Easy (and DELICIOUS) Homemade Rolls

I have been on a roll baking kick lately. Bubba has been training for the Tough Mudder and has been trying to eat really healthy-proud of you babe! So...I make a deal with him that I wont make a sugary, sweet breakfast for him Sunday mornings if I can bake rolls for dinner. And that is what I have been doing for last month! I have tried a few recipes and this is our of my favorites. I found it on Pinterest, of course. I just decided not to do the honey butter. Hope you like them!

Easy (and DELICIOUS) Homemade Rolls
Adapted from High Heels & Grills

Ingredients: 

• 1-1/2 cups hot water {as hot as you can get it out of the tap.}
• 1 Tbsp. active dry yeast
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 tsp. salt
• 3-1/2 to 4 cups bread flour {or all-purpose flour is fine)
• 1/4 cup salted butter, melted

Directions:

1. Spray a large bowl with cooking spray; set aside.
2. In a large bowl (I used my Kitchenaid), mix together water, yeast, and sugar; let stand until frothy, about 5 minutes.
3. Combine the oil, salt, 2 cups of flour, and the yeast mixture until well combined.
4. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough has pulled away from the sides of the bowl and is no longer sticky.
5. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until elastic, about 8 minutes.
6. Place the dough in the greased bowl and cover with a damp cloth; let rise in a warm place until doubled in size. *I will turn my oven on warm, put the bowl in the oven and then turn off the oven. This seems to help the dough rise much more quickly*
7. After doubled, punch down dough and lay on floured surface. 
8. Roll dough out until about 20 inches by 12 inches.
9. Brush dough with melted butter.
10. With a pizza cutter, cut dough lengthwise into sixths and crosswise into twelfths.
11. Make stacks of 4 dough squares and place each stack into a greased muffin tin cup.
12. Allow rolls to rise again, about 20-30 minutes. 
13. Preheat oven to 375F. 
14. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown. 
15. Once out of the oven, brush with additional melted butter if desired. 
16. Serve warm.

Healthy Whole Wheat Banana Oat Muffins

Everyone who knows me knows how much I love to bake. I mean, I LOVE it!!! There is just one thing...with me being pregnant and Bubba training for the Tough Mudder in a few months, we have been trying to eat even more healthy than we normally do. With that, I have been trying to come up with some healthy (or at least healthier) recipes to bake that will still hit the spot! And boy did I come up with one tonight!

I love banana bread! It has always been one of my favorites! You can find my go-to banana bread recipe here. However, it is full of delicious sugar and butter. I wanted to make a recipe that was a bit healthier. This recipe has no butter, no oil and only 1/2 cup of brown sugar! A little whole wheat flour, oats, banana and applesauce makes a scrumptious, chewy treat! And at just 110 calories each, you really can't go wrong!

Healthy Whole Wheat Banana Oat Muffins

Adapted from Joy the Baker.

Ingredients:
1 ¼ cup whole wheat flour
1 cup quick oats

1/2 cup unpacked brown sugar1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 whole egg, beaten
2 egg whites, beaten
½ cup natural applesauce
3 ripe bananas
½ cup chocolate chips, optional

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F.  Spray muffin tin with cooking spray and set aside. In a large bowl, stir together dry ingredients.

In a smaller bowl, mash bananas with fork. Add whole egg and applesauce.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. The batter will be fairly thick.

In a medium sized bowl, with an electric hand mixer, beat the egg whites until medium stiff peaks form.  Fold the egg whites into the batter in three additions. Fold in chocolate chips if using.

Spoon batter into muffin tin. Fill about ¾ full. Bake for 16 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Orange Creamsicle Cookies

Do you remember when your were a kid on those hot summer days playing outside with your friends? Running around, jumping on the tramp, riding your bike from friends home to friends home. Oh, how I loved those summer days and man do I miss them. The best part of those hot days was running to the freezer and grabbing a popsicle. One of my favorites--Orange Creamsicles! When I found this recipe, I couldn't wait to try it. And let me tell you...AMAZING! 

Orange Creamsicle Cookies

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 firmly packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons orange zest 
2 cups white chocolate chips

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and creamy. Beat in egg and vanilla until smooth. Gradually add flour mixture until combined. Stir in orange zest and white chocolate chips.
Drop rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 8 - 10 minutes or until golden brown around edges. (Try 8 minutes first-you don't want to over bake so they will stay soft and chewy!) Cookies will be plump. Cool for several minutes on cookie sheets before transferring to rack to cool completely. Store in airtight container.

Creme Brulee French Toast Casserole

I had this at a baby shower a few months ago and I fell in love! It is rich and delicious. If you like french toast, then you will love this. I would tell you to watch the broiler because it easy for it to get a little too crispy.

