Month: March 2012

Cinnamon Swirl Pancakes

Reblogged from: recipegirl

Yield: Eight 4-inch pancakes

Prep Time: 25 min

Cook Time: 10 min

Ingredients:

CINNAMON FILLING:
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, just melted (not boiling)
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon

CREAM CHEESE GLAZE:
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
2-ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

PANCAKES:
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil

Directions:

Prepare the cinnamon filling: In a medium bowl, stir together the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Scoop the filling into a quart-sized heavy zip baggie and set it aside (see *Tips below).

Prepare the glaze: In a small pan, heat the butter over low heat until melted. Turn off the heat and whisk in the cream cheese until it is almost smooth. Sift the powdered sugar into the pan, stir and add in vanilla extract. Set the pan aside while you make the pancakes.

Prepare the pancake batter: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk in the milk, egg and oil, just until the batter is moistened (a few small lumps are fine).

Cook the pancakes: Heat a large, nonstick skillet over medium-heat and spray with nonstick spray. Use an ice cream scoop (or 1/3 cup measuring cup) to add the batter to the pan. Use the bottom of the scoop or cup to spread the batter into a circle (about 4-inches in diameter). Reduce the heat to medium low. Snip the corner of your baggie of cinnamon filling and squeeze the filling into the open corner. When your pancake begins to form bubbles, add the filling. Starting at the center of the pancake, squeeze the filling on top of the pancake batter in a swirl (just as you see in a regular cinnamon roll). Cook the pancake 2 to 3 minutes, or until the bubbles begin popping on top of the pancake and it’s golden brown on the bottom. Slide a thin, wide metal spatula underneath the pancake and gently but quickly flip it over. Cook an additional 2 to 3 minutes, until the other side is golden as well. When you flip the pancake onto a plate, you will see that the cinnamon filling has created a crater-swirl of cinnamon. Wipe out the pan with a paper towel, and repeat with the remaining pancake batter and cinnamon filling. Re-warm the glaze briefly, if needed. Serve pancakes topped with a drizzle of glaze.

Tips:

*Quick and easy tip: Use a boxed pancake mix as the base for this recipe.
*Tips for the cinnamon filling: Before swirling, open up the baggie again and give it a good stir to re-incorporate any butter that may have separated from the sugar. You want the mixture to thicken a bit- it’s best when it’s similar to the squeezing texture of a tube of toothpaste, which will happen if you leave it at room temperature for several minutes. Don’t try to use the filling for the pancake swirl unless it has thickened as it will be too runny to make a solid swirl.

*Keep the heat low or your pancakes might cook up too quickly. Don’t flip them until you see those bubbles starting to pop on top. Flip them with a wide spatula so you can grasp the whole thing without batter and filling dripping all over the place!

Footprint Butterflies

From projectbalancingact, Here’s a great idea!

On canvas, capture footprints of your baby. See how they used the right foot on the left and the left foot on the right. Use finger prints for the antennae. After all ‘printed’ use a marker to draw the head and body of the butterfly. So adorable!

Rubberband-Dyed Eggs

The process is simple.
You need many different cups of dye solution.
Hard boil your eggs.
Place egg in very lightest dye (let’s say pale pink) for just a touch of color.
Dry. Wrap several rubber bands around the egg, but leave plenty of pale pink spaces in between.
Dye in medium color dye (such as hot pink, or magenta).
Dry. Remove rubberbands. Dry again.
Wrap several rubber bands around egg, but not where the magenta is. Again, leave some pale pink stripes.
Place in darker dye, like red or purple.
Dry. Remove rubberbands, and you should have a beautiful tri-colored egg!

great idea via inkspriredmusings

Sopapilla Cheesecake

  • 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 (8 ounce) cans refrigerated crescent rolls
  • 3/4 cup white sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
  • Powdered Sugar to sprinkle on top 

Directions

  1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Prepare a 9×13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
  2. Beat the cream cheese with 1 cup of sugar and the vanilla extract in a bowl until smooth.
  3. Unroll the cans of crescent roll dough, and use a rolling pin to shape each piece into 9×13 inch rectangles. Press one piece into the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish. Evenly spread the cream cheese mixture into the baking dish, then cover with the remaining piece of crescent dough. Stir together 3/4 cup of sugar, cinnamon, and butter. Dot the mixture over the top of the cheesecake.
  4. Bake in the preheated oven until the crescent dough has puffed and turned golden brown, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely in the pan before sprinkling with powdered sugar.

Jello Play Dough

This Jello playdough recipe is another great craft project from jelloplaydoughrecipes you can do with your kids to make a toy you can produce time and time again. Jello ads scent and color to your homemade playdough making it one of the most fun and interesting ways to make your own. It is fairly complicated to make compared to some other playdough recipesand it is definitely not for kids to be doing on their own as their is come careful cooking involved. Although this is not a recipe for kids to make you can quite easily make it with them as a craft or toy project. It makes a pretty nice playdough if you can get the cooking just right, with a really nice texture and shape.

jello playdough recipe Jello Playdough Recipe
Ingredients:white flour – 1 cup
  • salt – 2 tbsp
  • cream of tartar – 2 tbsp
  • cooking oil – 2 tbsp
  • warm water – 1 cup
  • Jello – 1 3oz pack

Directions:

  • Add all the ingredients together in a big mixing bowl
  • Mix all the ingredients together until consistent
  • Pour into a pan and stir continuously
  • Wait for it to thicken into a big ball and then place it on a piece of wax paper to cool
  • Kneed it for a few minutes once cooled with some flour
  • Add any food coloring or glitter to spice things up!
  • Start playing!

This is one of the most fun  you can make so make sure to give it a try once you’ve mastered some simpler recipes! Be careful because Jello Playdough burns easily, so make sure you cook it on low heat and keep stirring. If you store it in an air tight refrigerated container you can keep it for quite a few days.