackers or cookies to dip in it, it’s lovely right out of the bowl. You will want to make this tonight, I can almost guarantee it. Here’s the recipe, exactly as I made it.

You can find similar recipes for “dessert hummus” at Nourishing Flourising, Chocolate Covered Katie and Food Doodles. All fabulous! This one is kind of a mixture of those.

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Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip

A dessert hummus recipe that no one will ever guess what's in it! Healthy but equally as delicious.

Ingredients

  • 1 Can Chickpeas, Drained and Rinsed
  • Pinch of Salt
  • 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 1/4 c. Peanut Butter (Natural if preferred although I’ve used Peter Pan Honey Roasted before and Reduced Fat even works!)
  • 1 Tbsp Milk (skim is healthiest!)
  • 2/3 c. Brown Sugar (Even Splenda Brown Sugar works!)
  • 2 Tbsp Oats (optional)
  • 1/3 c. Chocolate Chips

Method

  1. Place all ingredients, except chocolate chips, in food processor and mix until very smooth.
  2. Add in chocolate chips and stir. Serve with graham crackers or devour right out of the bowl.

Notes

I tried using less chocolate chips to be “good” and it’s just not the same. I usually end up adding more than the recipe calls for. 😉 If you don’t prefer the grit of the brown sugar, you can try using 1/4 + 2 Tbsp of maple syrup like Food Doodles does. This makes it very fluffy!

P.S.- you can also use White Northern Beans or Cannelini Beans in place of the Chickpeas if you’re seeking a smoother texture. I just prefer a thicker dip. 🙂 Also, I recommend refrigerating it a bit before eating. It thickens up a bit and tastes better chilled to me.

http://www.pennywisecook.com/to-die-for-cookie-dough-dip-its-healthy-too/


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Easy Fried (Yes Fried!) Ravioli

February 14, 2012 by 6 Comments

Happy Valentine’s Day! Need a quick, but fancy meal tonight? These might just do the trick!

I’m not usually one for fried things. My mind associates the word “fried” with evil. Evil as in, this food is going to devilishly make you gain 5 pounds. I haven’t always had these feelings about fried things. Like most people, I really do love my french fries and fried chicken, but actually seeing the process makes me feel so dirty and well, evil. I may not like frying things very often, but I am most definitely not above it on occasion, especially when it involves a pasta filled with something yummy.

At your local grocery store, pick up a bag of the frozen ravioli. I found that Walmart has the cheapest prices of any place I looked. They were around $2.50 there. Of course, you don’t have to use frozen, but the Pennywise method surely does call for the cheapest means and honey, that’s Walmart! Technically that’s the only ingredient you really need. Besides the oil to fry it in, but you may want to have some parmesan cheese for sprinkling and marinara sauce for dipping when they are done. As for the ravioli themselves, you can do this with any that you like. They have several varieties at the stores to choose from. Spinach and Ricotta, Four Cheese, Beef…you name it.

These little guys were a huge hit at my house and I can’t honestly tell you that they will make a regular appearance at my house. But I can tell you that Ravioli is absolutely delicious fried and would make a GREAT get appetizer at a party or get together.

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Easy Fried Ravioli

Easy Fried Ravioli

Chang up the same old ravioli by frying them up and serving them as an appetizer.

Ingredients

  • 1 Bag Frozen or Fresh Ravioli (if using frozen, thaw in refrigerator ravioli completely before frying)
  • Vegetable Oil
  • Parmesan Cheese

Method

  1. Place oil in fry machine or about 2 inches of oil into a medium sauce pan. Heat to medium-high heat. (Be careful it’s hot!)
  2. Place thawed ravioli into hot oil (carefully!) until it puffs up and begins to brown on one side. Then turn over to brown the other. This is a VERY fast process.
  3. Place on paper towels to drain excess oil. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on each and serve with marinara sauce!

Notes

Be sure to be very careful when placing and removing the ravioli from the hot oil. It can burn you and it’s very brutal if it does. These will fry very quickly so be sure to watch them like a hawk through the entire process. Do not crowd your pan. I fried no more than 4 at a time. This is so they won’t stick together and you have room to flip them.

http://www.pennywisecook.com/easy-fried-yes-fried-ravioli/


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Filed Under: Appetizers and Snacks, Main Dishes, Pasta
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