Happy Easter!
Happy Easter!
It has been a very busy weekend of many varied activities, but one of them, of course, had to be egg coloring!
I dyed my eggs naturally again with purple cabbage and turmeric. And as much as I don't like the smell of purple cabbage boiling in my kitchen, I do love making the dyes myself. And since the eggs have to boil anyway, it is not too much of a hardship to do both at once. I even found a good recipe for boiling eggs this year! As silly as it makes me feel that I use a recipe to boil eggs . . .
My favorite part is that I can stick them in the dye in the fridge for two hours and get other chores done at the same time!
Oh, and this little sock monkey with Humphrey and Loppy also snuck himself into this weekend.
And then there were cinnamon rolls. That started with a tiny potato.
Cinnamon rolls and hard boiled eggs have been an Easter breakfast tradition for me since childhood. Last year, NES and I tried making Pillsbury cinnamon rolls in the waffle maker. Somehow they just weren't the same.
This year, however, I found a cinnamon rolls for two recipe on Twitter sometime last month. It was right around one of those weekends that I wanted to bake everything in the world, including these cinnamon rolls. That didn't happen.
So I decided to save them for Easter. Oh, and I realized a few things.
Realization #1: Cinnamon rolls from scratch take a long time. I don't understand how anyone makes them entirely in the morning.
Realization #2: Dough that can be refrigerated after the first rising is wonderful.
Realization #3: I am a slow cinnamon roll maker. This recipe took me more like 3 hours than 2 hours.
Realization #4: Cinnamon rolls are tasty. Always. Especially when the dough isn't too sweet and the filling is buttery and gooey and wonderful.
Realization #5: A cinnamon roll that takes up half a bread pan is HUGE. Cinnamon rolls for two are probably more like cinnamon rolls for three.
Realization #6: Singing in choir during church without a voice is probably a bad plan. Especially the Hallelujah Chorus.
Wishing you and your family a blessed Easter with the hope that Jesus is risen!
Cinnamon Rolls "for Two" (or Three)
adapted ever so slightly from Dessert for Two
5 oz. russet potato, peeled and cubed
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 tbsp. sugar, plus a pinch
2 tbsp. butter, melted
1 1/2 cups flour +1-4 tbsp.
2 tbsp. butter, melted
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. plus 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 cup powdered sugar
splash of milk
Place the raw potato pieces and 1 cup of water into a small saucepan. Add more water if the potato isn't covered. Bring to a boil and cook until the potato is tender when pierced with a fork.
Drain the potatoes, and reserve 3/4 cup of the cooking water in a measuring cup. If there is not enough water, add fresh water to reach 3/4 cup.
Wait until the water cools to just warmer than lukewarm. Meanwhile, mash the potatoes in a medium bowl.
Add the yeast and a pinch of sugar to the warm water. Stir to dissolve together and let sit 5 minutes or until foamy. (If you do perchance kill the yeast or need to start over, fresh water will work fine.)
Add the sugar and 2 tbsp. melted butter to the cooled mashed potatoes in the medium bowl. Mix very well, until no lumps remain (since these lumps will show up in your finished product!).
Add the yeast mixture and stir well.
Add the flour and mix until completely combined. Hold the dough in one hand and grease the bowl with butter. Allow to rise in a warm place 45 mins. to an hour, or until doubled in size.
Punch the dough down, and continue or pause here and refrigerate overnight.
Punch the dough down (if you've refrigerated it), and roughly knead the dough a few times. You may need to flour your hands. Add flour to the dough until it is a consistency you can roll out. This could be 1-4 tbsp. of flour.
Dust the counter with flour. Roll the dough into a 6 inch by 6 inch square.
Combine the other 2 tbsp. of melted butter with the brown sugar and 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon. Let sit for a moment.
Cover the dough almost to the edges with the brown sugar mixture.
Gently roll the dough, starting with the edge closest to you, and roll tightly. Pinch the end edge together with the roll. Slice the roll into two equal pieces and place into a greased loaf pan.
Allow the rolls to rise for 30 mins. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Bake for 25 mins. They will brown on top.
