Y’all- who loves a caramelized, crispy potato? (Fervent hand raise!) Delectable, super crispy vegan smashed sweet potatoes are headed your way! These are PERFECT for your vegan, Paleo or plant-based holiday table!! They take like 30 minutes to bake and they are worth every single second. Check out the full YouTube video below:
This recipe is so simple and anyone will consider you the MVP guest at their Thanksgiving table with these bad boys! Happy Thanksgiving my peeps!
You guys! How are you this week? In particular- how is your energy?
To be honest- since the beginning of the year, mine has been lagging. For those of you who follow the blog, you know how much I LOVE to encourage people. In fact- it’s why I started this blog, to share the love and passion I have for food. And really that love is a love for people, to make them happy and excited about life through the things THEY can make.
But to be real, I haven’t been able to do much of that this year. I felt like my impact was getting buried in the day-to-day tasks of running a food styling/photography/recipe development business. So, my friend Sarah Deshaw and I started talking- why were we both feeling drained? Like we were out of sync, a bit burnt out and distracted? Why did I feel like I wasn’t making the financial and spiritual impact that I wanted to create?
And then, a light bulb moment. If we were feeling this way, surely other people were too. I mean, how many of us have gotten to the end of the week (or weeks, or months) and wondered what we actually accomplished? I mean, crossing of to-do lists are great, but did those things make us feel like we were coming alive? Is our life now better than it was a month ago?
We decided to do something about it, and have now spent months developing a course called The Resilient Entrepreneur. This course has been life-changing for me as a businessperson. It has become Sarah and I’s way to help us all to THRIVE despite what our businesses look like today- to actually love our lives as entrepreneurs again, to make impact on the things that matter to us, to feel better than we ever have.
Over the course of the next few weeks I’ll be sharing more details, but for now, I’d LOVE to for you to check out an Instagram Live teaching Sarah and I did last night on the Top 4 Energy Drains for Entreprenuers and How to Solve Them. This teaching is ahhhmazing, and hints and some of the content our course will center around. You can find it HERE on her story, and also download NOTES from the teaching HERE . AND because you made it all the way to the end of this post- a link to our EARLY BIRD sign up rate for the course, $35. I promise it will be worth every single penny (and I know how precious your pennies are, because mine are too!)
Alright my loves- enjoy this fantastic content, and I pray that this weekend, you get to REST. That you take a full 24 hours to simply enjoy your life and do NO work. Because you are fabulous and I want to see you succeed for the long haul.
I ADORE grocery stores, especially stores that have lots of options for those of us who are on specific eating plans. Whether you can’t have gluten, or cow’s milk dairy, or meat- I GET IT, and for a girl from Alabama, Colorado blew my mind for all of the fabulous offerings for alternative eating!
On today’s video I highlight some of the most awesome stores, products and creative food to grace my path while I was in Fort Collins food- styling for a breakfast chain. From Wild and Free kombucha, to vegan butter and the best vegan chocolate chip cookie I’ve ever had, some of these products may even be found near you!
***And just to be clear, NOT EVERYTHING on this list fits paleo, gluten-free and vegan eating, so just check the labels to make sure it works for you!
In case they aren’t at your local grocery store, here is a list of all of the stores/purveyors I mentioned!
Photo from CoYo’s site. I am obsessed with this beautiful styling!!
***Not everything on this list meets all the criteria of vegan, Paleo, and gluten-free, so make sure and check the labels to see if it will work for you!
This spicy-sweet, Chile-infused Korean nectar of the gods is sooo ahhmazingly delicious (especially when purchased from your local international foods store). In fact, Jake and I have a Korean market down the street from where we live who makes DIVINE kimchi.
Everyone who reads this blog also knows about my deep love and affection for sweet potatoes. Giiirrrlll can I throw down on some sweet potatoes! In fact, when I was a kid I actually turned orange from eating so many sweet potatoes (just call my mom, Nurse Julie, she can tell you alll about it:)
And of course, as a somewhat obsessed food philanthropist, I want all of y’all to enjoy sweet potatoes and kimchi as much as me. So, here we have our spicy sweet potato kimchi stew. Honestly, it’s delicious hot and cold (perfect for this crazy Nashville weather we are having) and 100% amazing on all fronts.
