Norwegian Cinnamon Rolls

For some reason, I only make these about once every two years or so, when I invite a few folks over for a brunch - usually folks with small children who don't get out that much. Remind me to make them more often! 

They look fabulous as part of a brunch buffet - take a look below! And they're easier to make than you'd think. They're also not quite as sweet and sticky as they look. Not to mean they're not good, no no, it's just that they can double as a breakfast roll any day, instead of being relegated to being "weekend only". Yay, right?

Nigella's Norwegian Cinnamon Rolls, from How to Be a Domestic Goddess

Dough:
600 g. flour
100. g. sugar (I use raw cane)
.5 tsp salt
45 g. yeast.
100 g. butter
4 dl. milk
2 eggs

Filling:
150 g. soft, butter (unsalted, if you have)
150 g. sugar
1.5 tsk cinnamon
1 egg for brushing
1 baking tin, 33 x 24 cm or thereabouts, lined with baking paper.

Pre-heat your oven to 230 Celsius.
Mix your flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in a large bowl. Melt the butter and whisk it with the milk and eggs, before adding to the dry ingredients.
Knead the dough until it's smooth and elastic (I had to add a lot of flour during this part). Form the dough to a big ball and let it raise in an oil coated bowl for about 25 minutes. Cover the bowl with cling film.
Take about one third of the raised dough, and roll it out to a rectangle the same size as the bottom of your pan. Now, take the remaining 2/3 of your dough and roll it out to a rectangle of roughly 50 x 25 cm. This is where you mix the filling ingredients well, and spread the mixture out evenly, covering the whole of the dough rectangle. Roll the dough to one long "snake", starting from the long side. Slice 20 pieces, about 2 cm each. Place them cut side up on top of the dough covered bottom of the tin - don't worry about appearances. Brush the beaten egg on top, and let these sit for about 15 minutes, to raise a bit more before baking.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, until they're all big and fluffy, and smooshed together, just like in the picture. They might be a bit brown on the top - no matter! Let them cook just a tad before serving. Keep away from 7 yr. old boys if you want more than 1 for yourself. I'm speaking from experience.

Gluten Free Bread - the best and easiest recipe yet!

My mom visits us twice a year or so, and for the past few years, she's been getting more and more gluten-intolerant. She used to eat clean at home and then splurge a little when she came here - she is a Dane by birth, and loves her some rugbrød, but as she quickly discovered, that sent her health for a whirl so...clean it is, home or not.

She usually schleps a small larder of gluten-free müsli, crackers, and whatnot, but when I tried this recipe myself at some friends', I knew that gluten-free baking was totally doable, so I get to add a little variety to my mom's fare when she's here - yay!

This recipe does require a few different ingredients, but when you have them in your pantry, they should last a few rounds. These rolls, I guess you could call them, are really delicious and filling, crispy on the outside, soft and slightly chewy on the inside. They are quite the health bomb (ok, there's a bit of oil here too, but no refined anything to make up for it!), and they really dress up a breakfast or lunch table. Just look at these beauts!

Gluten Free Bread Rolls

50 g fresh yeast
8 dl lukewarm water

1 tsp raw cane sugar
1 tsp salt

8 tsp psyllium husks

1 dl sunflower oil
2 dl sunflower seeds
2 dl flax seeds
2 dl sesame seeds
2 dl oatmeal or millet
circa 2 dl corn/buckwheat/millet flour (pick one, it doesn't have to be a mix)

circa 3 dl rice flour (I use fullgrain)

-Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water, and add the oil, sugar, and salt, as you stir.

-Add the other ingredients one by one, stirring all the while. It looks a lot like porridge. The psyllium husks do absorb a lot of the water, so only add enough of the rice flour to keep it porridgy, not too solid. 

-Let the mixture (calling it dough proper would be a bit much) raise for about 30 minutes, preferably in a warm spot.-"Spoon" the mixture onto a baking sheet, and bake for about 25 minutes at 200 Celsius. 

Enjoy warm, with buttah!

