Delicious, Simple, Must Make Cinnamon Rolls

Making homemade cinnamon rolls has always been an intimidating thought for me…it always seemed like so much dang work. I won’t say this was incredibly fast, but it’s a straightforward recipe and I am so excited to share it with you.

Here’s how to make the dough. Make sure you have these ingredients:
-1 cup warm milk (heated to 110-degrees)
-4.5 cups flour
-2 eggs room temperature
-1/3 cup melted butter
-1 teaspoon salt
-1/2 cup white sugar
-2.5 teaspoons yeast

Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk in a large bowl. Mix in the sugar, butter, salt, and eggs. Add flour and mix well. Knead the dough into a large bowl, using your hands dusted lightly with flour. Put in a bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place for about an hour, or until it is doubled in size.

We discovered our kitchen was too chilly. We had tried to cover the yeast as directed and set a timer for an hour. It hadn’t risen at all. So my husband googled a solution and read that we should get the oven warm, not hot, so around 100-degrees. He did that for a minute or so, turned the oven back off, and closed the bowl inside. After about an hour inside the oven (remember, not HOT, just warm) the dough rose just as it needed to!

What’s next…
You’ll need these ingredients for the delicious, mouth watering, filling:
-1 cup of packed brown sugar
-2.5 Tablespoons ground cinnamon
-1/3 cup melted butter

After the dough has doubled in size, turn it out on a lightly floured surface, cover, and let rest for 10 more minutes. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon. Roll dough into a 16x21 rectangle. Brush the dough with melted butter, sprinkle with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up the dough starting on the long side and cut into 12 rolls. Place them into a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled (about 30 minutes). Preheat the oven to 350-degrees.

Bake rolls until they are golden brown (about 20 minutes). While the rolls are baking, beat together the frosting mixture:
-1 (3oz) package softened cream cheese
-1/4 cup softened butter
-1.5 cups powdered sugar
-1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
-1/8 teaspoon salt

Here are what the rolls looked like after they rose, and before they were baked:

Here’s where I get to be completely honest with you, AND shock you. I did not make these.

My husband did.

I know, I know, I know. That is so shocking because I am SO crafty in the kitchen and I do so well there. But I just wanted to give credit where credit is due. I was all ready to help earlier in the day, but when the dough took longer than expected, we weren’t sure how this would all turn out aaaand I needed to head to the barn. So this is all Ace. And when I came home from the barn, we had these bad boys for dinner.

The kids were especially excited about this dinner option. Seriously, these cinnamon rolls were so soft, the frosting was perfection, and the sugar and cinnamon was all bubbly and caramelized. If you are someone who can wake up and make these beauties bright and early, go for it! But I am so glad we had these for dinner and I think they would be perfect for a brunch or girls night too. This is based entirely on the fact that I despise mornings, and my husband who IS the cook of the house, said that this was a little more work than he would normally want to do on the average morning for breakfast ;)

It is thanks to the Bakerlady that I found this recipe on Pinterest. And you can find her blog and post here! PS: who doesn’t want buns of cinnamon?! Here’s to all the cinnamon rolls and to the wonderful people you enjoy them with!

Soft & Chewy M&M Spring Cookies

It’s been a bit since I’ve been in the kitchen, so whipping up these soft and chewy cookies was quite the treat for me and my family! The kids have loved to help me bake since they were teeny tiny and this day was no different. So as the sun shone brightly outdoors and the open windows brought in a cool breeze, we got busy. This recipe is super easy and you could even add your own little spin, such as white chocolate chips or funfetti sprinkles—you decide! We used spring colored M&M’s, and followed this recipe to a tee!

Here’s what you need and hopefully you have in your pantry:

• 1/2 cup butter

• 1/2 cup brown sugar

• 1/4 cup white sugar

• 1 large egg

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 1 2/3 cup flour

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips

• 1/2 to 1 cup pastel M&M candies or candies preferred

And here’s how to make them:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

• Place parchment paper on top of baking sheets (or set aside un-greased baking sheets)

• Add butter to a microwave dish and microwave for 25 seconds or more until butter is partially melted, like 1/2 of the butter should appear melted while the other half still looks like a melted butter stick.

• Add the sugars (brown and white) to a large mixing bowl with the partially melted butter and stir well to combine.

• Next, beat in the egg and vanilla until just combined.

• Add in the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix until just combined.

