Sinfully Delicious Nutella Stuffed French Toast

If there's one thing my best friend and I share a love for, it's Nutella. That's why, when I suggested that April be a Nutella themed month for my blog, she heartily agreed to join me in my baking adventure. Our first project? Nutella stuffed french toast.

Of course, we decided that no Nutella party would be acceptable without proper girly day materials. So when we went grocery shopping for, y'know, basics like Nutella and bread, we might have come home with more than expected...

Don't worry. We put it all to good use.

What you need for the french toast (for two)

4 slices Texas toast (don't skimp on this and use regular bread; it won't be nearly as good!)

3 eggs

1/4-1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1-2 tablespoons powdered sugar

Nutella

Bananas and/or strawberries

Cool whip

Smother the Texas toast with Nutella.  Show that bread no mercy and make sure it's drowning in Nutella by the time you're done with it.

Now slice up some fruit. Personally, I just like bananas with mine, but my boyfriend likes his with bananas AND strawberries. Lay the slices evenly on one slice of bread.

Whisk together your eggs, whipping cream, and powdered sugar until well combined. The sugar will make it a little thick.

Smoosh the banana layered slice of toast together with the plain Nutella slice. Carefully dip in the egg mixture. I like to dip it so that the middle doesn't get egg in it (raw egg-yuck!) so I dip one side, flip, and then the other. Place in a warm, lightly greased skillet over medium heat.Watch the toast carefully as it has a tendency to burn quickly. When one side is thoroughly cooked, flip and cook the other side. At this point, the center should be turning into molten, Nutella lava. When done, remove from skillet, top with Cool Whip or syrup and enjoy!

This stuff is heavenly! The center is an ooey gooey river of Nutella and banana. The toast is perfectly sweetened and tender. With the Cool Whip on top, it becomes Nutella heaven.

This was all that was left on my plate when I finished! 

Good luck and happy baking!

Rosie

Sunday Morning Banana Nut Muffins

I have this constant craving for muffins. It's a bit of a hassle really. They say that muffins are terrible for you but I just can't get enough! My all time FAVORITE muffin is banana nut. So when I had one of those "Omg, I need to make some muffins!" moments, I knew exactly what kind I was going to bake.

What you need:
3 to 4 ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 cup melted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon espresso or strong coffee
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup chopped walnuts, toasted or raw

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Mix your butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, espresso and vanilla

Sprinkle the baking soda and the salt over the mixture and stir in. Add the flour, mix until just incorporated. Fold in the walnuts.

Pour mixture into prepared muffin tins. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool on a rack.

Oh my. Those are some sexy muffins.

Butter these babies up and enjoy.

Good luck and happy baking,
Rosie

Source: Simply Recipes

Yummy Pumpkin Bread

Hey y'all.

 

Yep, it's that time of year. It has already snowed once up here in Boston and today I was regrettably under-dressed to face the chilling winds on the corner of Tremont and Boylston. I really do love winter, though. Despite this being my second year to spend it up North, the novelty of piles of snow and icy days has still not quite worn away. To me, winter is all about cute tights, pretty scarves, frosty eyeshadow, warm drinks and spicy foods. Unfortunately it also means painfully dry skin and hair. I only bring this up because The Beauty Department did a really cool post the other day with tips on caring for one's skin. Unfortunately, I fear that next week's paycheck is going to have a chunk taken out of it to buy some of the things mentioned in that post.

But food. That's my area of specialty. I'm doing something a bit wacky for November. I'm doing a month of pumpkin themed treats. Oh, boy. Who knows how this is going to turn out. We may all detest this innocent little squash by the time December rolls around, though I am hoping this is not the case.

First up: Pumpkin bread. When you were in school, did you ever have to do that exercise in reading directions where the very first one was to read through all of them first? But you didn't, of course, so you followed a whole bunch of silly, embarrassing directions that included standing up and saying your name and all kinds of fun stuff, only to get to the end and see the final direction was to skip everything else and simply sit there. Don't worry, I was awful at those. Still am. Bear with me here, as you'll see just how goofy I am...

What you need:

1 cup oil

1 3/4 cup sugar

1 box brown sugar

4 cups pumpkin

5 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cloves

2 tablespoons cinnamon

4 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts)

1 teaspoon vanilla 

Combine the oil and the sugars.

Add the pumpkin.

Combine flour, salt, cloves, cinnamon, soda and nuts. Add to the pumpkin mixture. Add vanilla; mix well. It's VERY thick so lift some weights and press those benches before stirring this concoction.

Now here is where my inability to look ahead came into play. When I set out to find this recipe, it was to look for something that included pumpkin and that wasn't super expensive to make. Which is why I never read the final step that said to bake the batter in five 1 pound coffee cans. 

