Simple Yet Gourmet

Growing up my Mom made us breakfast 6 days of the week.  On Sundays we got cold cereal, which we loved!  Definitely didn't fully appreciate how lucky we were to have a nice, warm breakfast almost every day.  Now that I'm the Mom, I still love to make breakfast, but other than the occasional fried egg, pretty much the only day I do that is on Sunday! We've been spoiled to have church at 12pm this year so I have quite a bit of time to whip something up while certain family members are sleeping in.  Not that I'm bitter or anything, I actually love my quiet Sunday mornings in the kitchen.    Anyways....These Orange Rolls are so divine! We love having them for a late Sunday breakfast but they would make a fabulous dessert as well.  The roll is tender and fluffy with a creamy, dreamy orange cream cheese icing on the top.  My favorite part of the roll though? The filling! So, so good.  Especially the part that just melts out and sticks to the bottom...

My husband Aaron celebrated a birthday recently!  He isn't a huge cake fan- I know, crazy right?  Typically he just wants his favorite chocolate chip cookies, but this time he said he would be okay with a Chocolate Bundt cake.  After some searching, I came across this copycat Nothing Bundt Cake recipe.  I'm not sure it was exactly the same, but it was pretty delicious! Danny said it was like a dream ( haha! ) and was not happy at all when I tossed the remaining cake after a few days.  

Valentines Day is coming up and as we always do, Brynlee and I made sugar cookies. While sugar cookies are fun to decorate, I'll admit that I've never been that big of a fan of the cookie itself. We'll choose chocolate any day over vanilla! That's why these cookies are so perfect- they can still be cut out, decorated and hold their shape perfectly, but have a rich chocolate flavor. We love these cookies! Frost them any way you like (I prefer cream cheese frosting) or just eat them plain. Happy Valentines Day!

This is my favorite carrot cake ever!  It was given to me a few years ago by Kirsti but somehow has never made it onto the blog.  I made it last week and loved it just as much as ever.  The cake is dense, moist, and just sweet enough.  Along with a rich cream cheese frosting this is a real treat!  Plus you get vitamins from the carrots so it's a win-win!  Am I right?

These are pretty much the easiest cookies ever!  While they are not the first homemade Oreo's I've ever had,  they are my favorite version of them.  Cream cheese frosting sandwiched by chewy chocolate cookies is a match made in Heaven.  These are so tempting to eat right off the bat, but if you can exercise a little self restraint and stick them in the fridge an hour or so, they are even better!  If you've never had them before, you need to try them. As a side note, they are fun to do with kids too.  Brynlee loved helping me sandwich the cookies!

Today we celebrated Brynlee's 4th Birthday!!  I wanted to make her something extra special for her cake, so I made a batch of these butterfly cupcakes.  You can use any type of cupcakes and frosting that you like, as long as the frosting is thick (in order to hold the wings in place).  Brynlee requested strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, so that's what we had.  I made the   Sprinkles Strawberry Cupcake s from a few weeks ago and the Cream Cheese Frosting  from   the Lindt Chocolate Truffle Cupcakes.    For the Butterfiles, I followed the instructions found in the book Hello Cupcake  for Monarchs.  Brynlee loved these and thought they were so beautiful!  Perfect for a spring birthday.

Okay, so I felt like you guys needed a little dessert this week so here is Mike's new favorite cinnamon roll recipe.  I will have to agree with him on this one, these are the best rolls I have made yet.  I have seen this recipe all over the place, but never cared to try them because I like my own recipe.  But I was feeling a little bored with my recipes and decided to give this one a try.  You actually make pudding and add it to the dough, which makes is extremely soft and pliable.  Now you have a soft, moist roll covered in cream cheese goodness, what more can you ask for in life!  I'm glad I was bored!   Enjoy. (Sorry I forgot to take a picture with the frosting on them, but they were yummy!)