Sticky Blueberry Cinnamon Buns

This recipe didn’t turn out the way I expected. Although the taste was great, the bottom of the sticky bun was stuck to the pan. After a little bit of force, I got it out of the pan, but the sticky part was not very pretty. Hence, you see the picture of the bottom of the bun, which was the top, during baking. A good experiment, but I might need to try again to master it. I had tried not to let it cool off too much in the pan, as I know that the cooling of the sugar will make it stick, but I really don’t know what went wrong here. If anyone out there know, please feel free to drop me a line.

Ingredients:
Sticky Glaze:
3/4 cup brown sugar
½ cup melted butter

For the dough:
1 ¼ cups warm milk
3 ½ cups bread flour
1 pkg 5-8 g instant dry yeast or 16 grams Instant Yeast
¼ cup butter, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup sugar
2 eggs

For the filling:
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup butter, room termperature
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 1/2 cups blueberries

Prepare the dough:
Combine flour along with the sugar, yeast and salt in a large bowl.

Add the melted butter, warm milk, eggs and vanilla extract.

Knead dough for 4-5 minutes until the mixture is smooth with no lumps. The dough would be a little bit sticky at this point.|

You may need to use a little less or a little more flour, this is not uncommon.

Knead the dough for an additional 10 minutes on a bread board or countertop.

Cover dough and leave to rest and rise for one hour. Punch the dough down and knead it for a few minutes by hand before letting it rest for another 10 minutes.

Roll the rested dough our into a large rectangle about 12×18 inches.

For the Sticky glaze:
Combine the 3/4 cup brown sugar and ½ cup melted butter in the bottom of the pan before adding the rolls.

For the filling:
Combine ½ cup brown sugar, the soft butter and cinnamon to make a paste.

Spread this mixture on the rolled out dough. Evenly sprinkle on the blueberries.

Starting at the short side of the rectangle, roll the dough into a log, pinching the dough together to seal at the end of the roll.

Cut the roll into 12 equal pieces and place in the bottom of the 9×13 baking pan on top of the glaze mixture.

Cover the baking pan with a clean tea towel and allow the rolls to rise until at least doubled in size, about 1 to 1 ½ hours.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-40 minutes or until the rolls spring back when touched in the middle of the pan.

Cheesecake Brownies

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Cheesecake Brownies

These were absolutely delicious! Not too sweet, a gooey brownie, with a combination of a cheesecake. I have not been a fan of cheesecake, as I always think that a full piece of cheesecake is too rich for my blood in one sitting. This was puuuuurfect! The love I have for brownie a just a little taste of cheesecake on top. I would definitely make this again and I woudn’t change a thing. Although this may not be a kid favorite, as it has the dark chocolate (which has a bitter taste and no sugar added), so if you want to make it more kid friendly, just change up the dark chocolate with semi-sweet chocolate mini chocolate chips.

Ingredients:
Brownies
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup dark chocolate chunks

Cheesecake Layer
1 cup cream cheese, softened (I usually use the spreadable)
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg, room temperature
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly spray an 8 inch square baking pan with cooking spray. Line with parchment paper or foil, leaving an overhang for easy removal. Set aside.

Brownies
In a small bowl, sift together cocoa powder, cornstarch, and salt.

In a large bowl, combine chocolate chips and butter. Melt in 30-second increments, on high heat in the microwave, stirring in between.

Stir in sugar and vanilla until completely combined.

Add eggs one a time, stirring in between until combined.

Add dry mixture to wet mixture and stir vigorously until the mixture is smooth and begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl. This will take one or two minutes.

Stir in the dark chocolate chunks.

Pour two-thirds of the brownie batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Set aside.

Cheesecake Layer
Beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add in the sugar and beat until combined.

Beat in the egg and vanilla extract until smooth.

Spoon the cheesecake filling over the top of the brownie batter and carefully spread into a thin layer with an offset spatula.

Drizzle or spoon the remaining brownie batter over the top.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until an inserted toothpick or cake tester comes out with a few moist crumbs.

Let cool completely in pan. Use the overhang to pull the brownies out and cut into squares.

Cinnamon Rolls

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Cinnamon Roll

This is the second cinnamon bun recipe that I have tried and I thought the outcome was a lot better than one of my earlier posts of the overnight cinnamon bun. I tried this one while I’m still in self isolation with the kids, so this recipe is also very fun for the kids as well. Also, I find that the cinnamon bun actually stayed soft a fluffy for a few days this time, which is what I was looking for as well.

Ingredients
Dough:
1 cup warm milk
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup margarine, melted
4 cups bread flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp. instant yeast or 22 grams fresh yeast

Filling:
1 cup brown sugar , packed
2 1/2 tbsp. ground cinnamon
1/3 cup margarine , softened

Icing:
1 cup spreadable cream cheese
1/4 cup butter , softened
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt

Mix all the icing ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside in fridge, allowing time for icing to chill.

In a small bowl add the warm milk and yeast and stir to combine. Add the sugar, margarine, eggs, and salt. Add two cups of the flour and milk/yeast mixture and mix well. Add 2 more cups flour and mix until a soft dough is formed. Knead on clean surface until dough pulls off the surface without sticking. Dough should be easy to handle and smooth.