Notes: 

You can easily replace one of the seed types if you don't have any on hand - I used pumpkin seeds once, in lieu of the sesame, and I added chia seeds instead of flaxseed. This recipe is really versatile that way. I even used chickpea flour when I was a little low on corn flour - tasted just as great. An added bonus was using these rolls for some gluten-free French toast for my mom, so she didn't have to miss out. Just slice these up thinly, and dip in egg as per usual. Really good, and filling!

Fast and Easy Whole Grain scones

Sorry no picture, the omputer ate it!

These scones are a recipe that I've had lying around for ages, and never got around to baking. I used whole grain spelt flour, but I imagine regular spelt, or wheat flour will make them a bit moister. These were a bit dry and flaky, but nothing that can't be remedied by butter, jam and a mug of tea on the side. Delicious!

220 g. flour (again, I used whole grain spelt)
2 heaping tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla sugar
dash nutmeg
60 g. sugar (I use organic raw cane)
60 g. of soft butter (I used half butter, half canola)

Mix these in a bowl together. Then add:
1 egg, beaten. Now, put the egg in a measuring cup, and fill up with yogurt naturelle (or soy cream, like I did) until you hit the 1 dl mark. Set aside a few drops for later. Then add to the other ingredients.

Mix everything well, and then roll it out until it's roughly one inch thick. Using a cup about 3 inches in diameter, stamp out your scones. Anywhere between 8-12 scones is the goal, depending on the size of your cup.

Place them on a baking sheet, brush the tops with the remaider of the egg mixture, and bake at 200 degrees for about 12 minutes. If you're using convection oven, lower the temp a little!

Enjoy! This was a nice change from our usual Saturday pancakes ritual, faster too!

Mini German Pancakes

This is a re-post from my real bloggy blog, back in February 2008. It bears repeating!

Picture eaten by Blogger - sorry!

Out of the blue the other day, I suddenly remembered a recipe my mom used to make every so often on Sundays, after church. It was a big, fluffy, eggy pancake that got drowned in lemon juice with a sprinking of powdered sugar. As I've written before, I haven't missed all that much stuff from my years in the States. But lately more and more things keep popping up in mind, and then I can't let it go again until I get it out of my system.

So the other day, I called my mom for this recipe and I've already made it three times since! It's a German Pancake, and there are loads of recipes out there on the net for it. It's originally supposed to be just one big oven baked pancake, but I modified it so some brunch guests could have a couple of mini pancakes each, which was a hit.

This recipe is really easy. To use a poetic Danish term, it's like scratching your ...

Half a cup flour
Half a cup milk
2 eggs
pinch of salt
2 tbsp butter

Preheat your oven to 200 Celsius. Disperse the butter in the holes of a muffin tin, and preheat in oven until butter is melted. While that's happening, whisk the other ingredients together in a bowl until they are JUST incorporated. It's very important not to overwhisk the batter. Disperse on to the melted buttered muffin tin, and bake for roughly 10 minutes. My convection oven is extremely effective, so you may need more. Don't open the oven until it's done, or the pancakes will deflate before they're done.

Serve with lemon slices and powdered sugar, or whatever your heart desires.

Big-A** Fluffy Pancakes

Hardly a weekend goes by in this family without an appearance of these babies. The original recipe is Nigella. I have taken the most fattening element away (melted butter in the batter) and replaced the run of the mill flour with whole grain spelt flour (including the germ). They are still excellent. I dare say a cup of thawed frozen blueberries would be an excellent variation!

225 grams flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tsp sugar
pinch of salt
3 deciliters milk
2 eggs.

Mix the first four (dry) ingredients together in one bowl. Then thoroughly mix the egg and milk together before adding to the dry ingredients. I use a medium heat teflon frying pan for this, no oil or butter, just dry. Pour your batter into appropriated sized splotches and wait until they are bubbly to flip. They'll need a little less time on the other side. Enjoy however you like. My fav is with blueberry maple syrup (NOT Aunt Jemima) and fresh cut up fruit.