Hot Cross Muffins

A delicious take on Easter's Hot Cross Buns that's adapted from the Company's Coming Mostly Muffins cookbook. If you love hot cross buns but don't have the time or inclination to bake them, you should check out the Mostly Muffins cookbook and bake up a batch of  Spiced Fruit Muffins. If you can't tolerate gluten or dairy, give this adapted recipe a try. If you like hot cross buns you will like these muffins. If you've been missing the joy of hot cross buns because of food intolerance, I promise you will LOVE these muffins. 

1 1/3 cups gluten-free, all-purpose flour blend
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp each nutmeg, allspice and ground cloves
1 large egg
1 cup non-dairy milk
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup dark raisins or currants
1/2 cup chopped mixed glazed fruit

Measure all dry ingredients into a medium/large bowl. Stir together with a wire whisk. Add egg, milk and oil. Whisk together vigorously for several minutes until very well incorporated and smooth. Stir in raisins and glazed fruit. Let stand for 1/2 hour.

Heat oven to 350*F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners. Divide batter between lined cups. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until tops are browned and a toothpick inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean. Let stand a few minutes then move to wire rack to cool completely before adding icing crosses.

ICING

Mix 1/2 cup icing sugar, 2 tsp non-dairy milk and 1/8 tsp vanilla together to make a smooth paste. Spoon it into a small freezer bag; snip a small hole in one corner and squeeze icing to/through the hole to pipe crosses onto the cooled muffins.

Makes 10-12 muffins.

Strawberry Surprise Cupcakes

As if being diabetic wasn't bad enough, I had to go and decide to give gluten and dairy free eating a try. The good news? I feel 100% better. The bad news? I feel 100% better. At least, after two months without the gluten and dairy, I have the energy and imagination to feel like baking again. I discovered Erin McKenna's cookbooks, "Babycakes" and "Babycakes Covers The Classics". If you're living in a gluten-dairy-egg free world you MUST investigate these cookbooks. Life changing. At least you'll be able to make some pretty awesome snacks and goodies. This recipe is half of the Vanilla Cupcakes recipe in the first Babycakes cookbook. I've added a little strawberry jam goodness. These were a delightful Canada Day treat (strawberries = red + vanilla cupcakes for the white) but they'd be good any time and I guarantee they'll turn any day into a celebration. All the "strange" ingredients (agave nectar, coconut oil, xanthan gum) and the flours can be found at Nutters. In a pinch you can try Canola oil instead of coconut oil.

1 cup garbanzo-fava bean flour

1/2 cup potato starch

1/4 cup arrowroot

2 teaspoons + 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum

1 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup coconut oil (melted before measuring, and measured in dry ingredient measures not liquid)

2/3 cup agave nectar (again, use dry ingredient measuring cups to measure the liquid ingredients)

1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 1/2 Tablespoons pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup hot water

1/2 cup (or so) Strawberry jam

Strawberry-vanilla frosting: (Mix together 2 cups icing sugar+2 Tablespoons Becel Vegan margarine + 2 Tablespoons strawberry jam+ boiling water to make spreadable.)

Preheat oven to 325*F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. (I got 14 cupcakes out of my batch)

In a medium bowl whisk together flour, potato starch, arrowroot, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum and salt. Add the oil, agave nectar, applesauce and vanilla to the dry ingredients and combine. Stir in the hot water and mix until the batter is smooth.

Spoon 2 Tablespoons of batter into each prepared cup. Drop a generous teaspoon of jam into the centre of each cup on top of the batter. Cover with another spoonful of batter.

Bake on the centre rack for 22 minutes, rotating the tins 180 degrees after 15 minutes. The finished cupcakes will be golden brown and will bounce back when pressure is applied gently to the centre.

Let the cupcakes stand in the the tins for 20 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack and cool completely. Frost with the strawberry-vanilla frosting. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Makes 12-14 cupcakes.

Trifle

I had some loaves left over after an event a few months ago, so I froze them for later. With another event looming at the beginning of next week, "Trifles" came up, and so I'm going to convert the leftover loaves into a couple of trifles.  I think the beauty of "trifle" is that, with a little imagination, you have limitless possibilities.  Kraft Canada has a great Trifle "formula" style recipe; they've made a chart and the 3 main components have been broken down, giving you ideas for mixing and matching what you have on hand. It's a good place to start if you're a first time Trifle maker.