Creme Brulee French Toast Casserole
Adapted from The Pastry Queen

1 large loaf of French bread
8 large eggs
2 1/4 cups milk
1 cup plus 4-5 T sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 T vanilla extract
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tsp cinnamon
3 T unsalted butter

Combine eggs, milk, 1 cup sugar, salt, 1 tsp cinnamon, vanilla, orange juice, and 2 T melted butter in a large bowl. Whisk together until well incorporated. Use remaining butter to heavily butter a 9x13 baking pan. Slice bread into 1/2" thick slices and then cut slices into cubes. Combine remaining cinnamon and 1 T sugar. Add bread cubes to pan and toss with cinnamon sugar mixture. Pour custard mixture over bread cubes, pressing cubes down with a spoon to thoroughly soak bread. Cover with foil and refrigerate at least one hour or overnight. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Bake approximately 40-50 minutes until golden brown and set. Remove from the oven and sprinkle remaining 3-4 T of sugar over the top of the casserole in an even, heavy layer. Set broiler on high and return to oven or use a kitchen torch to caramelize the sugar. The sugar will turn brown and liquefy and then harden as it cools. Serve warm with maple syrup if desired.

Roasted Sweet Potato and Black Bean Salad

I am always looking for new healthy recipes and this one is a winner! I have made it several times since. I love sweet potatoes and black beans (check out the Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili Recipe!). I have tried the salad with cilantro instead of mint and adding avocados. It has always turned out delicious! I hope you like it too!

Roasted Sweet Potato and Black Bean Salad
Adapted from Self.

Cooking spray
2 large sweet potatoes (about 1 1/2 lbs.), peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 tsp salt, divided
1/2 tsp pepper, divided
1/4 cup lime juice, plus wedges for garnish
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
1 tbs chopped garlic
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup thinly sliced orange or red bell pepper
1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions
1/3 cup chopped fresh mint
4 cups baby arugula

Heat oven to 375F. On a baking sheet coated with baking spray, place potatoes in a layer; sprinkle with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Bake until tender, 20-25 minutes; let cool. In a bowl, whisk juice, vinegar, garlic, remaining 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Add potatoes, beans, tomatoes, bell pepper, scallions and mint; toss; serve over arugula, and garnish with lime wedges.

Honey Garlic Salmon

This is a yummy go-to recipe. If you are like me, honey, garlic and soy sauce are all things that I always keep on hand. That is all that it takes to make this fabulous dish. So when you just can't think of anything to make, just grab some salmon at the store and you are set!

Honey Garlic Salmon
Adapted from Lion House Classics

4 salmon fillets
1 cup honey
3 cloves garlic
1 tbs soy sauce


Place ingredients in food processor and blend until garlic is well minced. Warm sauce. Brush over salmon prior to baking. Grill salmon on a grill or bake uncovered at 350 for 15-20 minutes.

Vegan German Chocolate Cupcakes

I have a sister-in-law, Missy who is vegan. I know that a lot people think that it is a crazy way to eat, but there are so many delicious things to eat that are vegan and I am true convert when it comes to vegan cupcakes! Missy introduced me to the cookbook Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz (Thanks Missy!).

I think that vegan cupcakes are so much better than the ordinary cupcake. They are so moist and yummy. I usually don't make vegan frosting since I still love a good cream cheese frosting, but this German chocolate frosting is vegan and it is great! The only difference from a normal recipe is that it uses coconut milk instead of sweetened condensed milk. So, give this recipe a try! It will make you all fall in love with vegan cupcakes!!!

Vegan German Chocolate Cupcakes
Makes 12 cupcakes. Adapted from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

For the Cupcakes:
1 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract, chocolate extract, or more vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder, Dutch-processed or regular
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 350˚F and line muffin pan with paper or foil liners.

Whisk together the soy milk and vinegar in a large bowl, and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add the sugar, oil, and vanilla extract, and other extract, if using, to the soy milk mixture and beat till foamy. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add in two batches to wet ingredients and beat till no large lumps remain (a few tiny lumps are okay).

Pour into liners, filling three-quarters of the way. Bake 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to cooling rack and let cool completely.

For the Coconut Pecan Topping:
1/4 cup rice milk
2 tablespoons arrowroot or cornstarch
1 pinch of salt
3/4 cup coconut milk
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cups wide chip unsweetened coconut
1/2 chopped pecans
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

While the cupcakes are cooking:
Whisk the rice milk and starch together in a small bowl and set aside.
Combine the coconut milk and sugar together in a stainless steel saucepan.
Over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, cook the milk and sugar until it starts to boil.

Turn the heat down to low and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Whisk the rice milk mixture one more time.

Slowly pour the rice milk mixture into the coconut milk mixture stirring constantly.
Continue to stir this until it darkens and gets very thick and smooth, about 7 to 15 minutes (It took closer to 15- 20 minutes for me).

Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract, coconut and pecans. Cool to room temperature before frosting the cupcakes.