Yeah, this. Source: icollector

I vaguely remember coffee coming in cans as a child, but now it's all bags and plastic containers with screw on lids. So I improvised. 

Grease and flour three loaf pans. (This makes a lot of bread.) Try not fill them more than half full. Bake at 350 degrees for an hour and ten minutes.

 

Gorgeous, right? It's a trap. About thirty minutes after these came out of the oven, they each had a giant sink hole in the center. What had happened? I had been tricked. About forty five minutes in, I checked them and they looked completely done. I even tried putting a tooth pick in, like in a cake, and it came out clean. They were definitely NOT done. 

Moral of the story: Don't be fooled by appearances. Bake these for an hour and ten minutes.

The good news is, despite parts of these being underbaked, they were really quite delicious. This bread is incredibly rich with a great spice flavor. You can even freeze two of the loaves so that they don't go bad while you're working on the first.

I would certainly recommend this recipe but I would hope that my readers are far cleverer than me and pay attention to directions. 

Good luck and don't forget to set those clocks back!

Rosie

Source: Favorite Eastern Star Recipes Holiday Cookbook 1970

Oh, and just because I'm vain, I'm posting a picture of my Halloween costume. I went as Rosie the Riveter! My Halloween was amazing and I was really proud of my ensemble. What did you guys dress up as?

The pants are from a vintage shop and make my rear end look three miles wide. But otherwise, I thought I did pretty well, no?

Happy baking!

Ridculously Good Cinnamon Rolls

    Wow, so this is my first post in the blog Sweet Saccharine. At this point, I'm still not sure what I want this blog to be when it grows up, but I'm hoping you will join me as I figure it out.

    My name is Rose and I'm currently a college student working on a major in writing and publishing. However, some of my biggest hobbies include baking and fashion. I'm hoping that it will become evident throughout this blog just how much those two influence me, but for now we'll just dive right on into the first!

    One of my favorite foods in the whole world, is a piping hot cinnamon roll. Ever since I was a child, I loved the taste of the slightly doughy rolls with sweet icing melting down the sides. So when I found this easy recipe on Moms Who Think, I was ecstatic. Not only is it simple, but its ridiculously delicious and rich. I barely managed to finish one and my boyfriend, who might have a black hole for a stomach, stopped after a mere two.

    Here are directions with my (ugly) pictures, but if you just want the recipe, scroll down to the bottom.

    Your Ingredients:

Rolls:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus extra for the counter
2 Tablespoons white granulated sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted


Filling
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup white granulated sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups confectioner's sugar
1 Tablespoon milk

First you need to go ahead and preheat your oven to 425 degrees F. Coat a 9 inch round cake pan and a wire rack with vegetable oil spray. Do not skip this! The baked rolls are covered in a sticky syrup and will be impossible to get out, otherwise.

For the filling: In a small bowl, combine your brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, salt, and the melted butter until the mixture resembles wet sand.

Next you need to make your dough. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and 2 Tablespoons of the melted butter.




With a wooden spoon, stir the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture until absorbed or about 30 seconds. The recipe says the dough will look shaggy, I would say a more accurate description is lumpy. Turn it out onto your floured counter and knead it until it is smooth.

Using your hands, press the dough into a 9 by 12 inch rectangle. This dough is very elastic, so be patient. Don't pull on it, because this causes the dough to become tough.

Brush the dough with 2 Tablespoons of the melted mutter. Sprinkle the dough evenly with the filling, but leave a !/2 inch border. Press the filling firmly into the dough.

Loosen the dough from the counter using a spatula, and roll the dough, starting at a long side, to form a tight log. Make sure to pinch the seam to seal it, so the rolls don't fall apart. Cut into 8 even slices.

Place the slices into the greased cake pan. If necessary, gently shape them into a more rounded shape. Brush with the last 2 Tablespoons of melted butter.

Bake until the edges are golden brown, about 20-25 minutes. Be careful not to over bake! You will notice that the filling has spilled out and is bubbling, like a delicious, molten, cinnamon volcano.


Use a knife to loosen the rolls from the pan. Flip them out onto the prepared wire rack, then turn the upright. Let them cool for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, make your frosting. Cream together your first three ingredients. Add the confectioners sugar gradually in order to incorporate it smoothly. Add the milk if it becomes too thick (I didn't find that necessary). This recipe makes a LOT of frosting. So what was the only logical thing to do? Cover the rolls in a mountain of cream cheese frosting, of course! After the rolls have cooled, spoon the icing on top and watch it make its ooey gooey way down the sides of the rolls.

The only thing left is to enjoy these monstrously delicious rolls. For the original recipe without the pictures, follow the yeast free recipe at Moms Who Think.

Enjoy!

Rosie