To make a Basic Trifle, you need:
A clear/glass bowl
A cake/cookie layer
A fruit/jam layer
A pudding/custard layer
Whipped topping
A garnish

Start with a layer of cake on the bottom of the bowl.Traditional English Trifles have liqueur or sherry sprinkled over the cake. The older and drier the cake, the more liquid (whether alcohol or fruit juice) it will soak up. If you are using frozen or tinned fruit, you could drain the juice and sprinkle it over the cake. If you're using fresh fruit, you might spread the cake with a complimentary jam. Layer the fruit over the cake, followed by a layer of pudding or custard. A few inches of whipped cream is next.

I like at least 2 layers of everything, so I would try to use half of each item, and then layer it all again. If you have a tall trifle bowl, you might like to do 3 or 4 layers of everything. Top off the last layer of whipped cream with your garnish.

Trifle Ideas:

Tropical Trifle- banana bread/cake with crushed pineapple and coconut custard (Bird's Custard made with coconut milk), whipped cream with a toasted coconut garnish.

Banana Split Trifle- banana bread/cake with strawberries on one layer and crushed pineapple on another, chocolate pudding and whipped cream, garnished with fresh sliced strawberries & shaved chocolate, or chocolate sundae sauce drizzled over the whipped cream.

Leftover Waffle Trifle- Breakfast waffles, any kind of frozen fruit or jam, vanilla custard or pudding, and whipped cream with coloured candy sprinkles on top.

Leftover Loaf Trifle- how about Orange-Cranberry loaf with tinned mandarin orange segments, vanilla custard or pudding, whipped cream and orange sugar sprinkles, grated orange rind or maraschino cherries on top? 
Lemon-Poppyseed loaf or muffins with peaches or mandarin orange segments, lemon pudding, whipped cream and grated lemon peel on top.

Chocolate Trifle- chocolate cake, cherry pie filling, raspberries or strawberries, chocolate pudding, whipped cream with crushed Oreo cookies for a garnish.

Vanilla Trifle- white cake, strawberries or raspberries, vanilla pudding or custard, whipped cream with fruit to garnish.

*Use your imagination and share your trifle ideas in the comments.

Potato Scones

Top o' the mornin' to ya, and Happy St. Patrick's Day!

1  1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup + 1 Tablespoon water
1 teaspoon margarine
1/8 cup + 1 Tablespoon milk
1/3 cup + 1 Tablespoon instant potato flakes
1/8 cup butter or hard margarine melted
3/4-1 cup milk
1/2 cup coarsely grated cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400*F.

In small saucepan heat water and the teaspoon of margarine. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in first amount of milk and potato flakes with a fork. Don't over stir.

Mix together flour and baking powder. Stir in cooled mashed potatoes (those you've made from instant flakes OR 1 cup leftover, cold mashed potatoes). Moisten with second amount of milk* and melted butter to form a soft dough. *Start with 3/4 cup; if dough is very stiff, add up to 1/4 more milk.

Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Knead dough lightly, then divide into 8 pieces. Roll pieces into strips, and shape into knots. Place on lightly greased baking sheet. Brush with a little milk, and sprinkle with the cheddar cheese.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden and cooked through.

Serve warm with butter.
Yield: 8 large scones.

Egg-In-A-Hole

This is just eggs and toast kicked up a notch. Good for the day after the toaster breaks,  for special breakfasts or just to mix it up a bit. 

You will need: an egg, a piece of bread, a cup or cookie cutter, soft (or softened) margarine or butter, oil/spray oil for the pan/griddle, salt and pepper.

What I do: Punch a hole in the middle of the bread. I use either a glass/cup that fits nicely within the parameters of the bread's crust OR a cookie cutter: heart shape for Valentine's Day, Tree for Christmas, Shamrock for St. Patrick's Day etc.

Heat your frying pan or griddle as for pancakes. Not too hot.

Butter both sides of the bread and the cut out piece.

