Vanilla Pudding Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting

a friend posted this recipe and it looked so good I had to copy it over for a future date!



Per the requests I got after my last cinnamon roll post, here is the recipe for my tried-and-true vanilla pudding cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting. The vanilla pudding is simply added to the dough to make it extremely soft and pliable - and oh, does it ever. (No surprise, this recipe comes direct from my Aunt Marilyn whose recipes have made a great showing on this blog already.) I made these last week and it confirmed my feelings: I am in love with these cinnamon rolls. The dough is so extremely tender and soft, it will blow your mind, and the cream cheese goodness of the frosting is beyond delicious. The filling is made up of brown sugar and cinnamon and it gives a great richness to the standard cinnamon and white sugar combo. Oh my, these really are so good. I'm glad several of you requested the recipe because it gave me a chance to make them and reaffirm my vow to continue making them - it also gave me a great excuse to eat about 13 of them.

Vanilla Pudding Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting
from A. Marilyn

Rolls:
½ cup warm water
2 tablespoons active dry yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
3 ½ ounce package instant vanilla pudding
½ cup butter, melted
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
6+ cups flour

Filling:
1 cup butter, softened to room temperature
2 cups brown sugar
4 teaspoons cinnamon

Frosting:
8 ounces cream cheese
½ cup butter, softened to room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups confectioner’s sugar
2-3 tablespoons milk

In a small bowl combine water, yeast and sugar. Stir until dissolved. Set aside. In large bowl, take pudding mix and prepare according to package directions. Add butter, eggs and salt. Mix well. Then add yeast mixture. Blend. Gradually add flour; knead until smooth. Do not overflour the dough! It should be very soft but not sticky. Place in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled. Then roll out on floured board to 34 X 21 inches in size. Take 1 cup soft butter and spread over surface. In bowl, mix 2 cups brown sugar and 4 teaspoons cinnamon. Sprinkle over the top. Roll up very tightly. With knife put a notch every 1 1/2 inches. Cut with thread or serrated knife. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet 1 inch apart. Cover and let rise until double again. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Remove when they start to turn golden (don’t overbake). Frost warm rolls with cream cheese frosting (combine butter and cream cheese and mix well, then add vanilla and sugar and mix again, then add milk for desired consistency). Makes about 24 very large rolls.

*Freezable Recipe: After shaping the rolls and placing them on the baking sheet, cover with lightly greased saran wrap and a layer of tin foil. Store in the freezer. The night before you want to serve them take out the rolls and put them in the refrigerator. Let them thaw in the refrigerator. Take them out about 8-9 hours after being in the refrigerator and let them rise until doubled. Bake according to the recipe. (If you have less time, you can take the rolls out of the freezer and let them come to room temperature on the counter - about 4 hours, then let rise until doubled).

Christmas Scent

My neighbor gave me this last year and I LOVED it!

4 Cinnamon sticks
1-2 Tbsp. cloves
1 bay leaf
1/2 lemon, sliced
1/2 orange, sliced
4 C. water

Simmer on your stove. When the water's out, just keep replacing it and the smell will continue. You can also cool and store in your fridge for future use if you want.

Wisconsin Cheese Soup

This is oh so good and easy. A great comfort food for the Fall.

½ c finely chopped onion
4 t butter
4 t flour
1 ½ t cornstarch
4 c chicken stock
4 c milk
1 c cooked carrots
1 c cooked celery
1/8 t paprika
1/2 pound shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 pound velveeta cheese


Saute onions, carrots and celery in butter until tender. Add flour and cornstarch blending well. Add chicken stock and milk gradually, stirring constantly. When boiling add paprika and cheeses. Cook over low heat until cheese is melted. Add extra rue and salt if necessary.

Ginger Garlic Chicken

I am currently trying not to eat sugar, dairy or white rice, bread etc, so meals are little bit harder lately, so I made this up and the chicken I have been nibbling at while the rice cooks is delish!

chicken breasts
ginger root
garlic
braggs amino

finely smashed up a small bit of the ginger, added to braggs & minced garlic dumped over chicken.  fired up the bbq, sliced up some ginger to put on top of the chicken as it cooked and basted the chicken often with remaining juices!  YUM  I also took some ginger pieces & half of the water as braggs and stuck them in with the brown rice as it cooked.

