Cinnamonkeys

We call these Cinnamonkeys, but I've also seen them called cinnamon pull apart muffins.
(Personally I like cinnamonkeys better. ;o)

Original Recipe can be found here

 Preheat ove to 350 F

Servings - 12 cinnamonkeys.  If you are like me, this means 6 servings. ;o)

Bread Dough - 2 lb
I think if you buy bread dough in the store 1 can = 1lb. Usually for this I just toss the ingredients into the bread maker and let the machine run for an hour before using the dough. I have tried this with refined flour and whole grain spelt flour and both are amazing. The spelt is nice and light, so I think I will go back to that since it is healthier.  B loves it either way too, and he didn't grow up on whole grains.

~1/2 stick of butter
~2/3 cups honey
2tsp cinnamon

These quantities are subjective, tweak them around to find your optimum sweetness/cinnamon level. This mixture should leave a little left over in the pan to drizzle over the top if you like. Be warned however, it will make them a little more messy. :o)

Instructions:
Melt butter in pan, add honey and cinnamon.  - You want the honey to get warm enough to brush onto the dough easily. I recommend keeping the pan on a warm burner so the honey doesn't start to thicken again. 

Meanwhile, roll out the dough (I don't roll it all out at once) to ~1/4" thick, or less (it really depends on how thick you like them.  Thicker segments = less cinnamonkeys, but are still delish!).  Next cut the dough in to ~2 - 2.5" "squares." - I'm not precise here, this is just an approximation

Place 8 dough squares on a plate or cutting board and brush them liberally with the honey/butter/cinnamon mixture.  Stack them on top of each other and then place them sideways in a muffin tin.

Repeat until you fill the tins/run out of dough.

Bake @ 350 F for 10-12 min.

Pull apart and Enjoy!

Pe(c)an Tarts

(one of these days I'll start actually taking my own pictures)

Preheat oven to 350

Crust:
1 8oz package of cream cheese (softened)
2 cubes of butter (softened)
2 cups flour
* We use white flour.  Also, this time I forgot to double the butter and so essentially, we only had 1 cube per batch and its good that way too (if you want to cut back on fat)

Filling:
1 cup honey 
2 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups chopped pecans

Mix Crust (you may want to chill crust dough for a little while to make it easier to work with)
Roll crust into balls and place in mini cupcake pans sprayed with non-stick spray. Push dough around to make a tiny pie crust

Mix filling and put about one teaspoon of filling in each mini crust. 

Bake at 350 for 20-25 min
Makes 2.5 to 3 dozen

We always seem to have more filling than we do crust.  So, you could either make the crusts thinner, OR use the extra filling and some crust to make larger tarts in big muffin tins (just remember they will have to cook a bit longer.

* The name is a joke.  Every year we have a hard time finding the recipe because Celeste spelled it Pean instead of Pecan.  

Mini Key Lime Cupcakes

I am totally just copy pasting this from another blog of mine. I am going to bake these for a "Cupcake War" bake off and decided to re post the recipe on here.
Technically this recipe is courtesy of Emily, as she is the one who gave it to me.

 

 The original Betty Crocker recipe can be found here

Prep Time: 40 min

Total Time: 1 hour 50 min

Makes: 48 cupcakes

Topping

1            box (4-serving size) vanilla instant pudding and pie filling mix

1 1/2            cups whipping cream

1/4            cup Key lime or regular lime juice

4            drops green food color

1 1/2            cups powdered sugar – I didn’t add the sugar here since I enjoy a little bit of tartness

Cupcakes

48            regular-size paper baking cups

1            box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® yellow cake mix

            Water, vegetable oil and eggs called for on cake mix box

Frosting

1            container Betty Crocker® Whipped fluffy white frosting

1            tablespoon Key lime or regular lime juice – I just buy the stuff in the lime shaped container, I also add a little more lime juice than this calls for, but you don’t add too much, or else the topping will be too runny… (that could have been why mine were a little too runny) but I REALLY like lime. :o)

1/2            teaspoon grated Key lime or regular lime peel

                       

                                   

           

1.  In large bowl, beat pudding mix and whipping cream with wire whisk 2 minutes. Let stand 3 minutes. Beat in 1/4 cup Key lime juice and the food color; stir in powdered sugar until smooth. Cover and refrigerate.

2.  Heat oven to 375°F (350°F for dark or nonstick pans). Place paper baking cup in each of 24 regular-size muffin cups. Make cake batter as directed on box. Spoon about 1 rounded tablespoonful batter (don’t use any more than a TBS the cupcakes are better when they are thin) into each muffin cup, using about half of the batter. (Muffin cups will be about 1/3 full.) Refrigerate remaining batter. Bake 12 to 16 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from pan to cooling rack. Repeat with remaining baking cups and batter. Cool cupcakes completely, about 15 minutes.

3.  Remove paper baking cups from cupcakes. Swirl about 2 teaspoons topping on top of each cupcake.

4.  Stir frosting in container 20 times. Gently stir in 1 tablespoon Key lime juice and the lime peel. Spoon frosting into 1-quart resealable food-storage plastic bag. Cut 1/2-inch opening from bottom corner of bag. Squeeze 1 rounded teaspoonful frosting from bag onto topping. Garnish with fresh lime wedge, if desired. Store in refrigerator.

High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Divide batter in half. Distribute 1/2 batter evenly among 24 muffin cups. Refrigerate remaining batter, and repeat process.

Now, enjoy your yummy deliciousness!!! :o)

** Update **
In case anyone was wondering.... I won the cupcake bake off with these ;o) 

Fantastic Whole Wheat Carrot Cake

Ingredients

2 cups white whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

3/4 cup oil

3/4 cup honey

4 eggs

2 cups grated carrots

1 cup unsweetened crushed canned pineapple, drained

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

1 Combine dry ingredients.

2 Add oil, honey, and eggs; mix well.

3 Stir in remaining 3 ingredients.

4 Bake for 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees.

Simple Nectarine Pie

Okay so this is great because you don't have to peel or boil or anything. The nectarine peels just go soft when you bake it. So quick and so yummy. I adapted it from this recipe at food.com.

food.com

Ingredients:
pastry for a double-crust 9-inch pie
5 cups nectarines, sliced
1 cup sugar (I've done it with honey and I would recommend a bit more than 1/2 cup)
1/3-1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons sugar (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Wash, and slice nectarines. Mix together all ingredients. Put it in the pie crust. Sprinkle top with 2 tablespoons of sugar (optional). Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through the slits in the crust.

Note: you may want to cover the edges with foil to prevent burning.