So hang at your house in your PJS and make some soup people! Love y’all!
Spicy Sweet Potato and Cabbage Stew (you can also see the full recipe on Bham mag’s site!) This veggie-centric stew is perfect for cool April nights, and warm April days. The softened sweet potato adds texture to the rich base of sauteed bell pepper, carrot, onion, and garlic. A bit of kimchi cooked through the stew gives a hit of spice; serve with more alongside for a spicier red chili flavor.
Yield: 8 servings
What You Will Need:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups diced sweet onion
1 1/3 cups diced red bell pepper
2 cups chopped carrot
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons paprika
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
6 cups diced sweet potato
7 cups sliced green cabbage
1/2 cup spicy kimchi (or mild, if you like less heat)
6 cups chicken stock (or veggie stock if you are vegan or vegetarian)
1 (14.5-ounce) can fire roasted tomatoes
3 ounces tomato sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon salt
Green onions, sliced, for topping
Crushed red pepper, for topping
What You Will Do:
Heat olive oil over medium heat in large Dutch oven.
Once hot, add onion, bell pepper, and carrot. Saute until softened, about 5 minutes.
Add garlic; stir frequently for 1 minute.
Add next five ingredients; saute 30 seconds, or until fragrant.
Add sweet potato, cabbage, kimchi, chicken stock, tomatoes, and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil.
Once boiling, reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 20 minutes, or until potatoes are softened.
Add Worcestershire sauce and salt. Stir until combined.
Serve warm, topped with sliced green onions and red pepper, if desired. Try adding additional kimchi to each bowl for a spicy kick!
I hope you you are enjoying such a restful and peace-filled start to your Easter weekend (and that you have already eaten a few chocolate-malt Easter eggs):)
When I think long weekend, my mind automatically goes to breakfast. Yes, I know you are more than likely planning to attend a fabulous Easter dinner, but really, what’s better than sleeping in, drinking coffee and making homemade waffles?
Yep, not much, so this week I wanted to share with you these delicious sweet potato waffles I developed for Birmingham magazine. My goal with this recipe was to make them super easy, healthy, and satisfying for everyone in your “love-your-peeps” circle! In fact, you don’t even have to cook the sweet potatoes on the stove top- we microwave them instead. *You know I love you when I suggest a microwave!*
So, my fantastic Easter bunnies, without further ado, sweet potato waffles with cinnamon whipped cream. Top with maple syrup at your leisure
Sweet Potato Waffles with Cinnamon Whipped Cream
Sweet potato puree adds moisture and sweetness to these hearty, satisfying waffles. A perfect homemade breakfast for the ones you love to cook for on Easter weekend, top them with fresh cinnamon whipped cream and maple syrup for a springtime treat.
Yield: 7 waffles
What You Will Need:
1 cup peeled, diced sweet potato
3 cups water
2 egg whites
2 egg yolks
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Cooking spray, for waffle iron
Cinnamon Whipped Cream (recipe follows)
Maple syrup (for drizzling)
What You Will Do:
Put diced sweet potato in a large microwave-safe bowl. Pour water over. Cover; microwave for 10 minutes.
While potato is cooking, preheat waffle iron to medium-high heat.
Let bowl with sweet potato in it cool for a few minutes; carefully remove from microwave with oven mitts.
Uncover and drain sweet potatoes. Mash with a fork in a large bowl until smooth.
Beat egg whites in separate, medium bowl with a whisk until fluffy, white, and forming soft peaks, about 3-4 minutes.
Add egg yolks, almond milk, melted coconut oil, and vanilla extract to sweet potatoes. Stir with a fork until smooth and combined.
In another large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices.
Pour sweet potato mixture into dry ingredients and stir until just combined and flour disappears (don’t over stir). Fold in egg whites until combined and evenly moistened.
Pour batter by cups into preheated waffle iron sprayed with cooking spray. Smooth evenly in iron. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until darkened and crispy.
Serve immediately with cinnamon whipped cream and maple syrup, if desired.