Clam spaghetti

Don't let the title scare you away like my husband did. This is easy and yummy.

1 pkg. spaghetti, fettucinne or linguine noodles
A few cloves of garlic
1/4 C. olive oil
2 cans clams, not drained
1-2 Tbsp. parsley
lemons, cut into wedges
parmesan cheese

Get the noodles cooking. Everything else comes together really quickly.

Heat olive oil in skillet. Add garlic and brown. Add clams, with their juice and parsley. Heat through and let simmer while noodles finish cooking.

Drain noodles and toss with clam sauce. Garnish with lemon juice and parmesan cheese. Both toppings are important to the flavor of this dish.

Lettuce Wraps

we took 2 chicken breasts (diced), some squash (diced), garlic, 1/4 onion, some bean sprouts, some stir fry sauce, stir fry it up.  Put a some of rice on a leaf of Ice berg lettuce & top with stir fry, definitely the hardest part is getting the leaves off in one piece. You could use water chestnuts, or celery instead of squash, we used peter pan scalloped squash.

We had these at China Isle and my girls LOVED them, great easy meal!

Southwestern Egg Rolls

1 C. chopped chicken
1/2 Tbsp. parsley
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
dash cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp. chopped red bell pepper

Combine those ingredients and cook. When chicken is fully cooked, add:

2Tbsp. gren onion, chopped
1/2 C. corn
1/4 C. black beans
2 Tbsp. chopped spinach
1 Tbsp. jalapeno, chopped

Cook until warm, then add:

3/4 C. cheese


Cut a raw flour tortilla in half. Place a spoonful of filling near the straight cut. Fold in the sides and roll it closed. Repeat until chicken mixture is gone.
Place rolls on baking sheet sprayed with Pam

Bake at 350 for 20-30 min. Turn them over halfway through the baking time.

These are really good dipped in the following dressing:

Take your favorite ranch dressing and blend it with a few tomatillos and a bit of cilantro. You could add lime too.

Rice Krispy Dessert

Tastes like fried ice cream!

3 C. Rice Krispies
1 1/2 cubes butter or margarine
1 1/2 C. brown sugar
1 1/2 C. chopped walnuts or pecans
1 1/2 C. coconut
1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream
fresh strawberries, sliced

Melt butter and sugar. Pour over rice krispies, walnuts and coconut and mix.
Put 1/2 the mixture into greased 9x13 pan. Slice ice cream and lay on top of this mixture. Add the other half of the mix on top of the ice cream and press down firmly. Store in freezer.

Serve topped with berries.

Garlic Shrimp Crostini

This is both beautiful and delicious. It's a great appetizer to serve as a host.

1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1/4 C. mayo
5 cloves garlic, minced and divided
1 Tbsp. minced green onion
1/4 C. butter
1 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley
24 med. fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined
24 toasted french bread rounds
Garnish: halved cherry tomatoes, fresh parsley leaves

In a small bowl, combine cream cheese, mayo, 2 cloves garlic and a green onion. Set aside.

In a large skillet melt butter over medium heat. Add remaining 3 cloves of garlic and minced parsley. Cook for 3 min. Add shrimp and cook until pink and firm, about 3-4 min.

Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over french bread roudns. Top each with 1 shrimp. Garnish with tomato halves and parsley leaves.

White chili

We made this on someone else's recommendation this weekend. It was soooo good. All three kiddos even loved it. It was one of those dishes where I was really full but just kept eating because I loved the flavor. Better yet, it's super easy.

1 lb. chicken breast, cut into small pieces
1 Tbsp. oil
small onion, diced
about 6 garlic cloves, minced

Cook those together in a pot on your stove top. Then add:

1 can diced green chilis
2 15 oz. cans white beans, undrained (pinto, navy, etc.)
4 C. chicken broth (I used less b/c I like thicker soups)
1 tsp. chicken bouillon
2 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

Simmer those together for about 1/2 hour. When you're ready to eat, add:

1 C. sour cream
3 C. monterey jack cheese, shredded

Heat through and serve.

