CSN Stores GIVEAWAY & Cinnamon Rolls

Those wonderful people at CSN Stores have done it again.  They are allowing me to host a GIVEAWAY on my blog to one of you lovely readers!  Awesome, right?

CSN features over 200+ stores with tons of products at incredible prices.  They offer le creuset cookware, furniture, pet products, outdoor products and so much more.   But what are they offering you, you ask?  CSN has graciously offered to give one of my readers a $50 gift card in the form of a promotional code that can be used on any product on their site....yippee!

I’ll be randomly selecting one lucky reader to win this GIVEAWAY!  There are 5 ways to enter and all entries must be received by midnight (AZ Time) on Friday, August 6th and here’s how you enter:

1. Leave a comment telling me what you would spend your $50 gift card on at CSN Stores

2. Follow ME on Twitter @saraboff

3. Follow CSN on Twitter @csnstores

4. Follow MY DOG on Twitter @dieselboff (he’s pretty funny!)

5. Become a Follower of Sara’s Sweets

*If you become of follower on Twitter or on Google Reader, leave separate comments to let me know.

Alright now let’s get onto today’s recipe because it sure is a good one!  About a week ago while at work, I got the sudden urge to make cinnamon rolls.  It was really weird.  I haven’t eaten a cinnamon roll in quiet awhile and I’ve never made cinnamon rolls before, but knowing that I had a packet of yeast at home, I figured, why not!

In my search for a recipe, I found 2 that I liked.  I selected the recipe below because it had great reviews, but I liked the “overnight” technique of this recipe by Alton Brown of Food Network, especially since my plan was to take them into work in the morning. 

My only  modification to the recipe was that I used whole wheat flour and light cream cheese.  You see, using those two ingredients completely cancels out all the calories from the 3 sticks of butter that are in this recipe.  Really, they do! 

Speaking of the 3 sticks of butter, I’m not gonna lie….they are totally worth it!  These cinnamon rolls were light in texture, flavorful in the cinnamon/sugar filling and rich in the frosting.  Pretty much they were amazing!  Right after they came out of the oven, I took them to work, so my co-workers could experience them being warm and gooey…that’s when cinnamon rolls are best, right?  I set them on the counter at 7am and the pan was wiped clean by 7:30am.  No joke!  Food goes fast in my office, but I’ve never seen it go that fast before.  In fact, I almost didn’t get to try one!  If I hadn’t moseyed into the kitchen for coffee at 7:20am, my chance to try these beauties almost ceased to exist!  If my co-workers didn’t love me already, I’m 99.9% certain that they love me now that I brought them cinnamon rolls.

Enjoy!

  

Ingredients.

Rolled out dough.

About to go in the oven.

Out of the oven.

Frosted with copious amounts of icing!

Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls by Recipezaar (newly named Food.com)

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Ingredients

• 1 ( 1/4 ounce) package dry yeast
• 1 cup warm milk
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup margarine
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 4 cups flour

Filling

• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
• 1/2 cup margarine, softened

Icing

• 8 tablespoons margarine
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup cream cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. For the rolls, dissolve the yeast in the warm milk in a large bowl.
2. Add sugar, margarine salt, eggs, and flour, mix well.
3. Knead the dough into a large ball, using your hands dusted lightly with flour.
4. Put in a bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place about 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.
5. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface, until it is approx 21 inches long by 16 inches wide.
6. It should be approx 1/4 thick.
7. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
8. To make filling, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.
9. Spread the softened margarine over the surface of the dough, then sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon evenly over the surface.
10. Working carefully, from the long edge, roll the dough down to the bottom edge.
11. Cut the dough into 1 3/4 inch slices, and place in a lightly greased baking pan.
12. Bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown.
13. While the rolls are baking combine the icing ingredients.
14. Beat well with an electric mixer until fluffy.
15. When the rolls are done, spread generously with icing

Cinnamon Apple Swirl Bread

Here is another delicious recipe from Recipezaar.  I made this bread before years ago and came across it again a few weeks ago, while I was bored.  Mmmm, it’s good stuff. 

It’s very similar to a cinnamon raisin bread, except you use apples!  Which is perfect for me because I’m not a fan of raisins but I happen to LOVE apples.  In making this, I made a few substitutions (surprise, surprise, right?).  First, I used half whole wheat flour because I usually use that in my baking and I prefer whole wheat bread.  Secondly, I didn’t have any “real” butter, so I used Smart Balance buttery spread and it worked great!  Third, I used Gala apples and mixed, chopped nuts.

This bread takes a little while to make, due to the rising and such, but it’s worth it.  You get two loaves and they freeze very well.  One word of advice, next time I make this I plan to just roll it all up like a jelly roll from one end, as opposed to from both ends.  My reasoning would be that I like to eat this bread toasted with a bit of Smart Balance, but on some pieces the bread didn’t “connect together” and it broke in my toaster.  Which now leaves me with little pieces of apple and nuts and the bottom that get charred every time we make toast. :)

Enjoy!

Ingredients.

Apple, cinnamon and nut filling.

   

Diesel likes to help me cook…even when I get a little messy.

 

Pre-baked.

Right out of the oven.

Swirly!

Cinnamon Swirled Apple Bread

Ingredients

• 5 1/2-6 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 (1/4 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1 cup milk
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup shredded apple
• 1 1/2 cups finely chopped peeled apples
• 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans, toasted
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 slightly beaten egg white
• 1 tablespoon water
• coarse sugar

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl combine 2 cups of the flour and the yeast; set aside.
2. In a saucepan heat and stir milk, granulated sugar, the 3 tablespoons butter, and the salt until warm (120° to 130°) and until butter almost melts.
3. Add milk mixture to dry mixture along with eggs.
4. Beat with an electric mixer on low to medium speed for 30 seconds, scraping side of bowl constantly.
5. Then beat on high speed 3 minutes.
6. Stir in shredded apple.
7. Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much remaining flour as you can.
8. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface.
9. Knead in enough of the remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (6 to 8 minutes total).
10. Shape into a ball. Place in lightly greased bowl, turning once to grease surface.
11. Cover; let rise in a warm place until double (about 1 hour. Punch dough down.
12. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide in half Cover; let rest 10 minutes.
13. Lightly grease two 8x4x2- or 9x5x3-inch loaf pans.
14. Meanwhile, for filling, in a medium mixing bowl combine chopped apple, nuts, brown sugar, and cinnamon; set aside.
15. Roll half of the dough to a 14x9-inch rectangle. Spread with 1 tablespoon of the softened butter; sprinkle with half of the filling.
16. Beginning at both short ends, roll each end up, jelly-roll style, to center.
17. Place loaf, rolled side up, in a prepared loaf pan. For second loaf, repeat with remaining dough, remaining butter, and remaining filling.
18. Cover, let rise until almost double in size (about 30 minutes).
19. Stir together egg white and water. Brush egg white mixture over tops of loaves; sprinkle with coarse sugar.
20. Bake in a 375° oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until bread sounds hollow when you tap tops (if necessary, loosely cover with foil for the last 15 minutes of baking to prevent overbrowning).
21. Immediately remove from pans. Cool on wire racks.