Cinnamon Whipped Cream
*YUMMY!
What You Will Need:
1 cup cold heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
What You Will Do:
Whip all ingredients on low in a cold mixing bowl.
Once ingredients are combined, switch to high and beat until stiff peaks form.
One of my favorite things about food, honestly, is the way it makes us feel. Food is so healing, so special, such a gift- that it has the ability to literally make us feel better, and more in tune to, the world around us.
That’s why this week’s recipe is so tied into Kristen’s final two points about food. That, like we have talked about food is medicine, and art. But it’s also fuel and connection.
Hummus has become, in our household, a comfort food. Scooped up with a pita chip, or carrot, or even stray chunk of chicken, it adds a protein-packed, and rich, flavor to most anything it’s dunked in. I’m constantly adding it as a side item to weeknight dinner, or most recently, the beef soup I had to stretch to feed Jake and I for about 8 meals. It’s filling, its delicious, and now we both know that when I bust out the hummus, it’s officially time to chow down.
But the problem with a lot of store-bought hummus is that it has a tinge of the vinegary (instead of the creamy) to it. Some I’ve tried are chocked full of all kinds of chemicals that there is no way my great-grandmother would have ever known about. Or, they have an odd texture akin to that of a cotton ball blended with lemon in a Vitamix.
So, I’ve started making my own. Confession- there is one brand at Costco I love and buy on the regular. But if I’m in the mood for the good stuff- the type of stuff you only make for the people you realllyyy want to love on- then I make this recipe. I take the time to buy the beans, and roast the garlic, and use an actual food processor. I promise y’all it’s worth the effort.
And without further ado, Kristen Shoates ladies and gentlemen!!
“Food as fuel. Most of us, especially women, have an unhealthy belief that low calorie automatically means good and high calorie automatically means bad. But calories are not the enemy – in fact, they’re your friend. They’re the very reason we eat, the fuel that allows us to think, move, work and do the things we love. Yes, we live in a society where the amount of calories in our food is often off-balance, and it takes some work to make sure we’re consuming them wisely, but we have to stop fearing the calorie and instead love our food for the way it fills us with energy and life.
Food as connection. Throughout history, eating has been as much a social activity as a necessity. Though the reasons why are still mysterious, humans have always connected around food, from ancient rituals to celebratory feasts to the modern dinner date. Sometimes, it’s less about what we’re eating and instead how we eat and who we’re eating with. Enjoying a decadent meal and the company of those you love fills your heart as well as your stomach, and sometimes just being in the moment is far more important than what is on your plate.
While I am a huge advocate for being conscious of what we put in our bodies, I think we need a broader definition of health – one that is rooted in love instead of fear of our food. What if we treated food as an adventure, exploring the different flavors available to us in nature? What if we defined nourishment as the things that build up both our bodies and souls? What if we actually connected with our food, asking where it comes from and how it’s made – or actually making it ourselves? And what if we connected with each other, seeing eating not just as utilitarian, but a chance to share a moment – or even love?
For me, falling in love with my food has made everything else fall into place. I am motivated eat foods that heal instead hurt, to listen to my body and give it what it needs and to know when to treat myself without guilt. This New Year, as you make resolutions, I encourage you to focus less on a number on the scale or what food group you’ll restrict and instead resolve to eat real, whole, nourishing foods – and enjoy eating them. Not only will this help you achieve your health goals, but it could also be the start of a fun, artistic, spiritual, love-filled affair.
And as my Italian family would say, “that’s amore”.
Isn’t Kristen ahhhmazing?!! Preach, sister!
And here is a bit more of my take on what Kristen is saying:
In summary, my amazing readers, food is fuel, it is connection, it is love. Not only does it connect us to ourselves, and taking care of the bodies we have been given, but it also connects us to the world around us and to the Creator of all things good and wonderful and food-related.
As we round out the month of January, be encouraged. Be inspired. Go get in the kitchen and make some hummus if that makes you feel good! I love you dearly and believe that the best, in food and life, is yet to come in 2018.
