Cinnamon Biscuit

As my brother said...dinner was good but then dessert came out. And it was good! I may not make the most  visually appealing food, but it sure does taste delicious. Yummy, moist biscuits with cinnamon and sugar with a hint of vanilla - what could be better? I apologize for the blurry picture, I thought I had a good one...I was wrong. This was the least blurry of the lot.

This recipe was taken from Two Peas & Their Pod.


Cinnamon Biscuits

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 Tbsp dark brown sugar, divided
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon, divided
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups heavy cream, divided
• 1/2 cup cinnamon chips, divided
• 3/4 cup confectioner's sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Heat the oven to 425°F. Lightly grease an 8 x 8-inch baking pan and set aside.


In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, baking powder, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, and salt, breaking up any large clumps in the brown sugar. Pour in 1 1/2 cups of the cream and mix just until combined. Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface and pat into a long, thick rectangle (about 8x16). The dough will be firm, yet wet and sticky.


Slice the rectangle into 8 equally-sized squares. Lay four of the squares in the prepared baking pan. Sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and half of the cinnamon chips over each square. Place the remaining biscuit dough squares on top and lightly press the edges to seal. Top the biscuits with the remaining cinnamon chips.


Bake for 14 to 16 minutes, or until the biscuits are slightly golden brown on the outside and just cooked through.


Whisk together the remaining 1/2 cup cream, confectioner's sugar, and vanilla extract. Lightly drizzle the biscuits with this glaze. Serve immediately.

3CPB Monkey Bread

YUM! I love monkey bread so I decided a while back to make my own. It's not difficult since you use pre-made dough and yet it's super yummy. First, I ran across a banana monkey bread and thought that sounded wonderful. Then, I ran across a cream cheese filled monkey bread and decided that sounded even better so I was going to make that. Then I had an epiphany! I could combine them! Awesome! 


THEN...I found a caramel pecan cinnamon roll bread and decided to take the topping from THAT and put it on my delightful creation. I have to say that MAN did it turn out beautiful! (I even broke out the GOOD camera to take pictures of this amazingness!) Thus the caramel, cream cheese, pecan, banana monkey bread - or 3CPB for short! 


This turned out really well. I was worried it would end up too sweet with all the sugar and caramel, but it wasn't.

This recipe is adapted (a combination) from Pip and Ebby, Plain Chicken, and Pinch of Yum.


3CPB Monkey Bread

• 6 Tbsp butter, melted
• 1/2 cup caramel ice cream topping 
• 1 cup chopped pecans

• 2/3 cup dark brown sugar
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 Tbsp cinnamon

• Two 12-ounce tubes refrigerated flaky buttermilk biscuits
• One 8-ounce package cream cheese, cut into 20 cubes
• 2 large bananas, cut into 20 slices
• 10 Tbsp butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 12-cup bundt pan with cooking spray; set aside (I totally forgot to do this step but luckily it didn't stick to the sides at all with all the caramel and butter in there). In a medium bowl, combine the sugars and cinnamon; set aside. Combine the 6 Tbsp melted butter, caramel and pecans; set aside.


Slice 10 discs of dough from each tube of biscuits. Set discs on a flat surface and set one slice of banana and one cube of cream cheese in the center of each piece of dough. Wrap edges of dough up and around the cheese so all that is visible is the top side of cream cheese cube. 


Dip 10 of the dough-wrapped cheese cubes, cheese-side-up, into the caramel pecan mixture and place in the bottom of prepared pan. Top with half of the sugar mixture and half of the butter (5 Tbsp). Top with the remaining dough-wrapped cheese cubes, cheese-side-down, the remaining sugar and remaining butter.


Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes. Invert onto a serving platter and serve. (When I got it out of the oven I thought it looked good, but then I inverted it and wow it was out of this world!)

Cinnamon Roll Cheesecake

I found this recipe and immediately knew it was the one I HAD to make to have for my birthday. And boy did it not disappoint. Yum city. I love cinnamon and I love caramel - put them in a cheesecake and it's pure bliss. Wasn't super hard to make either, thankfully.


I had a cute little helper who helped me layer the cheesecake - as such, I forgot to drizzle the caramel in the layers as directed so it only made it on the very top. Still worked as it was a minor oversight. It's such a pretty cake too.

This recipe is adapted from Perry's Plate.


Cinnamon Roll Cheesecake
Crust:

• 1 1/2 c finely crushed Mother's Iced Oatmeal cookies
• 1/4 c butter, melted
• 2 T brown sugar

Filling:

• 3 8-oz packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 c sugar
• 1/2 c sour cream or whipping cream
• 4 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 c flour
• 1 c coarsely chopped cookies (same kind as above)
• 1/2 c cinnamon chips (this is an estimate as I didn't measure this out)
• 1/4 c butterscotch or caramel sundae topping (I used caramel)
• 1 tsp cinnamon mixed with 1/4 c sugar

Preheat oven to 325. Place a pan of water on the bottom rack.


For crust, mix cookie crumbs, butter and brown sugar and press into the bottom of an 8-inch springform pan. Spray the sides of the pan with non-stick cooking spray.


For filling, blend cream cheese, sugar and sour cream until smooth, scraping bottom and sides of bowl, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in eggs, vanilla and flour and blend well, 2-3 minutes. (I did this in a stand mixer, but you can easily use a hand mixer).


Spoon 1/3 of filling into pan and dust on some cinnamon sugar mixture. Top with 1/3 of each chopped cookies and cinnamon chips. Drizzle on some caramel topping. Repeat with all layers twice more until everything is used up.


Bake 50-55 minutes or until cheesecake is set about 2 inches from the side and wiggles slightly in the center. Turn oven off, leave door open and let cheesecake cool until you can take it out of the oven without oven mitts. Leave cheesecake on the counter until it's room temperature, then refrigerate overnight.


Serve with whipped cream and caramel topping.

Apple Fritters

To go along with my corn dog and frog eye salad, I made apple fritters for dessert. I figured I might as well make my fried dessert while I've got the oil in the pan ready for frying because of the corn dogs. They turned out really tasty also. Though I did feel the honey sauce for on top was a little on the weak side for my taste so I might want to try something different if I ever made them again. They were a wonderfully fattening dessert to go along with my wonderfully fattening meal (I neglected to mention the chili-cheese fries my dad made as a side dish also).

This recipe is from Gastronomer's Guide.


Apple Fritters
for the apple fritters:

• 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and diced
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoon butter, melted
• 3/4 cup whole milk (I used half heavy cream and half 1% milk as I didn't have whole milk)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• canola oil, for frying (I used corn oil because I already had it out from the corn dogs)

for the honey syrup:

• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 small cinnamon stick

Toss together diced apples with lemon zest and juice in a small bowl to keep from browning.


In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Mix together with a whisk to aerate.


Combine melted butter, milk, eggs, and vanilla in a small bowl and beat together. Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Fold in diced apples.


Warm 1 to 2 inches of oil in a large pot set over medium-high heat. The temperature of the oil should register around 350 degrees F. Test with a drop of batter.


In the meantime, make the honey syrup. Combine honey, water, and cinnamon stick in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil. Simmer on low until slightly reduced, about 5 to 10 minutes.


To make the fritters, using a 1-1/2-inch releasable scoop, drop dollops of the batter into the hot oil. Using tongs or a fork, turn the fitters so that all sides brown. Fry, in batches, until golden brown all around, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove to a tray lined with paper towels to drain. Serve drizzled with honey syrup.