Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

     I love to make breakfast on Saturday mornings. I especially like to make breakfast when there is football on like there was this morning. So as I watched Missouri stomp Texas A&M, I remembered a pancake recipe I saw on twitter that @babblefood posted a few weeks ago. It was a pancake that look and tasted like a cinnamon roll. Wow – two great breakfast items combined into one. It is covered in a buttermilk syrup that I made, but I also tried it with regular syrup and that was just as good. (maybe better)

For the pancakes you will need to mix the following:

Combine 1 cup AP flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium size bowl.

Then in a small bowl, combine 1-1/2  cups buttermilk, 2 tablespoon melted butter, 1 lightly beaten egg, and 1 tablespoon honey.  Whisk this mixture into the dry ingredients. Batter should be a little lumpy and not to thin.

Once you have that done, you will need to make the mixture for the cinnamon swirl. In a measuring cup mix 1/4 cup brown sugar (no lumps), 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 tablespoon AP flour, and 2 1/2 tablespoons melted butter. Make sure this mixture is smooth and put it in a plastic Ziploc bag and cut a small triangle off the corner so you can pipe it onto the pancake.

Here’s where you have to make a decision. Do you want the Buttermilk syrup or regular syrup. If you want the buttermilk syrup, you have to get that started. In a medium saucepan, add 4 tablespoons butter, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1 cup buttermilk. Bring this to a boil over medium heat then reduce to low and simmer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, take it off the heat and add 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda. At this point it will foam up like a volcano science project you did in school, so make sure your sauce pan is big enough to stop any spillover.

While your syrup is simmering. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat and put a tablespoon of butter in it. Once the butter is melted, pour 1/2 cup of pancake batter into the pan. Don’t use more than 1/2 cup because there will be to much batter on the top when you flip it and it will cover your cinnamon swirl (I only know because I did this when I tried to make a bigger one). Now use your Ziploc bag to pipe on your swirl on top of the batter in the pan.

When the bubbles on the surface of the pancake begin to pop and then not refill with more batter, flip your pancake carefully and cook for another 30-45 seconds. Repeat with the remaining batter and swirl mixture.

Top your Cinnamon Pancakes with the Buttermilk Syrup and enjoy! May the Fork Be With You!

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OREO Cake

    Yeah, it’s as good as it looks. In fact it was so good I actually made it twice this past weekend. I made it Friday for a cookout I had at work and then I made it Sunday for my sister’s baby shower. It’s a really simple recipe to follow and you can make the whole cake in about 2 hours. I got this recipe from www.mybakingaddiction.com they really have a lot of great dessert recipes. You can also follow them on twitter at @bakingaddiction.

Ingredients
For the Cake
1 (18.25 ounce) package devil’s food cake mix {with or without pudding}
1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup warm water
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottoms of (2) 9 inch round cake pans with parchment and grease pans thoroughly.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mix, salt vanilla, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs and water. Stir in the chocolate chips and divide batter into the prepared pans.
3. Bake for 25-35 minutes, rotating pans half way through baking the baking time. Bake until the top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cake for at least 30 minutes before inverting. Allow cake to cool completely on wire rack.

For the Oreo Buttercream
Ingredients
1 stick salted butter – room temperature
1 stick unsalted butter – room temperature
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 pounds confectioner’s sugar (powdered sugar, 10x)
3-4 tablespoons very cold milk
25 Oreo cookies chopped

Directions
1. Cream the butters in the bowl of an electric or stand mixer. Add the vanilla extract and combine well.
2. Begin adding in the sugar and mixing thoroughly after each addition. After all of the sugar has been added and mixed thoroughly, begin adding the very cold milk… one tablespoon at a time, combining well after each addition until you reach the desired consistency.
3. Fold in chopped Oreo Cookies and frost your cooled cake layers.

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Beef, Snap Pea, and Asparagus Stir-Fry

Meal Cost for 5 People = $25.00

Hello out there – Did you miss me? Wow, I haven’t blogged in so long I almost couldn’t remember my password. So I’m back and I vow not to abandon the 2 people that read my blog again – Ha!

Lately I have been on an Asian infused food kick. I didn’t realize how cheap it is to make such large quantities of Asian food. I have been trying fried rice recipes, stir-fries, and sweet and sour chicken entree’s. Let me back up for a minute because when I first started making Asian food it was NOT cheap because I had to buy the Tamari, Sriracha, Sesame Oil, Rice Wine Vinegar, and other assorted condiments. But once you accumulate all that, then it really is cheap. Tonight I was skimming through my June issue of Every Day Food Magazine and found this stir-fry recipe – Bingo, dinner! It’s a lot more expensive then say a Chicken Fried Rice dinner, but only because it calls for NY Strip Steak. You could use Flank Steak, but that’s up to you.

In a small bowl mix 1 tablespoon Soy Sauce, 1 teaspoon Rice Vinegar, and 1 teaspoon sugar. Trim a “bunch” of asparagus (14oz) and cut them into 2 pieces. Set aside.  

In a large skillet or wok, heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil on high heat.  Take a 1 pound NY Strip and thinly slice it dropping the cut pieces into your skillet. Let the meat cook without touching it for about 2 minutes. Then flip and cook another 30 seconds. The steak should be brown on both sides. At this point, take the steak out and put it in a bowl.

Add your trimmed asparagus and 6oz of snap peas to the hot pan. Also add 1 minced garlic clove and 1 tablespoon of peeled minced ginger. Stir this mixture constantly as it cooks until the vegetables are tender. Should take about 4-5 minutes. Once your veggies are how you like them, add the soy sauce mixture you made earlier and cook for about 15 seconds. Then remove your pan from the heat. Stir in 1 teaspoon lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of torn basil leaves. Add your steak back into the vegetables and toss to mix.

Serve this mixture over rice with a lemon wedge and top with a little extra soy sauce. If you want to get crazy and like spicy food, but a few drops of sriracha on it. Enjoy and May the Fork be With You!

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