Roasted Garlic Lemon Hummus with Golden Pita Chips
Roasted garlic gives a slight sweetness to a rich hummus brightened by fresh lemon juice and smoked paprika. Perfect for a party or holiday football game, this hummus is tastier than the store bought version, and can be adjusted in a myriad of ways to taste. Try adding chopped jalepenos or pimento for even more kick! You can also find this recipe in the January issue of Birmingham magazine.
Yield : 4-6 servings
What You Will Need:
6 cloves garlic, roasted
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed, bean liquid reserved
1 tablespoon tahini
2 tablespoons chickpea liquid
1 tablespoon filtered water
3 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika , plus additional for topping
1 tablespoon olive oil
What You Will Do:
Blend all ingredients except oil in the bowl of a food processor until a thick paste forms, scraping down sides of bowl as needed, about three minutes.
Drizzle in one tablespoon olive oil and blend until smooth.
Enjoy topped with paprika!
*To roast garlic: Preheat oven to 400. Peel most of the skin off of the garlic. Cut top 1/4 off of garlic head; drizzle with 1 teaspoon olive oil. Wrap in aluminum foil, roast at 400 degrees for 40 minutes.Remove from oven to cool.
Golden Pita Chips
Yield: 40 chips
What You Will Need:
5 soft multigrain or white pitas, cut into wedges
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
What You Will Do:
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Toss cut pita in large bowl with spices and olive oil.
3. Place pita chips on aluminum foil-lined baking sheet.
4. Roast for 10 minutes; flip over, then roast 10 more minutes.
As snow falls softly outside my window, I’m reminded of one of my favorite things about January. The fresh white powder is a clean slate. It’s reflecting in nature the simple principle that life can start fresh at any moment, that each day is a new beginning.
The whiteness also reminds me of what a stark contrast the colors of my breakfast plate are to the world around me. Deep, orangey yellow eggs, amber bacon, lightly golden toast with deep purple jam. Black coffee with a creamy coffee bomb.
The snow continues to swirl, the wind leading it up and away, or cascading down, perching softly on the worn wooden rails of our porch.
These patterns, these colors, these textures- it’s bliss. For those of you who read this blog, you are no stranger to the fact that I LOVE beauty. I even tried my hand at a few posts about the things that were inspiring to me visually, at that moment. For my heart, the visual world is just as real and riveting as any adventure I’ve had. It’s key to my peace of mind, my happiness, my creative expression, to be deeply aware of this reality.
Which brings us to the love I have for the beauty of food. The depth and layer of color to a strawberry; the way rainbow chard blooms from green into orange into purple-red; the gleam on a rinsed, ripe blueberry.
There is an exquisiteness to this world- this visual world of food- that is inspiring, challenging- and I think can even lead us to new flavor combinations and levels of creativity in our own cooking.
And this is the reason number two why I want you to fall in love with food in January. If you missed last week’s post, the amazing Kristen Shoates joined us to introduce herself, and her own story with falling for food. She’s leading the charge this month as we discuss four reasons (and there are SO many!) to fall for food. Here is Kristen’s reason number two to expound so beautifully on the topic:
Food as art.Have you ever walked through the produce section of the grocery store and really paid attention to the creativity of food? The richness of color, the variety of texture and the diversity of flavors are all part of nature and ready for us to explore. When we constantly eat the same thing or eat food that only comes out of a box, we lose the artistic nature of eating and cooking. For me, eating has become an almost spiritual experience, one that makes me feel connected to my Creator, the way my body was designed to work and the creativity displayed throughout nature.
YES!! And here is this week’s video about that exact fact- along with a challenge to you guys this week to engage that cooking creativity!
And to me, this weeks’ recipe could not be more fitting to the topic of beauty and food. There is nothing like a smoothie bowl to stir the senses and ignite creativity, solely based on the visual of the thing you are creating.
So this weekend, let’s celebrate the beatify, the mystery, the abundant color of food. And enjoy every spoonful.
Lemon Blueberry Chia Smoothie Bowl with Fresh Mint and Chocolate
Lemon juice amplifies and balances the sweetness of blueberries and banana in this smoothie bowl. Don’t worry if your mixture is super thick in the blender; that means you are doing it right! Top with mint-flavored dark chocolate for an even sweeter, minty flavor. You can also find this recipe in the January issue of Birmingham magazine.