For a soft yolk egg, place buttered bread (with the hole) and the cut out piece in/on your pan. Cook the bread with the hole until it's lightly browned- just lightly. Turn the bread over & spray the pan where it shows through the hole in the bread (or drop a small piece of margarine/butter in the hole) so the egg doesn't stick. Break the egg into the hole. Season with salt and pepper if you like. Cook this second side (with the egg in the middle now) until it's well browned. Flip the bread & egg, and cook the first side for a short time to cook the top of the egg and finish browning the bread. MEANWHILE, keep an eye on the toast/cut out piece. Cook both sides until nicely browned.

For a harder yolk egg, place buttered bread (with the hole) and the cut out piece in/on your pan. Spray the pan through the hole in the bread (or drop a small piece of margarine/butter in the hole) so the egg doesn't stick. Break the egg into the hole. Season with salt and pepper if you like. Cook the bread and egg until bread is nicely browned. Flip the bread and egg over, and cook the second side until the bread is toasted and the egg is cooked. If the bread is getting brown but the yolk is still too soft, lower the heat and/or cover the bread & egg with a pot lid. Remember to keep an eye on the cut out piece! Just toast it on each side until it's nicely browned.

Hot Cheesy-Salsa Dip

This has become an Open House staple. It wouldn't be Christmas Open House at the Friesen's without the Hot Cheesy-Salsa dip. People have asked, and although they seem to believe me when I say, "Cheez Whiz plus enough salsa to make it just a little runny", I thought it might be time to do some measuring and make it official.


2 cups Cheez Whiz (or store brand jar of processed cheese spread)
1/2- 2/3 cup Salsa (home made or your favourite store brand)

I melt them together in a small slow cooker, on low heat. It takes about half an hour to an hour to have the dip melted together. You can also make the dip in the microwave; use microwave safe dish and microwave at 50% power for 1 minute at a time until ingredients are blended and hot.

Makes 2 1/2- almost 3 cups of hot dip.

If this is for a party or family event, you may need to turn the slow cooker off for short periods of time, because the slow cooker, even on low heat, will make the cheese quite hot. Over time, with evaporation, the cheese mixture will thicken; just add a little more salsa to thin it out as needed.

Cinnamon-Pumpkin Rolls

As the new Food Coordinator for our church's MOPS program this fall (Mothers Of Preschoolers), I thought the first snack, only 2 days before Halloween, should be something pumpkin-y. A cookbook search yielded a pumpkin bread recipe that was easily transformed into cinnamon bun type goodness. Yum. Pumpkin... Pecans... brown sugary sweetness... Trick or Treat indeed!

2 3/4- 3 cups all purpose flour

2 packages active dry yeast (or 2.5 teaspoons instant/bread machine yeast)

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 Tablespoons butter or hard margarine

1.5 teaspoons salt

1/2 cup canned pure pumpkin

1/2 cup toasted pecan pieces*

1/4 cup raisins (optional)

Filling:

1/8 cup butter or hard margarine, softened

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Syrup:

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1/3 cup butter or hard margarine

2 teaspoons corn syrup/golden syrup

In large mixer bowl, thoroughly combine 1.5 cups of the flour, the yeast* (if using instant/bread machine yeast) and the spices.

In saucepan, heat milk, brown sugar, butter and salt just until warm (115-120*F), stirring constantly to melt butter.*If using active dry yeast (little balls) sprinkle over warm milk mixture and let stand until it foams/puffs up. Add to dry mixture in mixer bowl; add pumpkin. Beat at low speed with electric mixer for 1/2 minute, scraping sides of bowl constantly. Beat 3 minutes at high speed. By hand, stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a nice, soft- but not sticky- dough. Turn out onto lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic (5-8 minutes). Shape into ball.

Place in lightly greased bowl, turning once. Cover and let rise in warm place until double in bulk, (1- 1.5 hours)

When dough has risen, mix Filling ingredients together; set aside.

Roll dough into a 9 x 12 inch rectangle, and spread filling evenly over dough. Roll up from the long side, and let roll rest while you make the syrup.

Melt syrup ingredients together in small saucepan, stirring to dissolve sugar and blend well. Syrup should be smooth and un-separated, like caramel sauce, but it's alright if the butter hasn't blended in. If the syrup starts to boil, remove from heat immediately, or you'll find the syrup turns to hard candy when the buns are baked.

