A Cinnamon Treat Guest Post from "That Skinny (Lizzy) Chick Can Bake!!!"

Cinnamon delight is the highlight of this wonderful guest post from Liz of "That Skinny Chick Can Bake!!!".   For a long time now, I've been wanting to ask more of my favorite food bloggers to come on over and allow me to spotlight their wonderful cooking and baking skills on my blog.  Now that I've been home on a leave of absence for my surgery, I have the additional time that I needed to hop around blog-land and ask!  I'm not finished with my list yet, so heads up, I'll be writing to you too!  Or geez, just volunteer!

Now I'm not going to tell you the story of how Liz and I know each other because she tells a far better story than I do!  And she has shared it below.  After that comes one of her specialties . . . baking super wonderful breads; this recipe she is sharing with all of us is for Cinnamon Twists!  Your home will smell wonderful from the aroma of this baking in the oven, even better for this time of year:   autumn and the upcoming holidays!  And who doesn't like sweet sugar and cinnamon in their bread?

Before I turn it over to Liz, let me remind you that all of her contact information follows her recipe too, so that you can follow all of her posts.

And now I'll let Liz do the talking! 

"My blog started on a whim...I remember revealing my little project to a group of friends while out to lunch one spring day. One happened to have a friend whose wife was on the now defunct Foodbuzz, an on-line food blogger community...and this gal encouraged me to join the site and network with other foodies. It was there that I connected with so many fabulous, inspirational bloggers...including Roz. My blog ballooned from a simple way to share favorite recipes with friends and family into a place where I developed relationships with food bloggers across the globe. Blogging, along with baking, became one of my passions.

Those of you who are regular followers of my blog may remember the serendipitous reunion between Roz and me. She commented on my blog one day, which lead me back to her blog.  I was immediately awed by all of her marvelous food, gorgeous photography and especially her kind heart. She had oodles of fans and followers, and I knew I'd be back. She mentioned in her bio that she was from Iowa...well, what the heck, so was I. Then I learned she was 100% Italian...hmmmm...and her photo resembled a friend from my hometown, Kelly. I just had to ask her if she was from Iowa and if she had a sister named 'Kelly'. Yup, she was the older sister of one of my dear friends since childhood.  Roz was the beautiful, mysterious, popular older sister who I had only known by a portrait in their family room...she was always busy with high school activities while Kelly and I were still immature and squirrelly in grade school.

After we reconnected, I reminded Roz that when Kelly and I were in college together, we took a road trip one weekend to visit Roz in St. Louis, where she then lived and where we were treated to one of her home cooked, gourmet dinners. I'm still hoping that she and I will be able to meet again in person.  Roz did a guest post for me this summer when we were in France, so I was delighted to reciprocate when she made plans to travel abroad with her parents this fall. Such a thrill.  I had to bake up something both beautiful and delicious...so you'll have to pop over to La Bella Vita to see the details."

I had seen a few versions of these cinnamon twists on-line and knew my family would love them. The King Arthur Flour site had an apple filled version which I tweaked to be more like a traditional cinnamon roll.  I baked one in an 8-inch cake pan and the other on a sheet pan lined with parchment. The one in the cake pan produced a much prettier loaf.

This dough was silky smooth...maybe from the addition of potato buds (instant mashed potatoes) or maybe from the overnight rising time. I did not learn the chemistry of baking in my nursing chemistry course, so maybe someone can enlighten me. Nevertheless, this dough produced a delicious bread that all 5 of us enjoyed.

Cinnamon Twists

from "That Skinny Chick Can Bake!!!"

(adapted from King Arthur Flour)

3-1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup dried potato flakes or buds

3 heaping tablespoons sugar

1-1/2 teaspoons instant yeast

1-1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons butter plus extra for buttering bowl, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

1 cup milk

Filling:

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

4-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

A few grates of fresh nutmeg, optional

2 tablespoons melted butter

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2-3 tablespoons heavy cream

Mix all dry ingredients in bowl of large stand mixer (you can also mix and knead by hand). Make sure potato flakes are well dispersed. Add the butter, vanilla, egg and milk. Mix with dough hook till a shaggy dough forms. Let rest 30 minutes.

Knead dough with dough hook or by hand for 10 minutes, then place dough in a greased bowl, turning to coat top of dough with butter, then cover and refrigerate dough overnight.

The next morning, bring dough out and allow to sit out on the counter for 3 hours.

Make filling by combining sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside.

To assemble, deflate dough and divide in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll out one dough half into a 10 x 12 inch rectangle. Brush dough with half the melted butter, then sprinkle with half the cinnamon mixture over the surface stopping within about 1/2 inch of one longer edge. Roll up jelly roll style starting at the long edge with the cinnamon, making a log. Press seam together to lightly seal.

Cut the log in half lengthwise with a sharp knife. Turn each half so that filling and cut edges face upward. Seal two of the short edges together, then cross one side over the other repeatedly to make a twist. Carefully place twist in a greased 8-inch cake pan forming a ring. Repeat with second piece of dough.

Cover lightly and let rise at room temperature for about 1 hour. Preheat oven to 350º. Bake for about 30 minutes. Cool for few minutes, then carefully remove from pans to a rack to finish cooling.

Make glaze by combining all ingredients using the extra tablespoon of cream if necessary. Place into a quart ziplock bag, seal and clip off corner with a scissors. Squeeze bag to drizzle icing over cooled twists.

Makes 2 8-inch cinnamon twists.

Thanks so much, Roz, for inviting me to share a recipe with your blog followers! Enjoy your holiday, my friend! 

xo,

Liz 

I knew that you would love whatever Liz shared for her guest post!

After ALL of these years since her friendship began with my sister in 1968 and when I met Liz in St. Louis (1978), it is because of our two food blogs that we re-connected in 2010 between Indiana and South Carolina where we now live!  Just so cool!

As promised here are all of the ways that you can follow Liz.  You can either click on the site names or copy and paste the addesses:

That Skinny Chick Can Bake!!!  . . . http://www.thatskinnychickcanbake.com/

Twitter . . . https://twitter.com/#!/ThatSkinnyChick

Facebook . . . https://www.facebook.com/pages/That-Skinny-Chick-Can-Bake/112597838794834

Google + . . . https://plus.google.com/116213594518847001708/posts?hl=en

Pinterest . . . http://pinterest.com/lizzydo/   

StumbleUpon . . . http://www.stumbleupon.com/stumbler/lizzydo 

Thanks Lizzy!!!  

Mwah!  

xoxo, Roz

.

Pin It