Yield: 1 smoothie bowl
What You Will Need:
● 1/2 cup unsweetened nut milk plus 1 tablespoon filtered water
● 1 scoop plant-based protein powder (23 grams), chocolate or vanilla flavor
● 1 cup frozen blueberries
● 1 tablespoon cold chia seeds, plus more for topping
● 1/2 frozen banana, broken into two pieces
● 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
● 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
● 1/4 of an avocado
● 5 fresh mint leaves, plus more for topping
● 80% cacao dark chocolate, shaved (or mint dark chocolate)
What You Will Do:
Blend all ingredients (except for additional mint for topping and dark chocolate) on low speed in a blender for about a minute. Move to medium speed for about one minute more.
Stop blending and remove top from blender. Use a large spoon (or tamper) to push any remaining unblended ingredients towards bottom of mixture.
Continue to blend; if blender gets stuck, simply stop blending, push ingredients down into blender, and blend again until smooth and creamy.
Pour into a bowl, top with chocolate and mint, and enjoy!
*If using unsweetened protein powder, add 1-2 teaspoons of maple syrup or honey to taste.
I hope you are having the sweetest start to your year!
To start this January off in the most loving of ways, I am HONORED to partner with Kristen Shoates, one of the most talented freelance Nashville writers I know, to talk about my absolute favorite topic in the world, HOW TO FALL IN LOVE WITH FOOD.
Kristen has had an incredible journey with food- and without giving too many details away, let me just say she went from Lean Cuisines to now functioning as a total, holistic girl boss in the kitchen.
You can find Kristen at www.kristenshoates.com!
I also know that January is the month of resolutions. And whatever decisions you have made on ways to better your life- I honor that! But I’m also wondering what would happen if we all decided to, instead of seeing food as bad or dirty or evil- to flip the light switch on and see it as GOOD, HEALING and NOURISHING. To focus first on the way we THINK about food, which will then affect our motivation to cook- and creativity in the kitchen!
Vegan snickerdoodles before the oven…
Also, in partnership with Kristen’s amazing writing, I’ll be posting a YouTube video over on the Luv Cooks channel about each reason she gives. I can’t wait to share this content with you!
So without further ado, here’s Kristen:
I remember the first time I went to the grocery store in college, with my first apartment to stock and the purchasing power of my first debit card in my hands. It felt exhilarating to walk through those automatic glass doors into a store filled with thousands of options and get to buy whatever I, the new boss of my refrigerator, wanted.
But as I aimlessly wandered the aisles, I quickly realized I had absolutely NO idea what to buy. Going from my parent’s table to college dining halls, the question of what to eat had always been an abstract one – until at age 19, I found myself standing bewildered beneath the fluorescent lights of the Chapel Hill Food Lion, filling my cart with sugary yogurt and processed crackers and Lean Cuisine. After all, these were the foods the skinny girls ate on commercials, and as women, wasn’t our primary dietary objective to choose food that makes us skinny?
After school, my supposedly healthy diet of low-fat microwave dinners and prepackaged snacks took much of the joy out of food and cooking. Preparing a meal was a chore, eating it a necessity. Half of my meals were consumed in a car or at a desk, barely registering as a conscious act. When I started dating my now-husband, I very proactively warned him that I.did.not.cook. It wasn’t that I had never seen what it looked like to spread love through a meal – I was raised half Italian and half Southern Baptist after all – but my lifestyle and our food system had so greatly disconnected me from my food that I lost a sense of the purpose and power of it.
As simple as the question of “what do I eat for dinner?” might be, far too many of us don’t really know how to answer it. Our parents fed us, but often didn’t teach us why they fed us what they did, sending us out into a food jungle of additives and artificial flavors and abstract health claims, with little knowledge of how to truly fuel our bodies. As a result, many of us have a twisted relationship with our food. Perhaps you see it as the enemy, something to be feared and restricted in an attempt to fit into society’s beauty standard du jour. Maybe for you it’s all business, a transactional relationship focused on efficiency rather than substance. Maybe yours is volatile, or lifeless, or passionless.
