Mini Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls

 

I tried a cinnamon roll recipe from halfbakedharvest.com, and boy was it a hit!  So much that my little family devoured all 24 mini rolls in about 24 hours.

Whoever writes that blog calls it a "30 minute" recipe.  It took me at least an hour, but I wasn't very organized & had lots of little distractions. 

Oh, but I did doubled the recipe.  Yeah. That has to be why it took me twice as long

 We paired our rolls with a quiche & green smoothies and called it "brupper."  Yum!

Here is my version of the recipe:
Mini Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:

Dough:
• 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar (I used turbinado)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup buttermilk (I used kefir)
Filling:
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
• 1/4 cup brown sugar (or turbinado)
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
Vanilla Icing:
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a mini muffin pan.
2. To make dough mix together flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Stir in buttermilk (or kefir)  until a dough ball forms. Turn out onto a floured surface. Roll the dough into an a rectangle about 1/4th inch thick. Add just a sprinkle of flour if the dough sticks to the rolling pin.
3. Spread the melted coconut oil out on the dough and sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon. Roll into a log and cut into 12 equal rolls. Place the rolls into prepared muffin tins. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until lightly browned.
4. For the icing, whisk powder sugar, milk and vanilla together until smooth. Spoon icing over top each roll after they've cooled about 5 minutes.

Peanut Butter (coconut oil) Fudge

Here's a variation of our Good-For-You Coconut Oil Fudge.  The husband & children like it better, probably since it tastes a little less rich and a lot more like a Reese's Cup.

I like to stock our freezer with both recipes, though.  One for me & one for them, right?  It's only fair.



Peanut Butter (coconut oil) Fudge

Ingredients:
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup peanut butter (we like the "natural" one- or two-ingredient variety)
1/4 cup honey, more or less to taste
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt (if your peanut butter contains salt, omit this)



Directions:
1. Line a loaf pan with plastic wrap.
2. Melt the coconut oil in a glass measuring cup.
3. Add remaining ingredients to the oil & whisk till smooth.
4. Dip in your clean finger, & taste to make sure it's sweet enough; if not, add more honey.
5. Pour into the lined loaf pan, & freeze until solid.
6. Turn the fudge out out of the pan, cut into bite-sized pieces, & hide them from the rest of your family behind the frozen peas in your freezer.
7.  Just kidding.  Share with your fam.  It's healthy, remember?  You've got the less-Reese's-tasting kind for yourself.

Enjoy!

 Oops.  I forgot to take a pic of the finished product.  Maybe next time..
 
Recipe adapted from creatingnaturally.com

Good-for-You Coconut Oil Fudge

I'm the kind of girl who thinks she needs a bite of something chocolatey after dinner every night.

Okay -- who am kidding?  After every meal.

Aaaand maybe a few other times throughout the day.


Well, here's a little guilt-free goody I've been keeping on hand to satisfy my sweet tooth.


Good-for-You Coconut Oil Fudge

Ingredients:
1/2 cup coconut oil (Read about the health benefits of coconut oil here.)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup honey, more or less to taste  (Read about the health benefits of local honey here.)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt

Directions:
1. Line a loaf pan with plastic wrap.
2. Melt the coconut oil in a glass measuring cup.*
3. Add remaining ingredients & whisk till smooth.
4. Dip your pinky & make sure it's sweet enough to your taste; if not, add more honey.
5. Pour into the lined loaf pan, & freeze until hard.
6. Flip the fudge out out of the pan, cut into chunks, & store in a container in the freezer. 
7. Repeat all steps.  (Trust me, this a very important step.  Or you can double or triple the recipe if you've got a sweet tooth like mine & don't want to have to wash your whisk every third day.)


*Since I'm never able to precisely measure out a half cup of coconut oil when it's in its solid state, I just try really hard to get it right, see how much I've got after it's melted, & then use an equal amount of cocoa powder.  Oh, & I have a magnet on my fridge that tells me that 1/2 cup is equal to 8 tablespoons, which is good to know since my 1/2 cup scoop won't fit into my coconut oil jar.

Enjoy!


Recipe adapted from  www.joyfulabode.com

Our Transitioning Thoughts About the Food We Eat

Whew, what a whirlwind!  It all started when a friend on Facebook shared a diagram about how margarine is made.  For a week or so I just couldn't stop thinking about how terrible it truly was, & it made me curious about other so-called "foods."

Then my husband & I randomly watched a documentary called "Forks Over Knives."  It advocates "plant-based, whole-foods" eating (i.e., veganisn), and pinpoints animal protein as the sum of all dietary evils. While I usually have a terribly tendency tend to believe everything I hear, I wasn't completely sold.  I think the nutrients we get from meat are important.  Besides, I did the vegetarianism thing for four ,and I wasn't ready to return.

Then I started reading archives from the Passsionate Homemaking blog.

Then we watched "Food, Inc."

And the rest is history...

I've spent the last three months doing a lot of blog-reading and then experimenting in my kitchen.  I have several "keeper" recipes clipped on my fridge, and I've trashed at least twice as many.

My mind has shifted so much that I'd like to share my experiences & thoughts (and recipes) with anyone who might be interested, but I really just want to have a place to collect all my go-to recipes for my own use (in case the printed-out ones get spilled and scribbled on or accidentally trashed).

We've not made any food "laws" for our family, we're just trying to eat altogether "healthier."

And by that I mean: eat more veggies & fruit, and fewer chemical-laden, "processed" foods.

We're not vegans.  We're not paleo.  We're not yet totally "whole foods" or organic, although that is probably a good goal.  We don't judge other people for what they put in their grocery carts.  We certainly won't snub our noses at a cookie made with white flour & white sugar, and we probably have a hard time saying "no" when offered a Coca-cola.

We're just trying to eat better, as much as possible, when we're in our own home.  I am going to be spending lots of time & money preparing meals for my family, anyway.  For me, it is worth it to spend a little extra time and/or money to prepare meals that are at least better than those I've previously made.

And I feel like I just can't turn back after seeing that margarine flow-diagram. ;)