Frosted Pumpkin Bars

Oh heavens! These are Tasty with a capital "T". I have been craving pumpkin goodies, and as you probably know if you've ever made a pumpkin confection, you always have more pureed pumpkin in a can than you actually need. So you get to make several pumpkin treats. It is a great deal if you ask me. I mean you don't want to waste any food do you? No, that's what I thought.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

It's that time of year when we start baking more and more. We use up our supply of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice. Our homes smell wonderful and our pants get a little snug. So let it begin with these heavenly Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls.

(The little white dots are powdered sugar that I didn't mix in well enough.)

If you LOVE cinnamon rolls as much as me, I imagine that these will enter in your repertoire of great recipes. The taste of pumpkin is quite mild as is the addition of wheat flour. The dough turns out soft, the cinnamon is spicy and delicious, and the topping is ubber rich. Yes, I did love this recipe. Now my only "issue" is that I have a tray of them for my husband and I to eat, or as he suggested perhaps we could share a few (hard for me to let go of homemade cinnamon rolls though). Well, and I guess I do have another "issue". I now have quite a bit of left over pumpkin puree. I suppose I'll just have to make something else delicious today, perhaps something like our Pumpkin Whoopie Pies, Pumpkin Bread, or our Pumpkin Cookies. (A hard decision to be sure.)

Cinnamon Buns

Truly, one of my very favorite treats in this world is a soft, warm cinnamon bun. The first time I made these buns was for my family on New Year's Eve, and let's just say they didn't last until New Year's Day.

The recipe makes 12 buns, but as a word of warning, you should never make just one batch. In my mind, it is imperative that you always double this recipe. That way you can make one classic batch, with just cinnamon-sugar, and one with additions like rasins and nuts.

I should mention too that my finished product picture is slightly deceiving. No doubt the buns look delicious (at least I think so) but this batch didn't rise in the oven as it should have. So, I would say that unless you are cursed with a tempramental oven like mine, your buns will rise to be even more puffy and beautiful then these.

Enjoy, and if you make a batch, be sure to bring one or two by my place, because these never last long at my house and I am always in the mood for a cinnamon bun!

Cinnamon Buns
Recipe from The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion
Pictures by Caroline
Yields 12 buns

Dough Recipe
3 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tsp instant yeast
3 tbsp sugar
1tbsp granular lecithin (optional)
2 tbsp nonfat dry milk
1 ¼ tsp salt
1 large egg plus enough water to make 1 cup
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp soft butter

Filling Recipe
¼ cup soft butter
¾ cup sugar mixed with 1 tbsp cinnamon
½ cup nuts, raisins, or chocolate chips

Icing Recipe
3 tbsp heavy cream or 2 tbsp water (I just used milk)
1 cup confectioners’ sugar

For the Dough:
1. Mix and knead together all the dough ingredients- by hand or mixer- to form a soft, smooth dough. Place in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place for 1 to 1 ½ hours; it should almost double in size.
*Note: I don’t use instant yeast, so I warm up the milk, add some of the sugar, the yeast and let it set for 10 minutes of so. Basically, I just get my yeast started the old fashion way.

To Assemble:
1. Turn out the dough onto a lightly greased work surface and roll into a rectangle measuring about 11x20 inches.
2. Spread a thin layer of soft butter over the dough, leaving about 1 inch uncovered on the short side nearest you (the side that will be the outermost roll). Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar and nuts, raisins, or chips of your choice.
3. Starting with the short end covered with filling (not the one you left without butter and other goodness), roll the dough into a log. Use a serrated knife to gently was the log in half, and then cut each side of the log into six equal pieces.
4. Place the buns in a lightly greased 9x13-inch pan, pressing down slightly. Cover the buns and let them rise in a warm place for 45 minutes to 1 ¼ hours, until they are quite puffy.
5. Preheat the over to 350°F. bake the buns for 20-25 minutes, until they’re golden brown. Remove from the oven and let them cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Pull them out of the pan and let them cool to just slightly warm before frosting.
*Note: I just frost them while they are in the pan- makes less mess, plus I usually can’t wait to eat one, so I have to hurry.

To Make the Icing
1. Mix the heavy cream and confectioners’ sugar to make a creamy glaze; use water for a thinner glaze. Spread the icing on the buns.

Half-and-Half Cookies

These cookies are yummy! And they will stay soft for a long time if you keep them in a tupperware or plastic bag. Also, the icing is delicious, I think it is the addition of yogurt to the recipe...anyways use it on other cookies too. Enjoy!

Half-and-Half Cookies
Recipe from The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion: The All-Purpose Baking Cookbook
Pictures by Caroline

Cookies:

8 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ cup shortening
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 ½ teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ½ cups sugar
2 large eggs
4 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream or plain or vanilla yogurt

Preheat oven to 400°F

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, shortening, zest, salt, and vanilla. Beat in the sugar, then the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients alternately with the sour cream or yogurt, beginning and ending with the flour and adding the sour cream or yogurt in three additions.
3. Using a muffin or ice-cream scoop, drop ¼ cup dough-balls onto parchment-lined or lightly greased baking sheets. Flatten each ball to a circle about ¼ inch thick and 4 ½ inches across. Leave 2 to 2 ½ inches between each cookie.
4. Bake for 10 to 11 minutes, until there’s a hint of brown at the edges. Cool for 5 minutes on a wire rack. Cover them with a dish towel while they finish cooling to keep them soft. When the cookies are completely cool, seal them in a plastic bag so they stay soft. Let the cookies rest for at least an hour before frosting.

Icing:

8 tablespoons butter
¼ cup yogurt
1 teaspoon clear vanilla (or regular; the clear vanilla will keep your icing a pure white while regular will tint it slightly)
4 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar, plus ¼ cup
½ cup chopped unsweetened chocolate

1. To make the icing, melt the butter in a large saucepan, over low heat. Remove from the heat, and then stir in the yogurt, vanilla, and 4 cups of the confectioners’ sugar. The icing will be soft and runny. Immediately separate it into two halves, 1 cup each. Add the remaining ¼ confectioners’ sugar to the one-half of the white icing, and the chopped unsweetened chocolate to the other half. Stir to melt the chocolate icing in a pan of hot water, or in a saucepan over very low heat, to keep it spreadable.
2. Dip one side of the top half of each cookie into the white frosting and put on a rack to drip and dry. As soon as you can handle the cookies without leaving fingerprints in the frosting, dip the other half of each cookie in the chocolate frosting. (Or, if you are me, spread the frosting with a spoon.)

-Caroline