Top with:
dallop of sour cream
fresh cilantro
chopped tomatoes
crushed tortilla chips

Fish tacos with mango salsa

This is a very non-measure type recipe but since it turned out so wonderful and was so quick I wanted to share it. The ingredients are in red.

Fish:

Any mild white fish will work, I used Orange Roughy. 

Pat fish fillets dry and squeeze lime juice over. Rub lime moistened fish with chili powder and sea salt. Pan sear in vegetable oil until flakey.

Mango Salsa:

Using food processor chop one small to medium onion and one green pepper. Remove from processor and corsley chop mango (I use frozen mango) and a small handful of cilantro. Add all ingredients together and stir in lime juice and salt to taste.

For info on making the homemade tortillas, go here.

Spinach and Artichoke Mac and Cheese (Rachael Ray)

I was unsure of this one, but it was good and my kids loved it too. Just don't tell them it's called Mac and Cheese or they'll have expectations that are very different from the result.


Salt
1 pound regular or whole wheat penne
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
3 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
3 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup white wine
2 cups milk
A few grates fresh nutmeg
1 box frozen chopped spinach (10 ounces), defrosted and wrung dry in a kitchen towel
1 box frozen chopped artichokes (10-ounces), defrosted and wrung dry in a kitchen towel
Ground black pepper
1 1/4 cups shredded Italian Fontina cheese, plus additional for sprinkling on top
1 1/4 cups grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, plus additional for sprinkling on top
PreparationPre-heat oven to 350ºF.

Place a large pot of water over high heat to cook the pasta. When the water is boiling, salt it well and drop the pasta in. Cook to al dente according to package directions. Drain the pasta and reserve.

While the pasta is cooking, place a medium pot over medium-low heat with 2 turns of the pan of EVOO, about 2 tablespoons, and the butter. Add the onion and garlic to the pan and cook the veggies until very soft, about 10 minutes.

Turn the heat up to medium-high and sprinkle the flour into the pan. Cook for about 1 minute then whisk the wine into the pan, cooking for another minute to burn off the alcohol. Whisk the milk into the pan and bring up to a bubble. Add the nutmeg, veggies, some salt and pepper to the sauce, and simmer until thickened, 2-3 minutes. Add the cheeses to the sauce and stir until melted.

Toss the prepared sauce with the cooked pasta and transfer to a casserole dish. Sprinkle some more Fontina and Parmigiano over the top and bake until the cheese has melted and the top is golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Chicken Parmesan

I didn't actually use parmesan cheese so I don't know why it's called that, but this was really good and surprisingly easy.

Boneless, skinless chicken breast (enough to serve your family)
1/2 C. milk
1 egg
1 C. seasoned bread crumbs
Spaghetti noodles
Spaghetti sauce
mozzarella cheese

Place the chicken breast between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound it until it's 1/4-1/2 inch thick.

Get noodles cooking.

Mix 1 egg and 1/2 C. milk in shallow dish. Dip chicken in that mixture then coat in seasoned bread crumbs.

Cook it in a skillet with olive oil. It'll be golden and pretty on both sides. Put some mozarella cheese on the top and let it melt, either with the lid on the skillet or in your oven.

Serve over cooked spaghetti noodles with extra spaghetti sauce.

Cherry Chocolate Cake

1 pkg. chocolate cake mix
1 can cherry pie mix
1 tsp. almond extract
2 eggs, beaten

Beat eggs, add extract, cake mix and cherry pie mix. Stir gently. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes in a greased 9"x13" pan. I made cupcakes and baked them for about 18 min.

FROSTING:

1 c. sugar
5 tbsp. butter
1/2 c. milk
1 c. chocolate chips

Boil for 1 minute the first 3 ingredients, stirring constantly. Add chocolate chips and stir until melted and smooth. Spread on cake.

Coconut Cake

This is super easy and really yummy!

1 pkg. white cake mix
1 1/2 C. unsweetened coconut milk (I just use one whole can)
4 large egg whites

Beat together. Pour into 2 round 8" greased and floured cake pans or double recipe and pour into 3 round 9" cake pans. Bake at 350 for 22 min.

