Baking

How Many Ways Can I Use Cinnamon?

Emerald Thunder

I just want to reiterate that I LOVE cinnamon; without a doubt, it’s my favorite spice/flavor. I’m always looking for ways to consume it, be it via cinnamon rolls, a sprinkling in my hot cocoa, cookies, anything.

I have a go-to cinnamon roll recipe, but even though it only takes about 90 minutes from start to finish, I still find baking them to be a messy hassle and not worth it for how often I crave them. Enter Cinnamon Roll Pancakes from Recipe Girl!

They’re pure heaven on a plate, that’s the only way to describe them. The cinnamon swirl cooks up and becomes crusty and delicious, spreading all over the pancake and creating a wonderfully crystallized coating.

The first  time I made them I decided against topping them with the glaze. They were perfect plain, and even though Recipe Girl highly recommends the glaze, it seemed like overkill when I topped them with it the second time I made them.

One issue I had with this recipe came up when I actually flipped the pancakes to cook the swirled side. More often than not the swirl would seep out from the pancake and start to burn in my pan. A few times that led to some smoking and burning, with me begging and pleading with the pan to not get too smokey and burned. I ended up rinsing out the pan after each pancake in order to avoid this, but that made the whole process take a lot longer than I anticipated, since I had to wait for the pan to heat up again each time.

The final results were entirely worth this slight hassle, and I think I’ve found the perfect substitute for when I want cinnamon rolls but don’t want to make a giant mess with flour all over the counter. The almost instant gratification with these isn’t so bad either, which is perfect for my impatient self.

And because this wasn’t enough cinnamon, I also tried my hand at a new Snickerdoodle recipe from Smitten Kitchen. This is probably the best one I’ve tried out so far, so I’ll stick with it if I want snickerdoodles in the future.

They went over really well when I brought them to a party at work, however they didn’t all disappear and so I brought the remainder home. For some reason they didn’t all get eaten immediately, but that was actually a blessing in disguise.

These cookies stay soft for SO LONG. I only had them in a ziploc bag, but they stayed fresh and delicious for more than a week. I’ve never experienced this with cookies before, and I wish I knew what was so special about them to have this result. For this reason alone–never mind that they’re delicious–these snickerdoodles get a top-notch rating and my wholehearted recommendation to everyone.

Baking

I’m Finally All Caught Up

Emerald Thunder

This is the last post of things from the end of the semester, and it’s devoted to baked goods in cupcake/muffin form.

I tried my hand at homemade carrot cake with the Carrot Cake Cupcakes from Baking Bites. It was a completely spur of the moment baking decision, as I should have been packing and organizing my room to move rather than baking. They were totally worth the lost packing time, even though they were ever so slightly over-baked.

They ended up sinking and being flatter than I expected, but that just meant that I could put more cream cheese frosting on top in order to create domes. Good plan!

Overall they were very good and I would like to make them again, but this time I’ll pay closer attention to them while they’re in the oven.

To be honest, I can’t remember exactly which recipe I used to make these cinnamon sugar doughnut muffins, but I’m pretty sure I used this one from How To: Simplify.

I wish I could remember because they were so good and I want to be able to make them again.

Well, that about wraps it up for baking from the end of the semester, so now I can look forward to my summer baking, which I can assure you will be very fun!

Baking

Cookie Madness!

Emerald Thunder

This post will be devoted to cookies! I’ve made three completely different recipes, and I don’t think I could possibly choose one that I love the most. They were all so different and delectable.

I’ll start with the Pomegranate White Chocolate Chip Cookies. These were one of my baking bonanzas from February and I just had to bake them again, even though once again I failed to document the process. Oh well!

I also had to make a substitution because I wanted them so badly and couldn’t get out to buy eggs. As a result I used half a banana in place of the egg. Thankfully it worked out wonderfully. The banana added a bit of something extra to the taste and I must say that I happen to like it better than the original recipe. I just might keep this substitution in mind when and if I make them for a third time.