Line a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with lightly greased aluminum foil. Pour syrup into the pan. Sprinkle the toasted pecans (and raisins if you like) evenly over the syrup. Cut the pumpkin roll into 12 one inch pieces and place over syrup and nuts in pan.

Let stand in warm place until doubled in bulk- 1- 1.5 hours, and then bake at 350*F for 20 to 25 minutes, until lightly browned.

Remove from oven to cooling rack and let stand 5 to 10 minutes. Line a cookie sheet (a little bigger than the baking pan) with foil, then put a layer of plastic wrap or waxed paper on the foil. Put the paper/foil lined cookie sheet over the baking pan, then carefully flip the pan upside down onto it. Remove the baking pan and foil, scraping syrup and nuts back onto buns with a rubber spatula.

*to toast pecans, put in oven safe dish and place under broiler, stirring frequently until just starting to brown.

Makes 12 cinnamon-pumpkin buns.

Light Peppernuts

A Christmas family tradition from Grandma Friesen. They are small, round cookies that are especially delightful with coffee. My theory is that cookies like this became a Christmas holiday treat because of all the chilling and freezing involved. In the days before refrigerators and freezers it would have been difficult to make these in the summer. Definitely worth the trouble.

1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup hard margarine
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon mace (substitute nutmeg if you can't find mace)
1/4 teaspoon ground star anise (or 1/8 tsp anise extract)
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup sour milk or buttermilk
4 cups all purpose flour

In medium sized saucepan, bring sugar, corn syrup, margarine, cloves, ginger, mace and star anise to a boil. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.

To cooled syrup mixture add egg, baking soda and milk. Mix in flour. You will have a very stiff batter/ very soft dough.

Refrigerate/ chill for half an hour, or until dough is firm.

Roll the dough into strips; I use a large plastic spatula to scoop out a "hand full" of dough, then quickly roll it into 1 to 2 inch diameter strips. If the dough feels too sticky, rolling it on a large plastic container lid has been successful, and the odd time I've been in a hurry and have tried rolling dough before it's chilled enough, actually rolling it WITH the spatula ON the plastic lid has worked.

Place dough strips on a waxed paper or plastic wrap lined cookie sheet, and place cookie sheet in the freezer. (If I plan to bake peppernut cookies a few at a time, I will wrap each strip of dough in plastic wrap and when they're frozen, I'll put the frozen strips in a freezer bag)

Freeze strips until hard, then remove, one at a time, and slice the strips into 1/4 - 1/2 inch pieces. Place 1/2 inch apart on a greased baking sheet, and bake at 350* F. for 5-8 minutes, until golden brown.

Immediately remove cookies from baking sheets to paper towel covered counters. I've found this to be my best bet for cooling cookies, as they're too small to stay on a cooling rack.

When cooled, store in airtight containers or storage bags.

Makes an Extra Large Freezer bag full (38cm X 46cm bag- the ones that come in a box of 10).

Gingerbread Men

This recipe is a kicked up version of the "Gingerbread Figures" recipe found in the Company's Coming For Christmas: Holiday Magic For Your Table cookbook, by Jean Pare. I love the spices in these cookies, and I was happy to find that a sugar- reduced version was as good as the original recipe. You can decorate with a minimal amount of icing, or try adding raisins and nuts for faces and buttons before baking. I hope you enjoy this rolled cookie recipe that your diabetic kids can help you make! This is one time they can have their cookies and eat them too. Just don't eat too many, and keep an eye on the blood sugar- remember that molasses has as many carbohydrates/ sugars as the same amount of sugar or honey.

1/2 cup (125 ml) hard margarine, softened
1/2 cup (125 ml) Splenda, artificial sweetener
1/2 cup (125 ml) fancy molasses
1 large egg yolk
1 cup (250 ml) all-purpose flour
2/3 cup (150 ml) whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon (5 ml) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) baking soda
1 teaspoon (5 ml) ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon (5 ml) ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon (1 ml) ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon (1 ml) salt

Frosting:
1 large egg white
2 cups (500 ml) icing sugar

Cream butter, Splenda, molasses and egg yolk together until light.

Add next 9 ingredients. Mix well. Wrap in plastic and chill at least 1 hour. Roll out. Cut into shapes with cookie cutters. Arrange on greased baking sheet. Bake at 350* F for about 5 minutes (for small/3 " cookies) up to 10 minutes for larger cookies, until lightly browned. Cool.

