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December 1, 2018 / Breakfast

Caramel Rolls

Ingredients & Recipe

These caramel rolls are one of my favorite things to serve at bible study, book club, just a regular Saturday or better yet… Christmas morning! The best thing is you make it the night before and when you wake up- pop them in the oven for 30 minutes and done.. fresh gooey caramel rolls. Second best thing… you use frozen cinnamon rolls. No yeast, no rolling pin. I have made the dough from scratch and I’ve used frozen; and I feel the same way as I do about homemade vs. store bought pie crust. There are bigger things to spend my time on 😉 Just 5 ingredients in this simple recipe!

Ingredients & Recipe

1 cup vanilla ice cream
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 stick butter
1 bag frozen Rhodes cinnamon rolls

Combine the ice cream, brown sugar, sugar and butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Pour in a greased 9×13 baking dish. (you could sprinkle pecans in too!) Place the frozen cinnamon rolls in the dish on top of the caramel sauce. Cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge overnight.

In the morning, take the rolls out of the fridge, remove plastic wrap and let sit at room temp while the oven pre-heats to 350. Once pre-heated, bake for 30-35 min. Remove from the oven and invert onto a clean pan or a new baking dish and serve!

November 15, 2018 / Dessert

Homemade Whipped Cream

Homemade whipped cream is so easy to make (my kids love making it) and it takes any dessert to the next level. You can definitely taste the difference between store bought and homemade whipped cream, so it’s worth the minimal effort it takes to make it! All you need is vanilla, sugar and heavy cream.. that’s it! We obviously top pies with it but it’s perfect for dipping fruit in during the summer or for a topping on waffles too. Everyone should have this recipe in their back pocket.

Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Beat all ingredients in a (cold) mixing bowl until soft peaks form

November 15, 2018 / Dessert

Salted Caramel Sauce

Salted caramel sauce is the perfect thing to have on hand come fall. My family loves dipping apples in it, using it as a topping for pies and crisps (pumpkin cheesecake!)… or just sticking their fingers in the jar and eating it if we’re being honest.

Making it requires only 4 ingredients, which you probably already have on hand! Sugar, butter, salt & heavy cream. Making caramel is super easy, you’ll see!

Salted Caramel Sauce

1 Cup sugar
6 tablespoons salted butter (cut in to 6 chunks)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon sea-salt

Directions

Heat sugar in a saucepan over low heat, being careful not to burn
Once sugar is melted add in the butter and stir until melted & mixed
Slowly add the cream
Boil for 1 minute
Remove from heat and stir in 1 tablespoon salt
*cool before using, pour into mason jar and store in fridge
*you can serve heated up or at room temp

Adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction

November 10, 2018 / Dessert

Pumpkin Cheesecake

I love making desserts for my family. I love sitting down together and seeing my kid’s faces as they take their first bite or asking Josh if he prefers “this one over last weeks creation”… and I especially love making desserts in the fall. I love to bake with apples, cinnamon, pecans, and pumpkin… lots of pumpkin. I know there are those people out there who turn up their nose to pumpkin spice anything but not me- no way, give me all the pumpkin spice.

One of my favorite desserts to make are cheesecakes. They present so well, you can make them in advance, and I feel like they “look” like they are harder to make than they actually are which is a win/win. To make cheesecake you’ll need a spring form pan. I have this one from Amazon and it works great. A springform pan is used to make cheesecakes- they are fairly cheap and once you see how easy cheesecakes are to make you’ll get your use out of it!

I found this cheesecake recipe on Pinterest years ago and I’ve been making it ever since. It’s the perfect thing to bring to a dinner with friends to serve alone if you’re having friends over just for dessert! I top it with homemade whipped cream & salted caramel sauce. I promise this won’t disappoint.

There are two steps to making the cheesecake, the crust and the filling. Here’s what you’ll need-

Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (from about 12 whole graham crackers)
6 Tbsp (3/4 stick) melted, unsalted butter
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Filling:
3 (8 oz.) packages full fat cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
15 oz canned pumpkin pie mix (use half of the 30 oz can)
4 large eggs
1/4 cup sour cream
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp vanilla

Toppings:
Whipped cream– 1 cup of cold heavy cream beat with 1 Tbsp sugar and 1/2 tsp vanilla
Pumpkin pie spice to dust
Salted Caramel sauce

How to Make the Pie Crust:

Preheat Oven to 350˚F.
1. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs, 1 Tbsp sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 6 Tbsp melted butter. Transfer into your springform pan using a spoon to press crumbs into the bottom of the pan. Bake at 350˚F for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and cool to room temp.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Filling:

1.In the bowl of your mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the 3 packages of room temp cream cheese and 1 1/2 cups brown sugar on medium speed until there are no longer lumps.

2. In a separate bowl, stir together 15 oz pumpkin pie mix, 4 large eggs, 1/4 cup sour cream, 2 Tbsp flour, 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice, 1/4 tsp salt and 1 Tbsp vanilla extract. Mix until well combined. Add this mixture to the cheesecake filling and continue mixing on low speed until combined.

3. Transfer filling into pre-baked crust and bake on the middle rack at 350˚F for 1 hour. Turn off heat, prop the oven door open slightly and let the cheesecake sit in the oven another 45 min. Then remove from the oven and let cool to room temp before covering with plastic wrap and refrigerating. Serve when fully chilled (at least 4 hours in the refrigerator, or overnight).

4. Remove cheesecake from springform pan by running a knife along the inside of the pan to release from the mold. Add your toppings & serve!

*Notes
I usually make cheesecakes the day before I need them. I’ll set my cream cheese out in the morning and it’s softened to room temp by the time I need it that afternoon when baking! I always make homemade whipped cream right before I need it and come fall you can always find a jar of salted caramel in my fridge 😉

*adapted from Natasha’s Kitchen