Cinnamon "Twisties"

Yep, this is yet ANOTHER recipe using cinnamon!! If I had my way, I would probably put cinnamon in everything I baked :) This recipe came out of the 1938 edition of the Town Crier De Luxe Recipe Book,  the same year my mom was born!

 

 

My mom used to make cinnamon rolls a lot growing up. She moved into a skilled nursing facility this past December and about three weeks ago, my family and I were able to visit with her. My mother is pretty much bedridden and her memory is starting to fail a bit, but she is still able to recognize us. I feel incredibly blessed that I still have in her my life, because she is so very ill. I think the next time I visit my mom, I will pack some cinnamon twisties in my suitcase!!!

 

Ingredients

 

2 cups white flour

5 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons sugar

4 tablespoons shortening

2/3 cup milk

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

 

Powdered Sugar Glaze

 

3/4 cup powdered sugar

2 teaspoons water

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 9-inch round pan with non-stick cooking spray. In a large bowl, put the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. "Cut" in the shortening with two knives. Pour the milk in the middle and with a large spoon, mix well until soft dough forms. On a lightly floured surface, knead about 10 times and then roll out until it is 12 inches long and six inches across. Brush the melted butter over the entire surface. In a small bowl, put the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Sprinkle evenly over the dough and then roll up like a jelly roll and cut into eight slices. Place in prepared pan. The cinnamon rolls will look small, but with five teaspoons of baking powder, they get bigger, I promise!  Bake for 20 minutes or until they begin to turn lightly brown on the bottom. Remove from oven. In a small bowl, put the powdered sugar and water. Mix well with small spoon until smooth and then drizzle over the "twisties." Makes eight. Cover loosely with foil at room temperature.

 

 

Pink Lemonade Muffins

Yesterday, even though the weather was beautiful, I spent a large portion of the day inside working on the computer and doing household chores. I figured I could sit outside today on the deck and just "chill," sipping a cold glass of pink lemonade and reading a book. Well, guess what? I woke up to heavy rain pelting our bedroom window! Wonderful. Since it was so cloudy and dreary this morning, I wanted to bake a little "sunshine" into some muffins. I love "experimenting," in the kitchen with different ingredients, such as using powdered lemonade in place of some of the white sugar in this recipe and substituting yogurt instead of sour cream to make these muffins more moist!! These were so tasty, I had two for breakfast with my coffee :) I'm keeping my fingers crossed the sun comes out later this afternoon!

Ingredients

 

2 cups white flour

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 cup pink powdered lemonade

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

2 large eggs

3/4 cup milk

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

5.3 ounce container Yoplait Greek 100 

   strawberry yogurt

 

Glaze

 

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 1/4 teaspoons water

 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners and set aside. In a large bowl, put the flour, sugar, powdered lemonade, baking powder, salt, butter, eggs, milk, vanilla extract and yogurt. Stir well with large spoon until smooth. Distribute the batter evenly between the paper liners. Bake for 20-23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into one of the muffins comes out clean. Remove to wire rack to continue cooling. To make the glaze, put the powdered sugar and water in a small bowl and mix with a spoon. Drizzle on the muffins. Makes one dozen.



Cinnamon Cake

 

 

Buried in my collection of over 110 cookbooks, I found a Pennsylvania Dutch Cookbook from 1960.  There are some pretty "unique" recipes such as shoo-fly pie, pretzel soup, rabbit cake and boy's legs. Boy's legs? Don't worry - they are potato and beef filled pastries. Anyways, being the cinnamon "gal" that I am, when I found a recipe for cinnamon cake, I knew that was definitely one to try! I always love the way our house smells when I'm baking anything with cinnamon - it smells so good! Both Lauren and Dominic were around when I frosted this cake last night, so they both got a "sample." Of course they loved it! Why won't they?!?!? They "inherited" their love of cinnamon from me!

 

Ingredients

 

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

1 1/2 cups white flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 large eggs

1/2 cup milk

 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 9-inch round pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until smooth by hand or with electric mixer. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, eggs and milk. Combine well until smooth. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack. Below is my recipe for cinnamon cream cheese frosting which is what I used on top of the cake. If you still want even MORE cinnamon, sprinkle a little on top!  Store cake covered in fridge. Serves eight.

 

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

 

2 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

1 tablespoon milk

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract