Nutella + Cinnamon = Nutellamon Rolls

I know, I know, I've been a terrible blogger the last couple months and I apologize. For my loyal readers who still check in every once in a while, I thank you. You would think since I moved into an apartment for the summer and actually had my own kitchen, that would mean I would be coming up with many more recipes, but unfortunately all it means is that I now have a kitchen in which I have to cook dinner every single night AND clean up after myself, which means I can't pull the "I cook, you clean," rule on my boyfriend as often, nor can I always come up with incredible mind boggling recipes for every meal that this blog holds to such high standards. Only the best for you, my beloved foodies. 
 
So in the spirit of incredible food and tasty recipes, I bestow upon you my latest find: Nutella Cinnamon Rolls
I made these tasty treats on a bit of a last minute run when for Fourth of July one of my friends and a possible Cupcake Chronicles food addict asked me to please bring something to his BBQ if it wasn't too last minute. Seeing as my cooking is apparently in such high demand (haha) I decided to indulge. And so I came across this recipe and thought it would be a great finish. 
But be warned, there is a lot of waiting involved, between making the dough and baking, etc.
 
The original recipe called for a sugar glaze to go over the rolls, but I raised the stakes a bit and spread Nutella on it. ;)


Nutella Cinnamon Rolls
Makes three 8" pans
  
2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/4 active dry yeast
5 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick butter
1/2 cup Nutella
Cinnamon


In a large pot, whisk milk, oil and sugar. And I mean whisk. I didn't do it at first and the milk and oil just wouldn't blend no matter how much I stirred. Turn off heat and cool for 45 minutes (I told you there would be waiting). Once the pot is lukewarm, whisk in the yeast and let dissolve, then slowly stir in the flour in parts, this makes it easier to make the dough, at one point i just stopped stirring and used my hands to mix in the four, but if you have a Cuisinart mixing apparatus, by all means use it. Finally cover and let dough rise for at least an hour (I left mine over night).
 
Once your dough has risen, add the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Place on a  floured surface and use a rolling pin to flatten the dough out into something of a rectangle. Next, cut the butter into chunks and add to a bowl with the Nutella. Place in the microwave until the butter is almost all melted. Stir the mixture until you have a smooth, tasty, Nutella concotion, then spread evenly onto dough. It'll look like you have a lot on, but my recommendation, is to add a little extra. Once mine was baked I felt like it wasn't Nutella-y enough for me, so indulge. Finally, sprinkle some cinnamon on top. 

Now for the hard part. Roll the dough over, a lot of the sauce will ooze out, and there may be holes in the dough, but just try to pick up the dough and make sure it rolls, not just crinkles together, my first batch did this and it was still good but kind of awkward to unroll when I ate it. I like to peel off the layers of my cinnamon rolls. Pinch together the ends and voila!

Spray the round cake pans, and cut rolls about an inch thick then place in pans. Now let the rolls raise again for about 20-30 minutes, then preheat oven to 375 and bake for 15-18 minutes.
Spread some extra Nutella on warm rolls and ENJOY!

The Chronicles of Cupcakes: Chapter I

For those of you who are bewildered over why this food blog is named the "Cupcake Chronicles" but does not feature cupcakes, I KNOW. 
Yes, I am well aware of the lack of adorable cupcakes on my blog. 
Yes, it has been weighing on my conscious for a long time. 
Yes, I feel badly about leading you on to promises of magnificent tasting cupcakes.
And yes, this ends here and now. See, the thing is, as you may be well aware (or not) I am a struggling college student. As are most of my guinea pigs (I mean friends) who eat my food. So when you have a kitchen supplied by college students, the immediate purchases for said college kitchen are not going to be the ever so helpful cupcake pan, which is pretty essential in Cupcake Land. 
Which is why, my faithful foodies, I haven't been able to make the aforementioned cupcakes. Until now. 

One day, while walking through the store, I was relaying my cupcake troubles to my number one fan, mon chérie, when he heroically stepped in and bought a pan. 

So, without further ado, the first in a long series of cupcakes: The Nutella Cupcake. (duh, what else did you think I was gona make?)

Nutella Swirl Cupcakes

(from Feisty Cook)

Ingredients:

10 tbsp butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cups sifted all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup Nutella

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and line cupcake pan with paper cupcake liners. Cream butter and sugar together until light and creamy. Add eggs and mix thoroughly.Add vanilla, flour, baking powder and salt. Mix until slightly lumpy.Spoon mixture into cups until about 3/4 full.Place a dollop of Nutella onto each cupcake, then use a skewer stick to swirl Nutella into the batter. (I found it helpful to try folding the batter over the Nutella to really mix it up). Bake cupcakes for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown on top. 

Superbowl Series: Part II

The Superbowl is over and done with and I'm pooped. But of course I have food to show for it. So here is part 2 of the Superbowl series with "Bacon Wrapped Potato Bites."  These melt-in-your-mouth bites of tasty goodness are easy to make and were pretty much inhaled the first 5 minutes I set them out yesterday. They were decidedly an instant party hit and I couldn't make them fast enough. I'm certainly glad my helpful kitchen aid (Thanks Gunnar!) convinced me to triple my recipe. Last night I also made my new classic "Nutella Puffs" but I won't post the recipe again. 
The general commentary on the Bacon bites was that it was like mashed potato heaven in your mouth and I have to say I agree. The spicy sour cream sauce that goes with this recipe was fairly simple and really brought it together but I altered it a bit to give it some more punch. What can I say? I'm Mexican, one measly teaspoon of hot sauce in my sour cream just doesn't quite do it for me.
Anyway, while Fergie's rendition of Sweet Child of Mine put a bit of a damper on my evening, I have to say the continuous compliments on my cooking more than made up for it. 
More to come!

Bacon-Wrapped Potato Bites with Spicy Sour Cream Dipping Sauce
makes about three dozen bites

1 pound small or medium red potatoes
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped, fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
freshly ground pepper
12 ounces-to-1 pound thick-cut bacon
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
1 tablespoon hot sauce
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Wash and dry the potatoes. Chop them into 1-inch pieces, keeping the chunks roughly the same size or good bite sizes. Put the potatoes in a medium pot, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil. Season the water with salt. Once the water begins to boil, cook the potatoes for about 3 to 4 minutes, until you can stick a fork into them without too much resistance. You want the potatoes to be almost, but not fully, cooked through (so they won't fall apart during the next steps).

Drain the potatoes and put them in a large bowl. Add the rosemary, olive oil, salt, and a few grinds of pepper, and toss until the potatoes are evenly coated.

Cut the strips of bacon in half (with a short, vertical slice. I had long pieces of bacon so I cut it in thirds). Wrap each piece of potato in a half-strip of bacon, securing it with a toothpick. Put the potatoes on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil.

Cook the potatoes for 15 minutes, then flip each piece. Cook for another 10 to 15 minutes, until the bacon is cooked through and crisp. (I had trouble getting my bacon to cook through so I kept it in the oven for about 5-10 minutes intervals until the bacon was well done)

Spicy Sour Cream:

Mix the sour cream and hot sauce in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Pile the potato bites on a plate and serve with the dip.

P.S. Did anyone try out the Buffalo Chicken Bites yesterday??? Let me know how they turned out!

Nutellaholics Unite!

Seeing as Nutella is one of the greatest inventions ever made and should really just be it's own food group, I have decided to pay tribute to the great sandwich spread/my equivalent to peanut butter. Here we have the heavenly, the gooey, the flaky clouds of Nutella Marshmallow Pillows. Truly a stroke of genius and I must give credit to the Picky Palate blog. Much more to come from that site, I can tell you that much. 
These pockets of gold are incredibly simple to make and really only require 3 ingredients. If you don't think this looks like the greatest invention ever, you're on the wrong food blog. 
Here's my take on the pillow pockets, I altered the original recipe slightly to make many more pockets and much more party friendly. I guess I was feeling generous enough to share tonight. Not quite sure what I was thinking...

Nutella-Mallow Pastry Pockets- Makes 18 pockets

1 package puff pastry, 2 pastry sheets thawed

1 jar Nutella spread

1 bag mini marshmallows

Egg white wash: 1 egg white whisked with 1 Tablespoon water (I forgot to put this on the first batch, and it made no real difference on the second batch, so this is optional)

Powdered sugar, cocoa powder, cinnamon for dusting (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  

   2. Cut each square of pastry into 9 equal size pieces.  

3. Spread some Nutella onto the center of each pastry leaving a border around edges.  

  4. Top each with about 5-6 mini marshmallows and fold over to form a little triangle.  

         5. Crimp edges firmly with a fork.  

         6. Brush with egg white wash. (optional)

         7. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until pastry just turns golden.  

         8. Remove and let cool for 5 minutes, sprinkle with powdered sugar/cocoa/cinnamon

         9. EAT IT AND WEEP.