They went over really well with my friends when I brought them to class one day. I kept the bag out during class, and one friend just kept reaching his hand into the bag and munching absent-mindedly throughout the entire hour. I think he liked them just a bit, haha.

For my next cookies I failed to get even one picture of them. I took the Glazed Lemon Cookies from Two Peas and Their Pod to a picnic in Washington Square Park the other day, and by the time I got there they were all SQUASHED and in chunks. Thankfully it didn’t affect the taste, but it would have been nice to get a picture of them in the park.

They were light and lemon-y and a perfect summer cookie. I omitted the glaze this time, and I might keep it that way so that they don’t become overwhelmingly sweet.

For my final cookie I made Oatmeal Raisin Cookie recipe from The Joy of Baking. I managed to transport these to the park without too much damage, but I didn’t take pictures of them there. Instead they became the first baked good to be photographed on my new windowsill.

Ta-da!

I’m not really feeling the direct sunlight for my photos. I much prefer my old sill and the indirect lighting because it was much less harsh and didn’t create such bold shadows on my food.

I thought I might also include the sandwiches we ate on our picnic in the park. My friend made us ham and cheese with mayo, spinach, and Texas tomato on bird seed bread from Whole Foods.

Great sandwiches, Anne! You can be in charge of sandwiches any time.

Baking

The Post of Chocolate DEATH!

Emerald Thunder

During my time away from the blog I made a couple of things that, if made repeatedly, could result in a death by chocolate. They were too delicious and absolutely to die for!

These Cheesecake Brownies from Buns in my Oven were fantastic. I made them for dessert for dinner at a friend’s apartment. We each made something, and it was all really good. We gorged ourselves on pulled brisket, mashed potatoes, potato rolls, and my brownies–a good old homemade, stick to your ribs dinner that we were all seriously craving by the end of the semester.

Unfortunately I didn’t get any pictures of them before we dug in, but that just means I’ll have to make them again sometime.

My next dessert of death consisted of my go-to brownies with homemade ice cream.

The brownies were so moist and gooey that I hope I can replicate this same effect in the future. Rather than use semi-sweet chocolate chips like I usually use, I had a giant bar of dark chocolate from Trader Joe’s that I chopped up and melted into the batter, and then I added more chunks before baking.

YUM!

For the ice cream, I found this super easy recipe on kevinandamanda.com. It didn’t even require an ice cream maker, rock salt, or any of that stuff! Color me a happy camper. I’m definitely going to be making this over and over and adding in tons of mix-ins. I should start thinking of combinations right now.

Doesn’t it look like pure FUDGE? Delicious death in a bowl, that’s all I have to say.

Baking

Cheesecake!!

Emerald Thunder

A friend pointed out this Vanilla Yogurt Cheesecake recipe a few weeks ago just as I was falling in love with greek yogurt, so it couldn’t have been better timing. With the use of non-fat yogurt, this is certainly a lighter variation on classic cheesecake. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect in terms of a final product, but I was happily surprised.

I’m actually not a huge fan of plain cheesecake, but I enjoyed this one. It’s usually the intense cream cheese tang that I don’t enjoy as much, but this recipe just didn’t have too much of a tang, which was surprising considering the block of cream cheese and 16 ounces of greek yogurt it had. I probably could have added more cream cheese since the overall flavor was extremely subtle.

I slightly over-baked the crust, which is seeming to become a habit of mine. I wasn’t a huge fan of the pre-made chocolate graham crust I used, so at least I know I won’t buy it again, even if it’s on sale.

The cheesecake also sank a LOT after I turned off the oven, but it actually didn’t crack like most do. I must admit I was a bit nervous about the cracking and sinking, as that always happens when I make cheesecakes, so this result wasn’t unexpected.

Overall this recipe makes an enjoyable cheesecake, but that’s only my opinion. However, those who enjoy really being able to taste the cream cheese might beg to differ. But if I make cheesecake again, it’ll probably be of the “No-Bake” variety.

Also, these strawberries are so ripe and sweet! I ended up buying three pints of them, and I’m sure they’ll be gone in a matter of days.