Super Lemony Breakfast Rolls

Sometimes I feel like a mad scientist in my kitchen. Or at least a genius. (Maybe they are one in the same?)

My coworker's bday came around again (as it tends to do in August) and I had to try to trump last year's loved dessert: Lemon Pull Apart Bread.

She loves lemon, so I had a theme to work with.

Last year I had devised a way to make the Lemon Pull Apart bread with Pillsbury Seamless Dough Sheets. So I again turned to them to make up this new recipe.

My mad scientist/genius kicked in and I formulated a great idea for a breakfast treat that involved parts of three different recipes! The dough and lemon filling from the Lemon Pull Apart Bread, the technique used in the popular Mini Cinnies recipe, and the frosting adjusted from Orange Drop Cookies. Muhahahaha!

The results were SUPER lemony, which made my coworker SUPER happy. 

This is a great breakfast roll and also works well as an afternoon snack especially with some strawberries on the side.

Super Lemony Breakfast Rolls

Ingredients for rolls: 

2 cans of Pillsbury Seamless Dough Sheets

1 C white sugar

zest from 6 lemons

2 T butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease two cookie sheets.

2. Place the sugar in a bowl and rub the lemon zest in with the sugar.

3. Unfold one baking sheet and with a pastry brush or small spatula, spread half the melted butter on the dough.

4. Add half the lemon zest over the unfolded dough.

5. Roll the dough short side up.

6. Cut 2-3 inch slices and place all the rolls on a cookie sheet.

7. Repeat steps 3-6 for the other dough baking sheet.

8. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the top is golden.

9. Cool for 10 minutes and add frosting on top.

Ingredients for frosting:
2 T soft butter
1 T grated lemon rind
2 T lemon juice
2 C powdered sugar

Blend and spread on rolls when they are mostly cooled.

Or, if you like, you can make just the rolls and not add the frosting. Still yummy!

Bake well and prosper!

Smores Cookies

This is the last recipe I made in CO. My fellow singers had a smores night and told me to feel free to make a recipe with the left over smores ingredients.

Yes, please, and thank you.

Well, they were gobbled up at rehearsal for Elixir of Love. People raved about them. I wasn't a big fan of the graham cracker at the bottom, but the cookie was good! I think I'll make it with crumbled graham crackers and melted butter for the base next time.

Smores Cookies (from deliciously declassified)

11 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 ½ cups flour
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup mini marshmallows
3 regular sized Hershey’s bars, broken into pieces
1-2 packages graham crackers, broken into squares

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon – set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter with white and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixer and combine on low speed. Fold in the chocolate chips and marshmallows. Chill dough in refrigerator for 1 hour to overnight. (Erika's Extras: I chilled overnight and found the dough hard to work with. Maybe it was due to the altitude I was in, but I think 1 hour chill time is fine.)

Preheat the oven to 375°F
Line 2 baking pans with parchment paper. Break the graham crackers into squares and then lay them out side by side on the pans as close as possible (they should be touching.)
Place about 1 1/2 tbsp of dough on graham crackers about 1 – 1 ½ inches apart. Press down slightly with fingertips. Bake for 5 minutes – then remove from oven to press Hershey’s bar pieces on to the top. You can place as many pieces or as little as you want depending how much chocolate flavor you want. Bake for 5 – 7 more minutes or until dough is beginning to turn golden brown at the edges.
Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Bake well and prosper!

Maple Bacon Chocolate Chip Scones

I have arrived back in NYC! It's so wonderful to be back in the city I love!

A couple of my friends said they kept my eye on me in CO by following this blog and were upset I didn't post more. Sorry! I was busy!

And now I'm busy as well. (What's NYC without a busy life?) For instance, I've had these photos ready for days but had no time to write the blog!

I made these scones for opening night of Magic Flute in CO. The conductor was British and I was very anxious about him approving them. Of course, they're not your mother's scones... He loved them and so did the tenor who was craving scones for weeks while being out in CO. Ha!
I was happy these were a hit. They sound impressive and were!

Maple Bacon Chocolate Chip Scones (adapted from and now for something completely delicious)

Makes 4 large, 8 regular scones, and 16+ mini
2 cups flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, cold and cut into cubes
1/2 cup buttermilk, cold
1 egg
4 strips of maple bacon
2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 egg, lightly beaten for egg wash
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon maple syrup or agave nectar
1-2 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Cook the bacon in a frying pan over medium heat. Let cool on paper towels to absorb the grease, then cut into small pieces.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or your fingers until butter is the size of small peas. Add the buttermilk and stir until the mixture just starts to come together. Add the bacon pieces and chocolate chips and use yours hands to incorporate them into the dough and bring it together into a ball.

On a lightly floured surface, pat the dough into a rough square shape about 1 inch thick. Cut the dough into 4 large scones, or 8 smaller scones. For mini scones you will need to cut and fold many times. Place the scones about 2 inches apart on the prepared sheet pan and brush tops with egg wash.

Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until tops are golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

In a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar, maple syrup, and milk and stir until smooth. Add additional milk if needed to achieve the right consistency. Drizzle onto the cooled scones and let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Scones will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Bake well and prosper!

Sporadic Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

I went for a hike with some lovely people last week. It was about a 2 hour hike on easy trails. (Of course, for me with my weak ankles, any trail with rocks is hard!)

I worked up such an appetite and rewarded myself with a hearty and rather healthy lunch. My lunch was great, but it was missing something. Dessert!

So, I checked to see what ingredients I had around and created this sporadic cookies. They were so good that I didn't share many. Really. They were amazing. Now I have to try to remember the recipe!

Sporadic Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies from my own creativeness

1 stick of melted butter

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 cup  brown sugar

1 egg

1 cup all purpose flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup oatmeal

Turn the oven to 375. Melt the butter and then add the sugars and egg. Add the flour and powder. Add the vanilla. Stir in the oatmeal. Once mixed together by hand, space cookie dough evenly on a cookie sheet and back for 10 minutes or until slightly crispy on top.

Bake well and prosper!