We took Ellie for a walk in Golden Gate Park again, and I had no idea that Spreckels lake has turtles! I’m clearly easily amused right now, but I thought that was amazing.

Friday night I decided that on Saturday, I would make cinnamon rolls.

I don’t know why I felt this urgent need, since I’ve never made them before, but I browsed foodgawker, found this recipe, and went with it. Ellie helped. (And clearly, finishing the cinnamon rolls was more of an urgent need than drying my hair. I have priorities.)

These were surprisingly easy… for some reason I thought cinnamon rolls would be way more complicated. They take a few hours from start to finish, but are TOTALLY worth it!

Recipe:
(from Cook, Bake & Decorate)

1 cup whole milk
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 cup white sugar
2 large eggs
1/3 cup butter, melted
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, melted

3 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Warm the milk in a small saucepan until it’s about 105 degrees.
Stir the yeast and a pinch of sugar into the milk in the bowl of a stand mixer. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.

Add the sugar, butter, salt, eggs, and flour and mix well. Knead with the dough hook on medium speed for about 4 minutes, or until the dough is smooth.

Shape the dough into a ball, place in a bowl (the mixing bowl is fine) and cover with a damp towel. Let rise in a warm place about 1 hour or until dough has nearly doubled in size.

In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon and mix well.

Sprinkle some flour on your work surface and lightly flour a rolling pin. Roll the dough into a 16×21 inch rectangle about 1/4 inch thick.

Brush the dough with 1/3 cup melted butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar-cinnamon mixture.

Roll the dough up starting with the longer side and cut into 12 rolls.

Arrange the rolls in a lightly greased 9×13 inch glass baking dish. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rise for about 30 minutes.

While the rolls are rising, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake until golden brown, about 18-20 minutes.

While the rolls are baking, make the frosting. Beat together the cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Spread the frosting on the rolls while they are still warm.

The first few days were a complete blur of feeding, changing, and very sporadic sleeping. My parents were here all week, and Mike was home from work, so I really didn’t have to do anything other than hang out with the cutest baby in the world.

This weekend was so beautiful we had to get outside and show Ellie some sights, like Golden Gate Park…

and Ocean Beach.

Between our brief outings, being a human milk machine, and trying to squeeze in any naps I could, I pretty much did NOTHING in the kitchen (other than slicing up honeydew melon and all kinds of unpasteurized cheese, which I ate a ton of…but not together).

I made these muffins the morning I went to the hospital. They ended up being great to snack on while we were sitting around waiting for Ellie to get with the program and make her way into the world.

Recipe:
(adapted from The Curvy Carrot

makes 12 muffins

streusel topping
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut in small cubes

filling
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

muffins
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup whole milk
2 large eggs
1 and 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
pinch ground nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a 12-muffin tin with paper liners

To make the streusel topping, combine all of the dry streusel ingredients, then add the cubes of butter and mix with a pastry blender until crumbly. Set aside.

To make the filling, combine all of the cinnamon filling ingredients and mix until smooth. Set aside.

To make the muffins, stir the melted butter, milk, and eggs together until combined.
In another separate bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and stir with a rubber spatula until the batter is well-mixed and nearly smooth.

Fill each muffin tin halfway full with batter, top with a spoonful of the cinnamon filling, then fill the tin with remaining batter.

Sprinkle the streusel topping evenly over each muffin.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes.

Weekends seem like they’re the perfect time for baking bread, but for me they actually aren’t. I started this bread on Saturday afternoon. Instead of letting it rise for an hour and a half like I was supposed to, I put it in the fridge so we could go and get coffee and browse at a bookstore (it took MUCH longer than an hour and a half…really glad I didn’t keep it on the counter!)

Sunday morning I had to run 15 miles, so I took it out of the fridge pre-run, figuring it would definitely rise a lot while I was gone.

Side note… my knee didn’t hurt AT ALL on the run. And it was BEAUTIFUL…there was snow in the Marin Headlands! That doesn’t happen very often. I know it’s kind of hard to see in this picture, but those hills right under the clouds had snow on top!