Place the dough in a well greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap or wet cloth, and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes or until it doubles in size.

While dough is rising, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside.

Once dough is done rising to double the size. Roll dough into a 15×20-inch rectangle on a floured surface.

Spread the margarine on the dough and top with cinnamon sugar mixture.

Roll the dough up in a log form and cut it into 12 rolls.

Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan and place the rolls in the pan in a single layer.

Cover the pan with plastic wrap or wet cloth and allow to rise 30 minutes or until doubled in size.

Once the dough done rising, preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Uncover the pan and bake in the oven until golden brown, about 18-20 minutes.

Allow the rolls to cool for 10 minutes and spread the icing over the rolls. 

Limonata Pound Cake

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Limonata Cake

This is the first time that I have baked with a soft drink as one of my ingredients, and it didn’t turn out as interesting as I thought it would be. It wasn’t as soft and fluffy like the other ones that I have tried, but rather dense. Then again, this was meant to be a pound cake kind of recipe, so it was right on point. Just make sure if you are using a bundt pan that has as many grooves to grease the pan thoroughly. As you can see, it cracked a little bit, upon it’s departure from pan. 🙂

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tbsp. lemon zest
1 tbsp. lime zest
3 cups cake flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup limonata soda

Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare and grease 9 or 10-inch bundt pan. Set aside.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.

In medium bowl, cream butter until light and fluffy. Add sugar and mix completely. Add eggs one at a time waiting for previously added egg to be fully incorporated. Scrape bowl often. Whip until mixture is light and fluffy. Add vanilla and citrus zest.

On low speed, add dry ingredients to wet ingredients alternating with limonata soda. (starting and ending with flour mixture)

Scrape batter into prepared pan. Place in oven and bake until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean. About 60-65 minutes. Let sit in pan for 15 minutes before removing. Enjoy.

Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

This recipe was a little crumbly, but I think it was because I put it in the fridge overnight, before I brought it back to room temperature. Most cookie recipes needs a little bit of fridge time, as the butter needs to harden a little bit, before the consistency is good to be baked. If the cookie batter is too runny, the cookie will go flat and dry out very quickly in the oven. So, even if I had put it in the fridge, I watched it very carefully in the oven. As I wanted a chewy texture, I did only leave it in the oven for 10 minutes. It turned out exactly the way I wanted it. A peanut butter cookies with a little bit of brownie texture. If you wanted a crunchier cookie, I’m sure leaving it in the oven for 10 -12 minutes would be better.

Ingredient:
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups cake flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350°F and line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl cream peanut butter and butter until smooth. Add sugars and beat on high speed until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes).

Add eggs and vanilla and beat on low speed until combined.

Add in the flour mixture and beat on low speed just until cookie dough comes together.

Roll into 1″ balls and place 2″ apart on baking sheets. Press down slightly with fork.

Bake for 8-10 minutes. Enjoy!

Japanese Milk Bread Rolls

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Japanese Milk Bread Rolls

I have tried a few recipes with a Tangzhong starter and this one stood out. One of my earlier posts, I have made a lot of chinese bread variety with the same base. However, this one doesn’t seem to need as much Tanzhong in it and it doesn’t ask for whipping cream either. As a result, I think it is softer and it lasts for a few days.

Ingredients:
Tangzhong (starter)
3 tbsp. water
3 tbsp. milk
2 tbsp. bread flour

Dough
2 1/2 cups bread flour
2 tbsp. milk powder
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tablespoon instant yeast or 25 grams fresh yeast
1/2 cup milk, luke warm
1 egg, room temperature
1/4 cup butter, room temperature

To make the tangzhong: Combine all of the ingredients and pour through sieve into a small saucepan, and whisk until no lumps remain. Heat over low heat, and cook the mixture, whisking constantly, until thick and the whisk leaves lines on the bottom of the pan, about 3 to 5 minutes.

Transfer the tangzhong to a small mixing bowl or measuring cup and let it cool to room temperature.

To make the dough: Combine the tangzhong with the remaining dough ingredients, then mix and knead until a smooth, elastic dough forms. When the dough is no longer sticking to the table when kneading, then you know it’s ready.

Shape the dough into a ball, and let it rest in a lightly greased covered bowl for approximates 90 minutes, until puffy but not necessarily doubled in size.

Divide it into 8 equal pieces, and shape each piece into a ball.

Place the rolls into a lightly greased 9 inch round pan. Cover the pan, and let the rolls rest for approximately 50 minutes, until puffy.  

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Brush the rolls with milk or egg wash (1 large egg beaten with 1 tablespoon cold water), and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown on top.