To make frosting: beat egg with with as much icing sugar as needed to make a frosting that holds its shape. Pipe icing outlines around gingerbread shapes. Large baby bottle liners work well for this. Just fill the plastic liner, cut a small hole in one corner and use as an icing bag.

Peanut Butter Shortbread Cookies

Alright. I'll admit it. These cookies were an accident. I was making a batch of Mom's Peanut Butter Cookies to send to the College Girl, and I forgot to add the egg. I didn't realize it until they were out of the oven and looked a little different... but, surprise, surprise, they very much remind me of shortbread cookies- quite light and sugary, and altogether a nice peanut buttery take on an old Christmas favourite!

1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup all purpose flour

Cream together margarine, peanut butter and both sugars. (with the Kitchen Aid mixer, I measured in all the dry ingredients, including flour, then used the same measuring cup to measure the peanut butter... it saved washing a couple of measuring cups!) Add flour. Form into round balls. Place balls on greased cookie sheet and lightly flatten with a fork. Bake at 350*F for about 10 minutes.

Made about 18 cookies.

New York-Style Cheesecake

Someone besides me thought it was good, so I'll give you the recipe! Based on the Kraft Food's "What's Cooking" recipe (Spring 2007 edition) I used my fiber added crust, and Graham Kerr's Yogurt Cheese to lower fat and carbohydrates. This has a smooth, creamy texture, and isn't too heavy. I served it once with a homemade blueberry sauce made with Splenda, and once with fresh strawberries and whipped topping. Beautiful.


1 cup (250 ml) low-fat graham cracker crumbs (about 12 squares)
1/2 cup (125 ml) toasted wheat germ
1 Tablespoon (15 ml) Splenda
2 Tablespoons (30 ml) olive oil
2 - 750 ml tubs of low-fat plain/ natural yogurt with NO gelatin listed in the ingredients (I used 1% fat yogurt)
1/4- 1/3 cup Splenda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup fat-free sour cream
2 eggs

THE EVENING BEFORE: line a wire mesh sieve with paper towel, and empty the yogurt tubs into the sieve. Let stand over the sink or a large bowl overnight to let the liquid drain off the yogurt. In the morning- yogurt cheese!

Combine cracker crumbs, wheat germ and first amount of Splenda in food processor. While processor is on low speed, slowly add olive oil. When crumbs and oil are well combined, press firmly into bottom and up the sides of a 9 inch pie plate.Bake at 350* F., for about 10 minutes, til lightly browned and set.

Lower oven temperature to 325 * F.

Beat yogurt cheese, second amount of Splenda and vanilla in a large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add sour cream; mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating on low speed after each addition just until blended. Pour over crust.

Bake 25- 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Remove from oven. Cool. Cover and refrigerate 3 hours or overnight.

Top with fresh berries or pie filling, and garnish with dessert topping as you like. Store leftover cheesecake in the fridge.

For 8 servings, per serving:
219 calories
8.5 g fat
55 mg cholesterol
25.26 g carbohydrates
1.125 g fiber
8.3 g sugars
12.35 g protein
196.75 mg sodium

For 12 servings, per serving:
146 calories
5.6 g fat
37 mg cholesterol
16.8 g carbohydrates
.75 g fiber
5.55 g sugars
8.23 g protein
131 mg sodium

Kool-Aid Punch

From "Our Family Recipes", the Princess Margaret Home & School Association cookbook. This one was submitted by Renai Chamerlain. It can be made with sugar-free ingredients to make a great diabetes friendly party, or any-time drink.


2 L Ginger ale
2 L Sprite
1 L pineapple juice
2 L sherbet
1 package Kool-Aid crystals

Best to chill all liquid ingredients. Your sherbet could be either lime or key lime. Mix all ingredients together and serve.

Easter Egg Coloring

Having an Easter Egg emergency? Can't find a Coloring Kit? Don't sweat it. Make your own egg dyes with liquid food coloring and vinegar. Let the kids help, and turn it into a lesson on primary and secondary colors! Much more fun than a silly old box with tablets!


In coffee mugs, combine:

1 teaspoon vinegar
1/2 cup boiling water
20 drops of food coloring

To make blended colors, start with the lighter color, and add the darker color one drop at a time until you achieve the desired shade.