Combine the powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon and a splash of milk. Pour over warm rolls and serve.
It has been a very busy weekend of many varied activities, but one of them, of course, had to be egg coloring!
I dyed my eggs naturally again with purple cabbage and turmeric. And as much as I don't like the smell of purple cabbage boiling in my kitchen, I do love making the dyes myself. And since the eggs have to boil anyway, it is not too much of a hardship to do both at once. I even found a good recipe for boiling eggs this year! As silly as it makes me feel that I use a recipe to boil eggs . . .
My favorite part is that I can stick them in the dye in the fridge for two hours and get other chores done at the same time!
Oh, and this little sock monkey with Humphrey and Loppy also snuck himself into this weekend.
And then there were cinnamon rolls. That started with a tiny potato.
Cinnamon rolls and hard boiled eggs have been an Easter breakfast tradition for me since childhood. Last year, NES and I tried making Pillsbury cinnamon rolls in the waffle maker. Somehow they just weren't the same.
This year, however, I found a cinnamon rolls for two recipe on Twitter sometime last month. It was right around one of those weekends that I wanted to bake everything in the world, including these cinnamon rolls. That didn't happen.
So I decided to save them for Easter. Oh, and I realized a few things.
Realization #1: Cinnamon rolls from scratch take a long time. I don't understand how anyone makes them entirely in the morning.
Realization #2: Dough that can be refrigerated after the first rising is wonderful.
Realization #4: Cinnamon rolls are tasty. Always. Especially when the dough isn't too sweet and the filling is buttery and gooey and wonderful.
Realization #5: A cinnamon roll that takes up half a bread pan is HUGE. Cinnamon rolls for two are probably more like cinnamon rolls for three.
Realization #6: Singing in choir during church without a voice is probably a bad plan. Especially the Hallelujah Chorus.
Wishing you and your family a blessed Easter with the hope that Jesus is risen!
Cinnamon Rolls "for Two" (or Three)
adapted ever so slightly from Dessert for Two
5 oz. russet potato, peeled and cubed
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 tbsp. sugar, plus a pinch
2 tbsp. butter, melted
1 1/2 cups flour +1-4 tbsp.
2 tbsp. butter, melted
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. plus 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 cup powdered sugar
splash of milk
Place the raw potato pieces and 1 cup of water into a small saucepan. Add more water if the potato isn't covered. Bring to a boil and cook until the potato is tender when pierced with a fork.
Drain the potatoes, and reserve 3/4 cup of the cooking water in a measuring cup. If there is not enough water, add fresh water to reach 3/4 cup.
Wait until the water cools to just warmer than lukewarm. Meanwhile, mash the potatoes in a medium bowl.
Add the yeast and a pinch of sugar to the warm water. Stir to dissolve together and let sit 5 minutes or until foamy. (If you do perchance kill the yeast or need to start over, fresh water will work fine.)
Add the sugar and 2 tbsp. melted butter to the cooled mashed potatoes in the medium bowl. Mix very well, until no lumps remain (since these lumps will show up in your finished product!).
Add the yeast mixture and stir well.
Add the flour and mix until completely combined. Hold the dough in one hand and grease the bowl with butter. Allow to rise in a warm place 45 mins. to an hour, or until doubled in size.
Punch the dough down, and continue or pause here and refrigerate overnight.
Punch the dough down (if you've refrigerated it), and roughly knead the dough a few times. You may need to flour your hands. Add flour to the dough until it is a consistency you can roll out. This could be 1-4 tbsp. of flour.
Dust the counter with flour. Roll the dough into a 6 inch by 6 inch square.
Combine the other 2 tbsp. of melted butter with the brown sugar and 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon. Let sit for a moment.
Cover the dough almost to the edges with the brown sugar mixture.
Gently roll the dough, starting with the edge closest to you, and roll tightly. Pinch the end edge together with the roll. Slice the roll into two equal pieces and place into a greased loaf pan.
Allow the rolls to rise for 30 mins. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Bake for 25 mins. They will brown on top.
Combine the powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon and a splash of milk. Pour over warm rolls and serve.
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