After the run I was all set to continue with the bread (even though the dough barely rose), but we both had an urgent need for some Thai noodles. So the dough went back in the fridge while we headed up to the Inner Richmond to satisfy our craving.

King of Thai Noodle House No. 2 (346 Clement St, San Francisco) is one of the only Thai places I’ve found that has all the noodle soups we loved in Thailand. I got the Guay Tiaw Jae and it was absolutely delicious. A huge bowl of flavorful broth, thin rice noodles, and plenty of vegetables. I was in heaven.

After we came home I was FINALLY ready to actually bake the bread. I let it sit out for awhile, then mixed together the ingredients for the filling. Brown sugar, raisins, cinnamon. YUM.

I was recently sent some vanilla and cinnamon from Singing Dog Vanilla. They’re based in Eugene, Oregon, where I lived for a couple of months during college. Their products are fair trade and organic, and I have been really impressed with the quality. Plus I gotta support businesses from my beloved home state! The Red Ape Cinnamon was perfect in this recipe.

I rolled out the dough, which finally seemed to have risen a little bit, and spread the filling over it.

After 40 minutes in the oven (which probably should have been 45 – it was a little doughy inside), I had a beautiful loaf of cinnamon raisin swirl bread, which by the way, is a perfect vehicle for cream cheese. And today, while typing up the recipe, I realized why the dough barely rose. As you’ll see, it calls for 2 TABLEspoons of yeast. I used 2 tsp. Brilliant. And they trust me to teach the youth of America.

Recipe:
(adapted from Steph Chows)

2 tablespoons dry active yeast
1 teaspoon granulated sugar + 1/4 cup
3/4 cup warm milk (not hot)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons agave or maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 1/4 cups bread flour, plus additional for rolling
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
2/3 cup raisins

Combine the warm milk, yeast, and 1 tsp sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Let stand 5 minutes, then stir in 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, salt, butter, vanilla, agave, and egg and mix well. Add the flours gradually, then mix with the dough hook on medium speed for 10 minutes.

Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for about an hour and a half.

Roll the dough out to a rectangle about 10″ by 20.”

Combine 1 tsp cinnamon, the brown sugar, and the raisins in a small bowl. Spread evenly over the dough then roll up and pinch the ends closed. Put in a greased loaf pan, cover, and let rise for about 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Bake the bread for 40-45 minutes, until golden brown on top. Cool in the pan for about 20 minutes, then turn out of the pan and cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

I’d been meaning to make bagels for years, and then last weekend, spontaneously, it just happened Saturday afternoon. I don’t know why I was so intimidated, because honestly it’s not that hard, it’s just kind of time consuming. Not really active, hands-on time, but wait-around-while-they-sit-in-the-fridge-overnight time, which can be just as challenging to deal with if you’re impatient like me.

Saturday afternoon I mixed up the sponge, using some whole wheat flour because I like the flavor it adds. A few hours later I mixed up the dough (again with some whole wheat flour, plus gluten to help the texture), and because our new apartment is the size of a postage stamp, shaped it in the living room (which conveniently doubles as bike storage, an office, and a dining room).

The next morning, after running a half marathon, I came home and had fresh-from-the-oven homemade bagels, and now I’m definitely hooked. I can’t say how these compare to New York Deli bagels because I’ve never had one, but they are light, chewy, and perfect with a thick layer of cream cheese.

Recipe:
(adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

spnge
1 teaspoon instant yeast
2 cups bread flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tbsp vital wheat gluten
2 1/2 cups water, room temperature

dough
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
2 cups white whole wheat flour
2 tbsp vital wheat gluten
2 cups bread flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
5 tablespoons sugar
2 3/4 teaspoons salt
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 cups loosely packed raisins, rinsed with warm water and drained

for boiling
1 tbsp baking soda

To make the sponge, stir the yeast into the warm water until it dissolves. Let stand for a few minutes. Put the flours and gluten in a large bowl. Add the water-yeast mixture and stir until you have a smooth paste.Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for about 2 hours, or until the mixture becomes very foamy and bubbly. It should swell to nearly double in size and collapse when the bowl is tapped on the countertop.

