Cinnamon-Lime Sweet Rolls

It's hard to write about delicious food when your stomach is like a maelstrom. However, I shall persevere, since I know it's been a while.

This recipe had been nagging at me since I spied in on the last page of Cooking Light some months ago. I'm not much of a baker, I'll admit, but I've always wanted to try my hand at cinnamon buns (or get Mr. Heart to, since his father's are notoriously delicious). So when I was hosting brunch for a friend, I jumped at the opportunity. But, being the person I am, I of course forgot an important ingredient (sour cream) and so had to get up especially early to both hike over and buy said ingredient and prepare the buns for our 11:30 Sunday brunch. Also, the original recipe calls for cardamom. This was not to be found in my local market. It was also later reported to me by Sister Heart that in another grocery store, cardamom was going for $11.99 an ounce.

I also love cinnamon. So there.

Also be careful that your melted butter is cooled when you are assembling the dough. Because then you must add a beaten egg. And hot butter + beaten egg = scrambled eggs in your dough. Ew. Gross. Not that I know from experience...

These came out really well. The lime in the icing was quite intense, so I might cut back a little and use some water instead (or if you dislike lime, you could forego it all together). I loved the fact that these were miniature. Much less guilt in eating, er, four in a sitting.

Cinnamon-Lime Sweet Rolls
from Cooking Light: Cardamom-Lime Sweet Rolls, but, you know, with cinnamon

Dough
1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1/4 cup warm water (100° to 110°)
1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour (about 10 1/2 ounces), divided
Cooking spray

Filling
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 TBS grated lime rind
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp butter, melted, divided

Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
3 TBS fresh lime juice (or 2 TBS lime juice, 1 TBS water

1) To prepare dough, dissolve yeast in warm water in a small bowl; let stand 5 minutes.
2) Combine sour cream and next 5 ingredients (through egg) in a large bowl, stirring until well blended. Gradually stir yeast mixture into sour cream mixture. Lightly spoon 2 1/3 cups flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add 2 cups flour to sour cream mixture, stirring to form a soft dough.
3) Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 8 minutes); add enough of remaining flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel slightly tacky).
Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in size. (Gently press two fingers into dough. If indentation remains, dough has risen enough.)
4) To prepare filling, combine brown sugar, rind, and cardamom.
5) Divide dough into two equal portions. Working with 1 portion at a time, roll dough into a 12 x 10–inch rectangle; brush with 1 tablespoon butter. Sprinkle half of filling over dough. Beginning with a long side, roll up jelly-roll fashion; pinch seam to seal (do not seal ends of roll). Repeat procedure with remaining dough, 1 tablespoon butter, and filling. Cut each roll into 12 (1-inch) slices. Place slices, cut sides up, in a 13 x 9–inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. 6) Cover and let rise 30 minutes or until doubled in size. Preheat oven to 350°.
7) Uncover dough. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool in pan 5 minutes on a wire rack.
8) To prepare glaze, combine powdered sugar and juice, stirring until smooth. Drizzle glaze over warm rolls.

Banana Chocolate Chip Mini-Muffins

I had leftover over-ripe bananas and I just made banana bread last week and wanted to try something different. I'm usually not a huge fan of banana in baked products (aside from banana bread) because it tends be too sweet. I don't like the sort of fake banana flavor that you get in store bought banana muffins. But these came out great. Sweet, but not too sweet, with delicious banana overtones. And of course, chocolate.

I found the recipe here and made a couple of changes. I didn't have plain yogurt, so I used vanilla instead and left out the extract. I added a dash of cinnamon and chopped up some regular sized semi-sweet chocolate chips. These muffins were a big hit. And it made our apartment smell absolutely wonderful.

Banana Chocolate Chip Mini-Muffins
from Ruskin girl at grouprecipes.com with mods
Makes 24 mini-muffins

2 small, ripe bananas
3/4 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
5 TBS unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, chopped fine (or you can use mini chips)

1) Set oven rack to the middle of the oven and preheat to 425ºF
2) Spray a 24-cup mini-muffin pan with cooking spray
3) Mash banana and yogurt together in a small bowl. Set aside.
4) Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
5) Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy using an electric beater on low. Add the egg and beat at medium speed until creamy.
6) Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the bowl and beat on low until incorporated. Then add 1/2 of the banana mixture and beat until incorporated. Continue alternating, ending with the flour mixture. Fold chocolate chips into batter.
7) Using a tablespoon, fill each mini-muffin cup to the top with batter (this fit perfectly). Bake for 12 - 14 minutes or until turning golden brown around the top and edges.
8) Allow pans to cool slightly on wire rack. Then remove the muffins from the pan and allow them to finish cooling on the wire rack.

Banana Bread

I must say, there are few things more delicious and easy than banana bread. I’m not a huge baker, but quick breads I can handle. I find that the flavor of this can really be affected by the ripeness of the bananas. For a sweeter flavor, go with over-ripe bananas. For a more banana-y flavor, go with bananas at the peak of ripeness. I wouldn’t try this with under-ripe bananas, as I don’t think they would blend up well. I baked this in a pyrex dish for exactly 38 minutes and it came out perfect.

Banana Bread
Serves 2

1 ¼ cups flour
1 cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ cup shortening (you can substitute butter in a pinch)
2 very ripe bananas
2 eggs

1) Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2) Sift together the dry ingredients.
3) Whirl remaining ingredients in food processor.
4) Combine until dry ingredients are moistened.
5) Pour batter into greased and lightly floured 9x9 baking pan
6) Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5-10 minutes.