But I want to propose a new kind of relationship with food. I want to propose that you fallin love with it.
My love affair with food began slowly, the kind of love that begins with a small spark and deepens over the years. Pre-packaged snacks were slowly replaced with fresh produce, to-go orders swapped for nights spent creating over a stove. As I filled my body with real, whole foods, I became healthier, more aware and more connected to everything around me. And as I discovered new flavors and varieties and foods I didn’t even know existed, I became enamored with the beauty and diversity of food available to us – and in turn, fell in love with eating and believe it or not, cooking (you’re welcome, hubs).
So as you and your food sit down for a much-needed DTR, here are four reasons to fall head-over-heels with your next meal:
Food as medicine. The greatest catalyst in changing my relationship with food was recognizing that what I ate actually had a real impact on how I felt, looked and lived. Though it wasn’t always an act of consciousness, eating was an act of consequence, and recognizing that my choices mattered turned eating well into a joy rather than a burden. Real, whole foods have the power to build up our bodies, enhance our beauty and even restore and reverse disease. Food truly is medicine, and eating something that you know is bringing wholeness to your body makes eating a richly positive experience rather than a fear-based one.
YES and AMEN!! Isn’t Kristen amazing?! And stay tuned! We have THREE more reasons to come in January!!
Snickerdoodles, featuring neat egg, after the bake!
Gluten Free Vegan Snickerdoodles
Y’all! This week I was honored to post these gluten free and vegan snickerdoodles on Neat Foods page! Their vegan egg replacement is my favorite EVER. Just click HERE to find out more info about neat egg!
What You Will Need:
8 oz.superfine almond flour
1/4 tsporganic cinnamon
1/2 tspbaking soda
1/2 tspcream of tartar
1/4 tspgray salt
5 dates, soaked in hot water for 10 minutes, drained and de-skinned
1/4 cuplight brown sugar
6 tbspextra virgin coconut oil, room temperature
1 neat egg, prepared according to package instructions
2 tspvanilla extract
1/4 cuptoasted sweetened coconut
FOR BROWN SUGAR TOPPING:
1/4 cuplight brown sugar
2 tspcinnamon
What You Will Do:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a small bowl, use a spoon to mash dates into a paste.
In a separate bowl, whisk together brown sugar topping.
In a medium bowl, whisk together almond flour, cinnamon, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat dates, brown sugar and coconut oil together on medium high for three minutes.
Add neat egg and vanilla extract and beat until combined.
Add almond flour mixture to the mixer slowly on low speed until incorporated. Beat on medium speed until a dough forms.
Stir in shredded coconut until combined and dough re-forms.
Roll 1 to 2 tablespoons dough into a small ball. Roll dough ball in brown sugar topping until covered.
Place dough balls evenly spaced on baking sheets, about 10-12 to a sheet. Use a fork to flatten each ball into a cookie shape.
Bake cookies one sheet at a time for 13 minutes. Remove from oven; rest for one minute on sheet then transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool. Enjoy!
Soo, things got a BIT crazy at the Luv Cooks studios the other day.
And by studios, I am referring to my once-clean kitchen that became covered in powdered sugar, blue sparkle icing, and the occasional mini chocolate chip.
Messy in the absolute BEST way.
My precious friend Ashley Reale of Share Love Everywhere has an incredible daughter, Lottie. And by incredible, I mean this chick is already starting her own business at the AGE OF SIX.
That’s right, she is six years old and selling artwork and rings and all of the amazing things she makes. In fact, I think she technically started her business this past Spring. So, she’s a total girl boss. And Lottie is also a HUGE fan of the color blue, waffles, and YouTube.
So of course we had to have her (and her brother Wyatt) on the Luv Cooks YouTube channel to make their version of the ultimate Christmas waffle. This video is nothing short of brilliant and will make your HOLIDAY DAY I promise!!