To make the dough, dissolve the yeast in water, let stand a few minutes, then stir into the sponge. Add the wheat flour, gluten, cinnamon, sugar, salt and brown sugar. Stir (or mix on low speed with the dough hook) until the ingredients form a ball, then slowly working add the bread flour about 1/2 cup at a time. Finally, add the raisins. Knead for at least 10 minutes (or use the dough hook attachment and put the mixer at medium speed for about 7 minutes), so you end up with a stiff, smooth dough with no traces of flour.

Divide the dough in 16 pieces and form into rolls. Let them rest, covered with a damp towel, for about 20 minutes. Line 3 baking sheets with silpats or parchment. Pick up one roll of dough, poke your thumbs through it, and gently stretch the hole out so it’s about 2″ in diameter. Try to keep the bagel an even thickness all the way around the hole. After shaping all the bagels, cover the pans with plastic wrap and keep at room temperature for about 20 minutes. Then fill a small bowl with cool water, place one bagel in it, and see if it floats within 10 seconds. If it does, the pans can go into the fridge (dry the tester bagel first), but if it doesn’t they need to sit out at room temperature a little longer.
Once your bagel floats, transfer the covered pans to the refrigerator to rest overnight (or for at least 6 hours.

When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 500°F with the two racks set in the middle of the oven. Bring a large, wide pot of water to a boil and add the baking soda. Have a slotted spoon or skimmer ready. Gently drop the bagels (as many as you can fit in the pan in a single layer) into the water and boil for one minute, then flip and boil an additional minute. Remove from the water and place back on the baking sheets. Bake for about 5 minutes, then rotate the pans and switch shelves and bake for another 5 minutes.

Remove the pans from the oven and transfer the bagels to cooling racks. Give them about 20 minutes to cool before eating.

This is kind of a tricky post for me to write, because I really don’t like bread pudding (or rice pudding, or most custards). I’m really not a picky eater, but there’s something about the texture of bread pudding that just bothers me. It’s not quite creamy, it’s not quite a custard…it’s the dessert that can’t make up its mind. And it doesn’t have frosting, which basically means its not worth eating.

But I realize there are millions of people out there that adore bread pudding, and my in-laws are two of them. My mother-in-law recently had a birthday and since Ireland is one of her favorite places on Earth, I turned to my new Irish cookbook to find something to bake for her. Bread and butter pudding immediately seemed like the perfect thing to make (and my father-in-law ended up saying it was some of the best he’d ever had, so I know I made the right choice).

Because I won’t blog anything without tasting it (unless it has meat), I can say that this, unfortunately, didn’t really change my opinion of bread pudding. I loved the brown sugar on top, though, and the cinnamon and nutmeg flavors were nice but not overpowering. I guess you’ll just have to take my in-laws’ word for it: this is a total winner!

Recipe:
(adapted from The Country Cooking of Ireland)

2 tbps softened butter
8 slices good white bread, crusts removed and cut diagonally in quarters
1/2 cup raisins
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
1 cup heavy cream
3 cups milk (I used 2%)
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Butter each triangle of bread on one side. Arrange the slices in a 2-quart baking dish, then sprinkle the raisins over them.

Mix 1/4 cup sugar wit the nutmeg and cinnamon, and sprinkle it over the bread slices.

Beat the eggs with the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, then stir in the cream, milk, and vanilla. Pour evenly over the bread and then sprinkle the brown sugar over the top. Bake for about 50 minutes, or until browned on top (and liquid is absorbed).

Some say it’s even better after chilling in the refrigerator overnight.

Growing up with parents who both had a pretty major sweet tooth, I got dessert for breakfast more than a lot of other kids I knew. Leftover pumpkin pie? Perfectly acceptable post-Thanksgiving breakfast. Beginning of strawberry season? Breakfast made the most of fresh berries with strawberry shortcake.

These muffins aren’t exactly like eating baklava for breakfast, but they do feel a little indulgent. They’re not overly sweet, but the cinnamon-walnut filling and honey brushed over the top are reminiscent of the flavors in baklava. Mike wasn’t sold – he thought there was something missing (maybe I should have added a little rosewater to the filling), but I loved these and their subtle sweetness.

