caramel apple butter pecan “star bread”

Were I to live a thousand years I’d never be able to try out all my Pinterest pins!  But this month with our Improv Cooking Challenge ingredients being Nuts & Caramel, I was able to knock out three of them!

The recipe for the slow cooker caramel apple butter I slightly adapted from here. The sweet roll dough recipe I’ve had for years, but you can find a good one here. And finally, the inspiration for the “star bread” was from this pin. OHMYGOODNESS! This stuff tastes soooooooooooooo good!

I love this dough – it’s so easy to work with…

Unfortunately, I had to leave unexpectedly & the bread ended up raising for almost two hours! It overpowered my baking stone. Fortunately the parchment bore the brunt of the mess.

 

We also made pecan waffles to use up some leftover caramel…

You should probably check out the other sites linked here:

An InLinkz Link-up

German Chocolate Breakfast Scrolls

I love idiosyncracies of the English language across the various countries that use it. Several years back I sent in cinnamon rolls with the hubs to a men’s prayer group. An Aussie gentleman could not stop proclaiming how delicious the “cinnamon scrolls” were… So now at our house, whenever I serve bread that has been seasoned, rolled up, sliced & baked – they are designated “scrolls.”
My grandmother’s favorite cake was German Chocolate. I believe that is the only cake she requested a repeat from me. Anyhow, I decided that would be my inspiration for this month’s Improv Challenge: Pastry/Bread Dough & Chocolate 
Having determined my flavor profile, I needed a vehicle to implement it. I went with bread dough, because Grandma was a prolific baker.The difficulty with utilizing chocolate in yeasted dough is that it is prone to inhibit the rising process. In order to try to circumvent that I was inspired to use a recipe I’d tried years ago which has pudding as a base for the dough. It worked! I had no issues with rise…And the filled scrolls rose well, too…I sampled the fresh-baked rolls – so good!
Alas, the fellas in this house proclaimed the tops were too plain, please add a glaze, or something…
What a dilemna! I thought the scrolls too pretty to cover. But in the end I made a dark chocolate glaze, which turned out too difficult to drizzle so I had to spread it over the warm rolls.
And here are more Pastry/Bread Dough & Chocolate recipes from my friends:

An InLinkz Link-up

Cranberry Cheese Braid (gluten-free)

December’s Improv Challenge ingredients are cranberry and orange. There were sooooo many directions I wished to go with them, but finally settled on baked goods. I was wishing to try Pamela’s® Bread Mix, and here was my opportunity…
I’d made the cranberry sauce to go in a cream cheese schmear for Thanksgiving, so it was just sitting in the frig waiting for baking day.
Because I was multi-tasking, I tossed the dough ingredients into the bread machine:

• 1/2 c. warm water
• 1 T. yeast
• 1/4 c. honey
• 1 t. Kosher salt
• 1/2 c. yogurt
• 1/2 c. softened butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 T. fresh orange zest
• 4 c. Pamela’s® Bread Mix

When it was finished with the first rise, I divided the dough in half then rolled it out onto silicone baking sheets.Down the middle third I spread half this cream cheese mixture:

• 16 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 c. honey
• 2 eggs (lightly beaten)
• 1/4 c. Pamela’s® Bread Mix

The two side of dough needs to be slashed about every inch, or so.
On top of the cheese I spooned 1/2 - 2/3 cup of the cranberry sauce. Then the strips of dough were crossed to form the braid.
(Of course, all this is repeated with the other half of the dough…)
The braids were covered with plastic wrap & let raise for an hour. They were baked in a pre-heated 350° oven for about an hour until they were nice & browned.
As they cooled, I prepared the vanilla cream glaze:

• 2 c. powdered sugar
• 1 t. vanilla
• 6 T. heavy cream (or as needed for desired consistency)

This was a delicious gluten-free addition to my breakfast.(If you think I ate this only at breakfast time, you are mistaken!)(Actually, I’m eating a slice right now…)

Need holiday menu ideas? Then please check out these wonderful recipes from my friends:

An InLinkz Link-up

never knew eggs could taste like this

The hubs & I have a new breakfast ritual.

It starts with me putting a small stainless skillet on medium heat.

I add a tablespoon or two of coconut oil.

We take four eggs out of the fridge and scramble them. (On Mondays we take out five, but give one to Auggie – he ♥s eggs!)

If the pan’s heated just right, it starts to form a little “skin” as the eggs are poured in. I use a silicone spatula to gently turn the eggs. Nothing really sticks to the pan.

When they’re done, the eggs are shuffled off to a waiting plate.

We eat them with a sprinkle of garlic salt & a dab of sriracha sauce.

YUM!

Eggnog Cranberry Scones

Are you looking to impress your mother-in-law at the family's Christmas breakfast?  Are you searching for the perfect tasty morsel to bring to that Christmas tea party? Breathe a sigh of relief. You've stumbled upon the answer here!

Frugal Antic's Improv Challenge gives me the opportunity to share this scone recipe I've been developing for a couple months. Inspiration came from various cookbooks and scone recipes found at King Arthur Flour.

Start by letting those dry ingredients get all happy together:

Don't forget the beautiful cranberries!

Whisk up the 'nog & egg:

 give them some Christmas "cheer"

Stir just enough to moisten all the dry ingredients: 

Form dough into two rounds & cut in wedges: 

Place pieces onto baking parchment at least 1/2" apart: 

Brush with additional eggnog & sprinkle with cinnamon sugar:

Chill them while you preheat the oven:

Whip some cream while baking those bad boys:

Devour!

So -- if you're drooling for them, here is the recipe card:

I've prepared these for my guys ("Best ever, Mom!") a ladies' luncheon (rave reviews) & many batches for my online bake sale. Yes, this scone is guaranteed to please!

"NOM - NOM - NOM!"

smattering of thankfulness...

So very grateful for men & women who have served our country in the military.

Blessed to hear my son play taps at his school's Veterans' Day Assemblies.

Thankful our little guy is finally feeling better. (He'd been running a pretty high fever most of the week.)

I'm pretty glad to have this bonnet, muff & cape finished.  Starting on the gown alterations Monday.

We were all happy to eat a Saturday morning breakfast of yummy scones.

Excited that in eleven days all these people (plus 5 additions) will be together. Epic reunion!

Breakfast Bars

Not that our house would ever be considered "sane"... but the first day of school for a couple of my guys comes around on Monday. To help tame some of the craziness of the morning rush, it does help to have breakfast ready. (& if it can be eaten in the car on the way to the bus stop or car pool, that's even better!)

Here's my bar "of choice":

chopped apples

a little peanut butter

some protein powder

eggs

orange juice

stir in apples

add spice

oh, how 'bout another spice

well, maybe just one more...

raisins

rolled oats

press it into the baking sheet

heat it up a bit

let it cool

slice into bars

serve it to your honey with his coffee

(Oh, they're not too bad with a tall glass of milk, either...)