Pioneer Woman Cinnamon Rolls

One of the things I had on my 35 Before 35 list was to make The Pioneer Woman Cinnamon Rolls. I enlisted the help of my little sister to help. Here are the pics of our progress throughout the process. I kid you not when I say that within ten minutes of frosting the first pan, it was empty!

Here is the first step of making the dough and letting it rise. This was the hardest part because I am not a patient person.

We then rolled out half the dough to assemble with the gooey filling!

After we filled it with butter, cinnamon and sugar, we rolled into a log for slicing. 

(*Notice the excess in the lower right corner of the picture that oozed out. That's when we knew they were going to be yummy!)

We used cake pans and placed 6 to 7 rolls in each, letting them rise an additional 20 minutes before baking.

While they bakes, we mixed up the yummy maple icing.

(*I want to make again and try a basic cream cheese icing.)

Baking in the oven and then still hot waiting for icing!

Finished product! They were so yummy. I'm definitely making these for Christmas gifts this year for our church staff and school staff.

**Don't want to make a large batch of these? Here is the small batch version (12 rolls) posted over at Kitchen Image.

Chicken Foil Packs

I love finding quick, easy recipes with a quick clean-up for long work days. So when I came across this recipe on Pinterest, I have to give it a try.

Cheesy Broccoli Chicken Foil Packs

(**Original recipe posted on Best Life 4 Moms.)

I didn't have bacon or stuffing on hand, so I adapted the recipe to what I did have on hand. I used two chicken breasts seasoned with salt and pepper, and included frozen broccoli, shredded cheese and ranch dressing. Next time I plan to add bacon.

Here are my pack before going in the oven...

And here are my packs after cooking for 30 minutes.
(I cooked two so I could have leftovers for lunch tomorrow).

YUM!!

Blueberry Banana Bread (or Muffins)

It's been a long time since I've posted a new recipe. Life has been extremely busy and I have not spent time in the kitchen baking or trying new recipes. I was able to sneak in a little time to make blueberry banana muffins. I followed the recipe from Cooks.com for the bread, but used the batter for muffins instead. They were so yummy!

Blueberry Banana Bread Recipe

1/2 c. butter, softened

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. baking soda

2 lg. ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 c. chopped nuts (optional)

1 c. sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 c. flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 c. blueberries, fresh or frozen

Preheat oven to 325°F degrees.Grease and flour 2 loaf pans. Cream together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs. Add mashed bananas.

Measure flour, reserving 2 tablespoons of flour to coat blueberries.

Stir baking soda and salt into flour, mixing well. Fold into banana mixture. Stir in vanilla.

Sprinkle the 2 tablespoons flour over blueberries, then fold into batter. Stir in chopped nuts.

Transfer batter to loaf pans or to muffin tins.

Bake about 50 minutes. (** I baked the muffins about 22 minutes)

Enjoy!

Homemade Doughnuts

I found the recipe for these yummy homemade doughnuts over on the blog Little Bit Funky. They were so easy to make! I used a heart cookie cutter for the middles and then use those to make little heart donut holes. You can get the recipe here or by following the directions below.

1 can biscuits (don't use the flaky kind)
1/2 stick butter (melted)
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 tbsp. cinnamon
Oil for pan

Place about a 1/2 inch of oil in the pan and heat over medium heat. Cut holes in the center of the biscuits. Place biscuits in the oil and cook until they are golden brown on both sides. Once cool, dip them in the melted butter and then dip in the sugar/cinnamon mixture.

**Note - I had one can buttermilk and one can with the butter included. The ones with the butter cooked faster and were still doughy in the inside. I popped them in the oven for a few minutes to cook the insides, but I would recommend using the buttermilk only.

Enjoy!