Remove the rolls from the oven. Allow them to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer them to a rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake

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Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake

I have made a few coffee cakes before, this was seems to be the normal one. It wasn’t outstanding, but it wasn’t bad at all. I like the fact that it was very moist cake, but the top was crunchy with all the sugar and cinnamon on the top. Secondly, I don’t think it needed that swirl in the middle, because my cake wasn’t very tall, so I didn’t it needed that extra layer to complicate things, but that’s only my opinion.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 cup yogurt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 3/4 cup cake flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

For topping:
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare an 8-inch nonstick tube pan. Lightly spray with cooking spray or coat with butter.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

In a medium bowl, cream butter and sugar together until fluffy (2 to 3 minutes). Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Mix baking soda in with sour cream.

Alternate adding 1/3 of flour mixture, half of yogurt mixture, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then repeat (starting with flour mixture and ending with flour mixture as will. Mix in vanilla and almond extracts, then fold in chocolate chips until evenly distributed.

In a small bowl, whisk together sugar and cinnamon.

Spread half of the batter into prepared cake pan. Sprinkle with half of sugar mixture; gently swirl a few strokes through the batter with a knife. Top with remaining batter, then sprinkle with remaining sugar and swirl once again. Sprinkle with a few more chocolate chips.

Bake for about 45 to 50 minutes or until top is golden brown and a toothpick or cake tester inserted near the center comes out clean.

Place pan on a wire rack to cool. Run a knife around the edge to release, then remove from pan and cool completely. Enjoy!

Steamed Rice Cake

Steamed Rice Cake

This was quite the experience for me. I have bought this many times from chinese bakeries. Some are good, some were bad. So I just went on the hunt for a good recipe of a good steamed rice cake. The criteria to make a perfect steamed rice cake was hard to accomplish. From the honeycomb image to the chewy texture….all in one was something to keep in mind.

Ingredients
1 cup rice flour
1 cup water
3 grams fresh yeast (5 grams of instant yeast) + 1/4 cup water (luke warm)
3/4 cups sugar
a few drops of vegetable oil

In a medium bowl, mix 1/2 cup water with the rice flour. Combine well and set aside.

In a small pot, melt sugar with the left water (1/2 cup). Bring to rolling boil over medium heat. (this is very important, as if this is not boiling water, the rice cake would not have the honeycomb form nicely)

Pour the hot sugar liquid directly to the rice mixture. Combine well and set aside to cool down to room temperature.

When the rice flour mixture have cooled down, mix yeast and 1/4 cup luke warm water and set aside for 5 minutes.

Combine yeast water and rice mixture well, cover with plastic wrapper for proofing. (Approximately 30 minutes)

Drop several drops of oil in the batter and combine well. Continue proofing until there is a thick layer of small bubbles on the surface. (This may take 2 hours or longer, depending of the temperature of the surrounding)

Prepare a plate ( preferably a steel plate) and brush some oil on surface and place in the pot/wok with steaming rack. Bring the water to boil and pour the rice flour batter into the plate 3/4 full on the plate.

Cover with lid and steam for 15 minutes over high heat. Turn off stove and wait for around 10 minutes. Set aside to cool down completely. Either cut into large wedges or small cubes. Enjoy!

Hot Milk Cake

Hot Milk Cake

This is a new kind of technique for me, so I didn’t know what really to expect. The thought of pouring hot milk into a batter made me think that it might cook my eggs and taste like scrambled eggs, but it turned out nice and fluffy. Although I think I overbaked it a little bit though, so the outside was a little on the dry side, but overall a good find.

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
1 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 eggs, room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 cups cake flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. Salt
Powdered sugar (optional)

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Grease and flour a 10 cup bundt cake pan.

In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter. Stir in milk and vanilla and continue to heat until small bubbles form around the outside of the pan and the mixture is very hot but not boiling. Reduce heat to low. (Keep an eye on it, the steady heat may boil over)

In a medium bowl, beat together eggs and sugar on medium-high speed for approximately 5 minutes. Once the egg and sugar mixture has tripled in volume, slowly add the hot milk mixture, mixing on low speed until incorporated. Add the dry ingredients in two batches, mixing after each addition until just incorporated. The batter should be the consistency of a pancake batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes, checking 5 minutes prior to baking end time or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Let the cake cool and invert out of the pan. If you like, you can dust a little bit of icing sugar on the to make it a little prettier.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Brownie Cookie

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Chocolate Brownie Cookies

A cookie AND a brownie? Who wouldn’t like it? I have always been looking for brownie recipes and this one stood out to me, as I didn’t know that it could happen. I enjoyed the brownie textured cookie very much. Also, I didn’t think it was very sweet, so if you have a very sweet tooth, you might want to add another 1/4 cups of sugar.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
3 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 egg
2 tsp. pure vanilla
1 1/3 cups cake flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips, (more if desired)

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, white sugar, butter and vegetable oil. Beat in egg and vanilla until fully incorporated.

Sift in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir into the wet ingredients until a dough forms (do not over beat). Fold in the chocolate chips.

Scoop out 1-2 tablespoonful of dough with a cookie scoop and place onto prepared baking sheets. Press them down as thick or thin as you want your cookies to come out.

Bake in hot preheated oven for 10-12 minutes. The cookies will come out soft from the oven but will harden up as they cool. They will dry out if over baked, so keep your eye on the timer.

Allow to cool and enjoy!