For Orange, start with 20 drops of yellow, add red one drop at a time.
For Purple, start with 20 drops of red, add blue one drop at a time.
For bright, vibrantly colored eggs, leave eggs in dye for a long time.
To make pastel eggs, leave eggs in dye for a short amount of time.

Dried color should not rub off.

Cinnamon "Salt" Dough

This is a craft dough recipe that might have come home from school with one of the children. This oven- bake dough makes very cool Christmas tree ornaments, gift tags or "car fresheners" that the kids can roll and shape themselves. Does Grandma have a miniature tree? Make her a set of tiny gingerbread tree ornaments! They'll look great and smell good too. Specialty kitchen stores like "Nutters" often have cookie cutters in many sizes.

1/3 cup cinnamon (75 ml)
1/3 cup all purpose flour (75 ml)
2/3 cup applesauce (150 ml)

Mix cinnamon and flour together. Gradually mix applesauce into cinnamon/ flour mixture to make a stiff dough. Use cinnamon/ flour mixture (equal parts) to knead into dough if it's very sticky or gooey.

Roll dough out on an un-floured board (or waxed paper) 1/4 inch thick.

Cut out shapes with cookie cutters. Make a hole with a straw to hang. Decorate with whole cloves or allspice (to make eyes or buttons on gingerbread men), or wait until your shapes are baked, and then decorate with craft supplies and glue.

Bake at 225 * F for 2 hours.

You can give them a quick spray with a sealant, if you like, and they'll have a shiny appearance.

Tie with a ribbon pushed through the hole in the top.

Cinnamon Buns

I have changed the original (from Company's Coming Breads) enough that I am comfortable sharing it. Give these a try- they're worth it! HINT: My friend Janet sometimes makes her cinnamon buns just before bed, and lets them rise slowly in the refrigerator overnight. I've done this when I have two empty shelves, and it works a treat. In the morning take the buns out of the fridge. Turn on the oven, and while the buns warm to room temperature and the oven heats up, you go have your shower- or make the coffee, or whatever! When the oven is ready, pop in the buns and away you go. Hot fresh cinnamon buns for breakfast, without having to get up at 5:30 in the morning! (freezing them for later works too!) It's good to note that these are fairly quick buns, with only 1 rising time. When I'm using my Kitchen Aid mixer I can have them mixed up, risen and baked within 2 hours. If they are too hot to ice and it's time to eat, just tip the pan over onto a large serving platter, call them "sticky buns" and serve them hot without icing. (trust me, no one will miss that extra bit of sugar!)

1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 (1/4 oz/ 8 g) Active dry yeast (about a tablespoon)
1 large egg
1/3 cup cooking oil
1/2 tsp. salt
4 1/2 cups (approximately) all purpose flour

FILLING:

1/4 cup butter or hard margarine, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
2 tsp. cinnamon

SYRUP:

1 cup brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup butter or hard margarine
1 Tbsp. corn syrup/ golden syrup

ICING:

3/4 - 1 cup icing sugar
1/8 cup butter or hard margarine, softened
1 1/2 Tbsp. milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Line 2- 9 x 13 inch baking pans with foil. Spray foil with cooking oil spray.

Stir granulated sugar into warm water in large bowl. Sprinkle yeast over top. Let stand 10 minutes. Stir to dissolve yeast.

While yeast is proofing, mix the filling ingredients together, and measure the syrup ingredients into a small saucepan.

Mix in eggs, cooking oil and salt. Work in enough flour to make a soft dough; til dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, and isn't sticking to your fingers. Turn out onto floured surface. Knead for 8 to 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Divide dough into 2 equal parts. Roll each part, one at a time, into a 9 x 12 inch rectangle. Spread each rectangle with half of the filling, then roll up from the long side. Let the rolls rest while you make the syrup.

Melt syrup ingredients together in small saucepan, stirring to dissolve sugar and blend well. Syrup should be smooth and un-separated, like caramel sauce*. (if it starts to boil, remove from heat or you'll find the syrup turns to hard candy on the bottom of your cinnamon buns) Pour the syrup into the two prepared pans, dividing it equally between them. If you like Pecan-cinnamon rolls, sprinkle toasted pecans (about 1/2 cup per pan) over syrup.
*if the butter hasn't blended in, it doesn't really matter; just make sure you divide it carefully to get melted butter and caramel-ly sugar as even in the two pans as you can.