Frosting
3 1/2 C. powdered sugar
1/2 C. butter, softened
1 tsp. coconut extract
1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened

Combine and frost cake. THen press flaked coconut on top and sides.

I made cupcakes, baking them for 18 min. I frosted them then dipped them up-side-down into a bowl of flaked coconut. They came out really pretty and were so very easy!

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

I got this original recipe off of allrecipes and changed it a bit to fit my needs better.

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp aluminum free baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cloves
2 Tbls ground flax seed
4 Tbls water
(you could use two eggs in place of the flax and water)
1 cup Succanot
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup coconut or olive oil
3/4 cup apple juice concentrate, thawed
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup water (could use milk, or almond milk)
3 cups shredded unpeeled zucchini
1 cup shredded carrots

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 baking dish. mix all dry ingredients together, then add the wet. Lastly add the zucchini and carrots and mixed until just moistened. Bake for 35-45 min or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.

Serve plain, or add this simple frosting recipe from Robyn, at greensmoothiegirl.com

1/2 cup powdered succanot (if you don't have powdered succanot just put succanot into a coffee grinder and make it)
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup cocoa
1/4 cup water

My boys at this up like crazy! They loved it and I didn't mind so much letting them eat it!

Evil Jungle Princess

Weird name, I know, but that's what it's called at Thaifoon. This is a list of the ingredients, and while it's not a complete recipe (amounts), I'm entering it here before I lose the scrap of paper I wrote it down on. I'll perfect it hopefully after I try cooking it. If you want to take a stab at it, go for it. It's delicious at Thaifoon.

Chicken cut in chunks, salted and rubbed with fresh ginger
A couple large carrots julienned
Long beans or grean beans or peas
bean sprouts
red pepper julienned
mushrooms (optional)
water chestnuts (optional)
fresh basil

2+ Tbsp. peanut butter
Sweet Thai red chili sauce (found at Walmart)
1 Tbsp. Samall Oelek (found at Asian market)
Red curry
3 cans coconut milk (this seems to me like about 3 times as much as you'd need)

Cook the chicken, then remove from pan. Mix chili sauce, oelik, red curry and coconut milk in pan and heat. Add peanut butter. Add chicken and vegetables.

Serve with rice.

Homade Canned Tomato Soup

I got this recipe from my neighbor and it is the best!

14 quarts peeled & cored sliced tomatoes
(If you have never canned tomatoes see below for instructions)
14 stacks celery
14 sprigs parsley
4 large onions
a few bay leaves
boil and strain. I osterize them in the blender--not bay leaves.
(I blended them in my blend tech so there was no reason to strain)
Boil again and add about 1/2c salt and sugar( to taste)
Cream 1 lb butter with 3 c flour.
( the 2nd time around I melted my butter and then added the flour and mixed it up well
that seemed to work , and was a little bit easier than the creaming we tried the first time)
Add to vegetables and thicken.
Make sure your bottles are Hot and sanitized,
boil the lids and rings.
Bottle hot. Wipe Rims. and hand tighten the rings.
Then water bathe the appropriate length of time for your jars.

For preparing tomatoes get a large pan of water to a rolling boil and drop in your tomatoes a batch at a time, when there skin splits pull them out into a bowl. It is best to wait for a little bit before cutting them as they are really HOT! After there skin has split the skin should just pull off the tomatoes, then you can cut them in half (which is what I do instead of slicing them) & core them. My advice learned from my mom... put a cookie sheet with sides under your cutting board to contain the tomato juices as you are peeling and cutting them. :)

Unsloppy Joes

I got this one from Chelsea as well

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
8 kaiser rolls or whole wheat hamburger buns

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, celery, carrot, green pepper, and garlic: saute until tender. Stir in tomatoes, chili powder, tomato paste, vinegar, and pepper. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes.
Stir in kidney beans, and cook an additional 5 minutes.
Cut a 1/4 inch slice off the top of each kaiser roll; set aside. Hollow out the center of each roll, leaving about 1/2 inch thick shells; reserve the inside of rolls for other uses.
Spoon bean mixture evenly into rolls and replace tops. Serve immediately.

