Freedom buns?! Patriotic pastry??

In honor of our "Ballot Breakfast" Election Party, I whipped some of these tasty, twisted cinnamon sugar goodies to enjoy while watching the results roll in. Totally stolen from another food blog on the internet, I was kind of off that night because I didn't keep track of where I got it from! Kelly helped me make them, and they were delicious-- I passed off the leftovers to Alex and Quentin, I figured my night was sweet enough with Obama's clear victory, any more sweetness after that would have been too much. heh.

Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

1 (1/4 ounce) package dry yeast
1 cup warm milk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup margarine
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
4 cups flour

FILLING
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
1/3 cup margarine, softened

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

For the rolls, dissolve the yeast in the warm milk in a large bowl.
Add sugar, margarine salt, eggs, and flour, mix well.
Knead the dough into a large ball, using your hands dusted lightly with flour.
Put in a bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place about 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.
Roll the dought out on a lightly floured surface, until it is approx 21 inches long by 16 inches wide.
It should be approx 1/4 thick.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
To make filling, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.
Spread the softened margarine over the surface of the dough, then sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon evenly over the surface.
Working carefully, from the long edge, roll the dough down to the bottom edge.
Using floss or some thread (loop a strand underneath the roll, bringing the ends up around and across the top to cut clean even cuts-- using a knife will no doubt be a disaster. promise!)
Cut the dough into 1 3/4 inch slices, and place in a lightly greased baking pan.



Bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown.
While the rolls are baking combine the icing ingredients.
Beat well with an electric mixer until fluffy.
When the rolls are done, spread generously with icing.

YUM!

Pretzels?!

Indeed, pretzels.

I don't know why, but I have been absolutely craving soft pretzels. I found this recipe, it's "vegan" but generally, pretzels are vegan anyways. So don't be alarmed! I took the dough recipe from Dizzy's blog (Experimental Vegan Daze") and tweaked the process thanks to what I gathered from a recipe posted at cdkitchen. You'll never want a processed, store bought one again, I swear. Check it!

Pretzel Dough:

3/4 c. warm water
3/4 t. active dry yeast
1 T. brown sugar
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. bread flour
1 1/2 c. flour

4 c. warm water
3 T. baking soda
1-2 T. margarine (Earth Balance), melted

Place the first 3 ingredients together in a large bowl. After the yeast has gotten puffy looking, add the salt and flours. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. Let the dough rise for at least a 1/2 hour covered and in a warm place (like the oven, set to warm).

While the dough is rising, prepare a soda water bath. Combine 4 cups water and 3 tablespoons water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Pinch 1-2 inch sized blobs of dough and form into short ropes. You can twist into a long rod or attempt the tricky pretzel twist. Drop one-two at a time into the boiling water/baking soda bath. Using a spatula or a large, holed spoon, make sure they aren't sticking to the bottom. They will float!



Let boil for about a minute on each side before taking out and placing on pan. Once all these are done, sprinkle with course salt and place in your oven, heated to 450 degrees for about 10-15 minutes.


ENJOY the warm, doughy goodness.
:]

Y'know, someday, when I own a moderately successful bakery in Portsmouth or Boston, I will look back on all these Saturday afternoons & Sunday mornings that I spent baking for no one in particular, and call it practice.




<3 Leigh