Cut each roll into 12 equal (approximately 1 inch) pieces. Arrange cinnamon rolls over syrup in pan.

Cover with a tea towel. Let stand in oven with the light on (or in a warm place) for about 45 minutes, til doubled in size. Bake at 350 *F for 20 - 25 minutes. Drizzle with icing. (If you ice while warm, they'll have a nice glazed look. If you want to see the icing, wait til they're cooled) If you're making pecan buns, you might like to forgo the icing, and turn hot, baked buns out onto sheets of foil to cool (so the syrup and pecans are on the top)

Yield: 2 dozen cinnamon buns

NOTES:

Cinnamon Buns have become our traditional Christmas Morning breakfast. I often place the rolled buns (without syrup- I increase the filling by 1/2 and give them lots of icing instead) into Tree or Snowman shapes.

To make "individual" Christmas Morning Cinnamon Bun Trees I'll divide the dough that would make 12 buns into 4 parts before rolling it out. Each 1/4 of the dough gets rolled and spread with filling, then cut into "mini" cinnamon buns.

Bake these specially shaped buns on a greased, foil lined cookie sheet. If you're baking them ahead and freezing them, wrap them lightly in the foil then pop them into a freezer bag. Take them out the night before and let them thaw on the counter overnight.

Christmas Sugar Cookies

A fun way to spend a rainy afternoon with young children. Put on the aprons, fire up the oven, get out the cookie cutters and icing- and have fun!

1 cup (227 g) butter or margarine, softened
2 cups (450 g) granulated sugar
4 eggs
2-4 Tablespoons (30-60 ml or about 1/4 cup) milk, divided
2 teaspoons (10 ml) vanilla extract
5 cups (575 g) all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons (20 ml) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) salt
(colored sugar, nuts & candied fruit for decorating as desired)

In large bowl, beat butter & sugar til light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, 2 Tbsp of the milk and the vanilla til smooth. In another large bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt til light and thoroughly combined. Gradually beat flour mixture into butter mixture. If dough seems dry add another tablespoon or 2 of milk. Gather dough into a ball and divide into 8 parts. Wrap each part in plastic wrap and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight. The dough may also be frozen and later thawed in the fridge.

When ready to bake, remove dough from fridge one package at a time. Preheat oven to 350*F. With floured rolling pin, roll dough to 1/8 " thickness on a generously floured board. (*I find that if I flour the board, then sprinkle the top of the dough with a bit of flour and roll the dough with a piece of waxed paper between the dough and the rolling pin that I don't need as much flour and the cookies are lighter) Cut dough into desired shapes, transferring to a lightly greased baking sheet. Re-roll and cut scraps. Decorate cookies on baking sheet with colored sugar, nuts, candied fruit or sprinkles before baking, or decorate with icing when baked and cooled. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or til lightly browned. Transfer to baking racks to cool. Store in tightly covered container for 2-3 weeks.

Each ball makes about a dozen cookies, depending on the size and thickness of the cookies.

NOTES:

-It's easy to make half or a quarter recipe, if 8 dozen cookies overwhelms you, however the dough is also very freezable, so you can make up the whole recipe and put the plastic wrapped dough that you don't want to bake into a freezer bag and toss it in the freezer. To enjoy fresh cookies all season, just thaw the frozen dough in the fridge and roll and bake as directed.

-I use this same recipe for Christmas, Easter, St. Patrick's Day- don't be deceived by the name; they're excellent Sugar Cookies, not just for Christmas.

-As each of my children started school, I made it a special project to bring cookies to their Kindergarten class once. I used this recipe then made giant round cookies (I think I used a large margarine lid... I'm sure they weren't the size of an ice-cream pail lid!) Then I iced them and personalized the cookies, one for each child, using a contrasting color of icing to print his/ her name. Sometimes I did them for Halloween'en, and put a pumpkin candy on each one beside the name, maybe once at my child's birthday, but it was always an exciting treat. Children love to see their name on things, and are at an age when many of them are just learning to print their own name. It was while doing Kindergarten cookies that I discovered that "Christopher" may well be the longest name in North America!