Peach Muffins

I got this recipe from Chelsea

3 cups whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cups coconut or olive oil
1 cup raw applesauce
1/2 cup water (may need to add more if it is still to thick)
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups succanot
3 cups peeled, pitted, and chopped peaches

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease 16 muffin cups.
In a large bowl, mix the flour, eggs, applesauce, oil, and water. Let sit for 15 minutes. Add in cinnamon, baking soda, succanot and salt. Fold in the peaches. Spoon into the prepared muffin cups.
Bake 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes before turning out onto wire racks to cool completely.


These are very moist and flavorful! My boys ate them up like crazy, and I took them to a church function and everybody really liked them. You can freeze them as well, and then just pull out a few at a time as you want them. They thaw quickly.

Split Pea Soup

(I'm seeing the image as html so I can't figure out how to roatate it. Any suggestions?)

I just made this the other day. I'd forgotten how much I liked it. My 5-year-old said, "It looks like dog throw-up." She's right, it did, but it tasted much better than dog throw-up.

I couldn't find an actual recipe for this. Everyone just said to add whatever you want. This is what I did and it was tasty:

16 oz. bag of split peas
1 onion chopped
1 can carrots, or about 2 carrots sliced
1-3 C. ham cubed, or leftover ham bone
2 bay leaves
thyme
Montreal steak seasoning



Put peas in large pot and cover with a couple inches of water. Add bay leaf, some thyme, seasoning, any other spices that sound somewhat appealing. Also add ham and onion.

Bring to boil and let simmer about 2 hours. Keep an eye on it. You may need to add more water as it cooks. If you used a ham bone, pull it out and get all the meat off it you can. Add carrots, and cook until they're tender.

Place about half the soup in a blender and blend until smooth, then mix back in with remaining soup.

Serve with lots of cheese, or a dallop of sour cream. Also very good with whole wheat bread.

Marshmallows

This is a fun recipe.

Marshmallow syrup. (Most recipes just use corn syrup, but this makes them fluffier and less sticky and is worth the extra steps. This makes enough for about 3 batches of marshmallows.)

2 C. water
5 1/3 C. can sugar
1 tsp. cram of tartar
pinch of salt

Place ingredients in 4-quart pan, stirring until sugar is moistened. Bring to boil and cover for 2 minutes to allow steam to wash sugar crystals from sides of pan. Uncover pan, insert candy thermometer and keep heating. Do not stir again!

Cook to 240 degrees (223 for high altitude at my house). Remove from heat and let cool 15 minutes. Store in clean jars up to 2 months. Ignore any syrup that crystallizes.


Vanilla Marshmallows

1/2 C. + 2 Tbsp. cold water
1 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
3 Tbsp. unflavored gelatin

3/4 C. water
1 1/4 C. marshmallow syrup
pinch of salt
1 1/2 C. granulated cane sugar

Spray bottom and sides of pan or mold (I like the 9x13x2 inch pan best, but it can also go into a cookie sheet). Wipe with paper towel, leaving thin coat of oil.

Combine cold water and vanilla. Pur over gelatin in a small bowl, stir until there are no lumps, and set it aside.

Place water, marshmallow syrup, salt and sugar into 4 qt. pan. Bring to boil over medium-high heat. Place lid on pan and let boil for 2 min. Remove lid. Do not stir once lid has been removed. Insert candy thermometer, and boil until temp. reaches 250 degrees (237 at my house).

Pour batter into electric stand mixer. Add gelatin mixture. Beat on high 10-12 minutes, using wire whisk attachment.

Spread marshmallow mixture into pan and let it set up at least 4 hours or overnight.

To cut, lightly sprinkle work surface with powdered sugar, cornstarch or mixture of both. Ease marshmallows from pan and flip over onto work surface, gently pulling the marshmallow out. Cut with pizza wheel sprayed with cooking spray or rolled in powder mixture. Toss marshmallows in powder coating to keep from sticking together. Store them in an airtight container.

You can vary your coatings, or add things to the marshmallows, but this is a good, standard first batch recipe. Just experiment with them. My favorite is to swirl dulce de leche into the marshmallows as I pour them into the pan. I also like to skip coating them with powder and dip them in melted chocolate instead.