Since Lottie is obviously a waffle topping connoisseur (and Wyatt’s enthusiasm for Star Wars and powdered sugar knows NO bounds) I had to throw in an awesome waffle recipe to this post. Also, in case you were wondering, our Christmas Minion Waffle included:
More gummy bears, chocolate chips, Minion marshmallows, rainbow sprinkles
Triple/double/quadruple layers of toppings
More chocolate, more rainbow and blue sprinkles, AND more toppings!
Some of the best pancakes I have ever had were from Aretha Frankenstein’s boxed mix. That is right, a BOXED mix. So I am assuming that this link to her waffle recipe via Canella Vita will be a number 1 hit with everyone you want to make a waffle for now or in the holiday future. And, of course, don’t forget the rainbow sprinkles.
Ok right, I know, who ever says “Ahh, fruitcake! That’s just what I am craving on a Tuesday, fruitcake.”
Ok, I have never actually said that, but you know what? I think the idea of fruitcake– a sweet loaf of cake stuffed with nuts, dried and/or candied fruits, baked with lots of butter and soaked in liquor (I think namely rum and/or brandy?) sounds pretty fantastic.
So in theory, this idea sounds tasty, right? I think so. And what BETTER a vehicle for the idea of rum-soaked, buttered, dried fruit-and-nut delicacy than a cinnamon roll? Exactly.
So today I am sharing with you recipe number EIGHT in our Twelve Recipes of Christmas- and another awesome one to share with those people who won’t get out of their Christmas onesies long enough to help you in the kitchen. (I hear onesies can be quite flammable near an open flame. ;))
Alright my loves! Let’s get to making those delicious holiday fruitcake rolls!
Mini Fruitcake Cinnamon Rolls with Orange Zest Cream Cheese Frosting
Here we update a wintertime staple! A classic cinnamon roll is filled with fruit and a bit of Tennessee honey whiskey to keep our version in line with the spirit-centric tradition of the original dessert. Serve it warm on a cold morning to rouse even the sleepiest of friends or family members. You can also find the recipe in the December issue of Birmingham magazine!
Yield: 16-20 mini rolls
For the rolls: What You Will Need
1 12.4 ounce package cinnamon roll dough (such as Pillsbury cinnamon roll Original)
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 tablespoon Tennessee honey whiskey
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup of mixed dried fruit (such as golden raisins, dried cherries, cranberries, and/or apricots) *
1/2 cup of mixed nuts (such as slivered almonds and/or finely chopped pistachios and pecans)
*You can also soak the dried fruit in hot apple cider for five minutes, then drain, for even more holiday flavor! You could also add some rum to that apple cider if your house guests are of the over-21 variety:)
What You Will Do:
Preheat oven to 350. Spray 9 inch metal pie pan with a generous amount of cooking spray, making sure to thoroughly coat the bottom and sides of the pan to prevent sticking.
Stir together melted butter, whiskey, spices and brown sugar.
Separate individual cinnamon rolls.
On a well-floured surface, press the seams of four rolls together. Use your hands to really get in there and warm up the dough so the main seam in the middle is pressed together, as are the sides- so you create a rounded, about 4 to 5 inch square of flat dough with no gaps between rolls. You can use a rolling pin to help flatten it too, but I like using my hands!
Spread 1/2 bourbon sugar mixture onto dough, spreading to almost the edges of the square.
Top with dried fruit and nuts, using about 1⁄4 total mixture. Don’t overload the rolls or you can’t roll them up, hah!
Roll into a log, using your fingers to continue to press the seams of the rolls together if needed. Then use a SHARP knife to cut it into 8-10 small rolls. A sharp knife makes slicing so much easier!
Repeat entire process with remaining 4 rolls.
Gently put mini rolls with edges touching in sprayed pie pan.
Bake for 20 minutes, or until tops are beginning to turn golden brown.
Once cooked through, top with cream cheese frosting and serve warm.
Orange Zest Cream Cheese Frosting
What You Will Need:
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 ounces heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp orange zest (about the zest of one medium orange) plus additional zest for sprinkling
What You Will Do:
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla extract on medium speed for one to two minutes, or until smooth and creamy.
2. Stir in orange zest. Spread with a butter knife or offset spatula on rolls while still warm. Enjoy!!