• Add in your candies of choice (I just used a 1c. measuring cup and then gently stirred with our standing mixer. Don’t over beat or stir though)

• Use a large cookie scoop (3 tablespoons) to scoop out 12 cookies or use a medium sized cookie scoop (1 1/2 tablespoons) for 18-20 cookies and arrange them evenly on baking sheet .

• Bake for 10 minutes for medium sized cookies and 13-15 minutes for larger cookies. Cookies will still be slightly underdone when you remove them from the oven. Make sure not to over bake for soft and chewy cookies. Cookies will not spread much while baking. (I followed this precisely and ten minutes was the perfect amount of time!)

• Let sit on baking sheet for 5 minutes before eating. Allow cookies to cool completely before storing in an air-tight container for up to 4-5 days.

The kids have been enjoying these as an after dinner treat. It’s too bad we aren’t really supposed to share food or common spaces with people, because we would have loved to share with neighbors! I guess it means more for me though, so I won’t complain too much ;) I highly, highly encourage you to make these. Treat yourself to a moment on your deck or porch, cookie in hand. Stay well, friends and happy baking!

Don't Miss the Holiday

As you get older, do you feel as if the days are going by even faster…? I remember saying this pretty much as soon as I became a mama. The days were flying by, though sometimes the weeks themselves felt long. The same rings true today, and almost more. Somehow, my kids are six and seven years old. Gone are the baby days; the days when bottles were being heated, diapers being changed, and when my babies were snuggled warm and cozy in fleece onesie pajamas. I try to embrace each year, but guys, they’re going so fast. In this moment, I am thanking God that I invested in a good camera, taught myself how to take photos with it, and that I can use it to capture these days.

We’ve looked forward to Christmas since November, let’s face it. I married an Elf and basically St. Nick himself, so each year it seems we start to decorate and prepare earlier and earlier. I’m not complaining though—the twinkle lights, gorgeous garland, family village pieces, and the beautiful Christmas tree bring SUCH an indescribable JOY to the home. This season, we are trying so hard to just ENJOY IT. Not to rush it; not to go from one thing to the next, and not to worry about the messes being made [too much anyway.]

Have you ever wished you could simply freeze time? Just for a moment. Or two.. or for a few years. I know I have and that I do often. There have been so many days that I am running from one thing to the next, constantly thinking, “What’s next?” and this year, Asa and I have tried to be intentional to just SLOW DOWN. I suppose no matter how hard I try, the days do keep speeding by…but we are still challenging ourselves to live as intentionally as possible with them. “Don’t miss the Holiday trying to make the Holiday,” has been Asa’s mantra and I completely agree. I hope you enjoy looking through these photos our Gingerbread House memory; this was the first time we have done this [I’m not sure how that’s possible?!] and it was so fun! (And messy…) :)

Celebrating Fall with Cheryl's Cookies

Y’all know we LOVE to host and that we love to celebrate any and everything! The month of October was one of my favorites because it held so many good reasons to do just that. Between my husband’s birthday, celebrating our kids’ amazing report cards, and ending the month with a Barn Party where I board my horses—there was a whole lot of goodness!

Many of my friend have heard of and LOVE Cheryl’s Cookies, but in case you are unfamiliar, this company provides the most delicious, handcrafted cookies and treats delivered in gorgeous gift packaging which were perfect for ALL the occasions! Probably most well-known for its cut-out cookies with buttercream frosting, they also are offering so much Fall goodness with Marshmallow Frosted S’more flavors, as well as Peanut Butter Oat Chocolate Chip. We were also delighted to be the recipients of their Fudge Frosted Cut-Outs. ALL of the hand-crafted baked goods were perfect for all our occasions, and you can guess that our kids were NOT disappointed to be on the receiving end of the taste-testing!

We were able to share a lot of these at my husband’s birthday get together, but it was also fun for me to document our kids having their own little mini celebration on our back deck talking about how well they did in the first grading period of school. These sweet kids of ours are in first and second grade (where did time go?!) and they work SO hard in school and their grades are such evidence of that. Their teachers have nothing but positive and affirming things to say about each of them and they’re both discovering their love of reading, which makes me so happy!

We had plenty of cookies for them to be able to choose from and together as a family we celebrated their school victories—it was so, so sweet. LITERALLY! :)

So, Y’all! If you can’t tell already, Cheryl’s Cookies New Flavors Launch gives you more than enough cookies to share with your friends and family and they’ll all be oohing and aahing over the flavors and fun cut-out shapes. The company was founded in 1981 and is still going SO strong. Head over to their website to check out the ginormous variety of treats they have to offer (psstt…their Christmas selection is unbelievably delicious looking and CUTE!!)