Recipe:
(adapted from How To Be a Domestic Goddess)

makes 12

filling
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 tbsp melted butter

muffins
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg
3 tbsp melted butter
1 cup plus 2 tbsp buttermilk

1/4 cup honey

Preheat the oven to 375 F.

Mix the filling ingredients together in a medium bowl and set aside.

Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt together in a large bowl. Mix the buttermilk, melted butter, and egg together in a medium bowl. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into it. Mix gently with a fork.

Line a 12-muffin tin with paper liners. Fill each 1/3 of the way with batter, top with a spoonful of filling, then top with more batter. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. As soon as the muffins come out of the oven, brush each with about 1 tsp of honey, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

I didn’t know what a whoopie was until about a year ago, and didn’t try one for the first time until last night. According to the not-always-so-reliable Wikipedia, they started in Pennsylvania so maybe it’s taken awhile for them to get to California. Who knows. But I can definitely see why they’re popular!

I baked these when we had a few friends over, and I have to say, I can see why I usually make baking a solitary activity. About six of the cookies were grabbed off the cooling rack before I had a chance to frost them, and I was distracted when I was making the frosting so I added too much milk (which I know is easily corrected with more powdered sugar, but I didn’t bother). They could definitely be prettier (if I’d grated the apple instead of diced it) but the prospect of getting out my food processor just to grate one apple seemed like a little too much). I definitely need to invest in a box grater, right now!

I started with a recipe for carrot whoopie pies and just subbed apple for carrot. I didn’t have cream cheese around for the filling included with the recipe, so I made a half recipe of the cinnamon frosting from my Snickerdoodle Cupcakes. I think these are supposed to have more frosting between them, but I thought the cookie to frosting ratio was perfect.

Recipe:
(adapted from Epicurious via Abigail Goes Design Scouting)

1 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup diced or grated apple (peel the apple first)

Stir the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside.
Cream the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer until fluffy.
Beat in the egg and vanilla, then stir in the flour mixture.
Mix in the grated apple, then put plastic wrap over the dough and chill for about an hour.

When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 325 F. Drop the dough by rounded teaspoon onto parchment-lined baking sheets and bake for about 12-15 minutes. Cool on the cookie sheets for about 2 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Once the cookies are cool, mix up the frosting:

1/2 stick butter, softened
1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1-2 tbsp milk

Beat the butter, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Add 2 tbsp milk, then add the rest of the milk 1 tsp at a time, stopping when the frosting has a nice spreadable consistency.

Match the cookies in pairs by size, then spread frosting between them.

I am one of those people that will find a song I like and play it until I literally cannot stand to hear it another time. It usually entails about a month of constant play, during which time Mike reminds me dozens of times that I’d be able to enjoy the song for a lot longer if I restrained myself and didn’t play it quite so much. I’ve ruined dozens of songs for myself this way, and I never seem to learn. The same thing happens with certain recipes. I made the Otsu from Super Natural Cooking at least once a week the whole time we were in Korea, and now I don’t really feel the need to ever eat it again.

But I have a feeling that no matter how many cupcakes I bake, I’ll never get sick of them. There are so many different flavors you can make and you can decorate them in endless new ways, so how could anyone ever tire of them?

I busted out my whole collection of Wilton tips (which is a lot smaller than it used to be, thanks to the garbage disposal) while frosting these. I’ve never taken the Wilton cake decorating class, and would probably fail it if I did, but I love playing around with frosting and a piping bag.

These cupcakes have quite a bit of cinnamon but it’s not at all overpowering. There are dozens of recipes for snickerdoodle cupcakes out there on diffeent food blogs, but I settled on Bakerella’s version (without the cookie), which is modified from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes. I just made my usual buttercream for the frosting but added a teaspoon of cinnamon. I noticed that some people put cream cheese frosting on theirs, which I might have to try next time I make these.

