Sausage Crescent Roll

My mom always makes this as part of Christmas brunch.
We love it!!

1 lb highly seasoned sausage
2 pkgs. Pillsbury crescent rolls
1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
1 8oz pkg cream cheese
1 1/2 cup chopped onion
small can sliced mushrooms
1 egg white, slightly beaten
poppy seeds

In a medium size skillet, brown sausage, pepper and onion. Add mushrooms. Drain well. While sausage is still hot, add cream cheese. Stir until melted. Let cool. Meanwhile, separate crescent rolls into two rectangles. Form log of sausage mixture lengthwise down center of each rectangle. Fold over the long sides of pastry to cover sausage log. Place on cookie sheet, seam side down. Brush with egg whites. Sprinkle with poppy seeds. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Creme Brule French Toast

Thanks to my friend Kajsa for this super good recipe!! Yum!

Ingredients:

1 ½ cup half/half

5 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

Caramel Sauce:

1 stick butter

1 cup brown sugar

2 Tbsp. white karo syrup

Mix half/half, eggs and vanilla. Pour into bottom of 9 x 13 pan. Lay out uncrusted bread on top of mixture. Combine sauce ingredients over stove and cook until melted. Pour sauce over bread and chill 8-12 hours. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Butterscotch Pull-a-part Bread

One of my very favorite holiday recipes! We have this every year along with our Christmas brunch.

Ingredients:

24 frozen yeast rolls (frozen Rhodes dinner rolls will also do)
1 small package instant butterscotch pudding
1 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 stick melted butter
chopped nuts (as desired)

Direction:

Grease bundt pan, place rolls in bottom of pan. Sprinkle dry pudding over rolls, then sugar, cinnamon, and nuts. Pour melted butter over all.

Let set overnight at room temperature, uncovered. Bake 20-30 minutes at 350 degrees or until done. Let set 10 minutes, then turn over on plate.

Looks and tastes wonderful and is easy to prepare the night before. Enjoy!

Profiteroles with Chocolate Sauce

I made these for Riley for his birthday dessert. SOOOO good. I added fresh raspberries to ours, and of course we used some Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla. Mine fell a little, but were yummy anyway! A great picture of what the final product is supposed to look like:

Original recipe with more hints and instruction by David Lebovitz found over at Oui Chef.

Pate a Choux

Ingredients:

1 cup water


3 ounces unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" cubes


1/4 teaspoon kosher salt


2 teaspoons sugar


1 cup flour


4 large eggs

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 425℉
• In a saucepan, heat the water, butter, salt, and sugar.
• When the butter is melted and the mixture just begins to boil, add the flour all at once and stir continuously until it forms a smooth mass and comes away from the sides.
• Remove from heat and either by hand or preferably with an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the 4 eggs one at a time until the batter is stiff and shiny.
• Place the dough into a pastry bag with a large plain tip, and pipe the pâte à choux in ping-pong sized balls onto parchment or silpat-lined baking sheets (or drop by spoonfuls) and place in oven. Turn the oven down to 375℉.
• Bake the puffs for about 25-30 minutes, or until they are golden brown on top and up the sides. (If they are not fully cooked, they will collapse. They should feel light and hollow when you pick them up). Remove them from the oven, turn the oven off, and poke each puff on the side with a knife to release any steam, which can make them soggy. Return the puffs to the oven for 5 minutes to dry.
• Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.
• These can be stored at room temperature for several hours, or frozen and then later defrosted, and warmed in a 350℉ oven for a few minutes.

Chocolate Sauce:

Makes about 2 1/2 cups

Ingredients:

1 cup water


1/2 cup sugar


1/2 cup light corn syrup


3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-processed)


2 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

Method:

In a medium saucepan, whisk together the water, sugar, corn syrup, and cocoa powder.
Bring to a boil over medium heat. Once it's just begun to simmer and boil, remove from heat and stir in the chopped chocolate until melted.

That's it!


You can let the Chocolate Sauce stand for a few hours before serving, which will give it time to thicken a bit, and store the chocolate sauce in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.

Rewarm before serving.

Vanilla Pudding Cinnamon Rolls

Found the recipe here. These are delicious and so easy to make.



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
2 cups brown sugar

4 teaspoons cinnamon

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. Let set in fridge for 5 minutes.

To the pudding, 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. (I think I ended up having to use 6 1/2 c. flour. Otherwise it's too hard to roll out.) Place dough in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled.
Punch down dough gently and split into 2 sections. Roll out one section at a time on floured board. Make a rectangle that is 18 X 21 inches in size. Take 1/2 cup soft butter and spread over surface. (I didn't say this was healthy!) In bowl, mix 2 cups brown sugar and 4 teaspoons cinnamon. Sprinkle half of mixture over the top. Roll up the short side very tightly (this way you'll get bigger rolls with LOTS of swirly-ness on the inside). With knife put a notch every 1 1/2 inches. Cut with a serrated knife. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet 1 inch apart (12 on a sheet). Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Cover rolls and let rise until double again (probably 20-30 minutes in the oven).

Bake at 350 degrees for about 13-15 minutes. Remove before they start to turn golden (don’t overbake). Frost warm rolls with the following cream cheese frosting. Makes about 28 very large rolls.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

8 ounces cream cheese

½ cup butter, softened to room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups confectioner’s sugar

3 tablespoons milk

Combine butter and cream cheese and mix well. Add vanilla and sugar and mix again. Then add milk for desired consistency.

Spiced Apple Cake Doughnuts

These yummy treats have become a fall tradition of ours! Serve warm with spiced cider! (We actually only use our fryer once a year just for these...)

1/4 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

5 cups all-purpose flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground mace

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 cup grated peeled apples

Oil for deep-fat frying

Browned Butter Frosting:

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

3 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1- 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar

Colored sprinkles (optional)

In large mixing bowl, cream shortening and sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and mace; add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk. Fold in apples. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

On lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/2 in. thickness. Cut with floured 2-1/2 in. doughnut cutter. In an electric skillet or deep-fat fryer, heat oil to 375 °. Fry doughnuts, a few at a time, unti golden brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels.

In small saucepan, bring brown sugar and butter to a boil. Cook and stir for 1 minute or until slightly thickened. Pour into a small mixing bowl; let stand for 10 minutes. Add cream; beat until smooth. Gradually add confectioners' sugar, 1/4 cup at a time beating well after each addition until frosting achieves desired consistency. Frost doughnuts; top with sprinkles.

Yield: 22 doughnuts