Recipe:
(adapted from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes, as seen on Bakerella)

1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup milk (I used 2%)

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a 12-cupcake pan with paper liners.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
Using a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then beat in the vanilla.
Add 1/3 of the flour mixture, and mix gently until combined.
Stir in half the milk.
Repeat with remaining flour mixture and milk, ending with the flour mixture.
Fill the lined cupcake tins with the batter (they should be about 3/4 full). If you have any extra, you can put it into 1 or 2 greased ramekins)
Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then place cupcakes on a wire rack to cool completely

Frosting:
1 stick butter, softened
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
3 – 4 tbsp milk

Beat the butter, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Add 2 tbsp milk, then add the rest of the milk 1 tsp at a time, stopping when the frosting has a nice spreadable consistency.

As soon as we moved into our new place (only 3 days after coming back to America!) we could not wait to have friends over for dinner. I planned out a Morrocan-inspired menu, but when it came to dessert, I wanted to do something seasonal, preferably with pumpkin because I missed out on it when we were in Korea. Unfortunately, (or fortunately, given the economy) I found a job that required me to work the day I was planning on cooking for our friends, so my plans for an elaborate pumpkin tart got scrapped and I ended up having to figure out a much simpler dessert that I could whip up fast.

This is one of those ridiculously simple desserts that tastes like it took a lot more effort than it actually did. The hardest part is definitely just peeling the apples and pears! I love using lots of citrus zest because it really brightens up the flavor of the apples and pears, but you can definitely scale back on it if you want to play up the cinnamon and apple/pear flavors more.

Recipe:

Filling:
3 bosc pears, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2″ pieces
3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2″ pieces
1 1/2 tsp lemon zest
1 1/2 tsp orange zest
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp whole wheat pastry flour (or all purpose)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Topping:
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
6 tbsp brown sugar
6 tbsp white sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
pinch each cinnamon and nutmeg
1/2 cup (one stick) butter, chilled and cut into small dice

Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Prepare the fruit and toss with all the filling ingredients. Place in a glass or ceramic baking dish.
Mix all the topping ingredients (except butter) with a fork. Using a pastry cutter, two knives, or your fingers, mix in the butter until the mixture resembles small pebbles.
Sprinkle the topping over the fruit and bake for about 50 minutes, or until the top is nicely browned and the fruit is soft.
Delicious over vanilla ice cream!

I was always under the impression that I hated rice pudding until I spent a month in Spain after I graduated from high school. My host mother was an incredibly sweet woman who was thrilled that I was interested in cooking. Even though she worked crazy hours as a nurse and was a devoted mother to three boys, she would take time out of her evenings to show me how to make different things. She never looked at recipes, she just cooked the way her mother had showed her.

One weekend when we were in her family’s village, which was where the entire extended family congregated on weekends to eat for hours, drink lots of red wine, and relax, she and her mother decided to show me how to make arroz con leche.

Nothing more than whole milk, cinnamon, rice, and sugar were transformed over the stove into a luscious, creamy dessert that I ate far too much of, even though we’d been eating virtually nonstop the whole weekend.

Because there are plenty of arroz con leche recipes out there, I wanted to do things a little differently. The spices that go into Masala Chai (a favorite drink whenever we go out for Indian food) seemed like they would work beautifully in arroz con leche. So, I simmered up a batch of that, then proceeded with the typical recipe.

The cloves and cardamom add a warm complexity to the standard cinnamon flavor, and the tea provides an almost smoky element. If you’re not a huge fan of black tea, I’m sure it would still be delicious with just the spices alone.

Recipe:
For masala chai:
(adapted from My Drink Obsession)
4 cinnamon sticks
5 cloves
4 green cardamom pods
2 tbsp sugar
3 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup whole milk
3 Tbsp loose leaf black tea

For arroz con leche:
1/2 cup short grain rice
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup whole milk

Start by preparing the masala chai:
Boil the water and milk, then add the spices and sugar. Turn off the heat, cover the pan, and let sit 10 minutes. Add the tea, bring to a boil, and then simmer 5 minutes.
Pour through a strainer and discard the solids, except for the cinnamon sticks.

To make the arroz con leche, put the tea mixture back into the pan with the cinnamon stic and bring to a boil. Add the sugar and rice, and turn the heat down so the mixture is just simmering. Stir occasionally for about 30 minutes, then stir in the whole milk. Continue simmering until the rice is very soft, about 15 minutes more. Serve warm or chilled.