Whatcha' Got Cookin'?

I love summer vacation... And I love to cook... So, when those two collide:  watch out, world! (Or should I address my hips and backside?!)

Here's a few things in which I've been dabbling:

(Anyone else appreciate that I didn't end my sentence with a preposition???)

Oh, so delicious cinnamon rolls from this site.

Homemade pizza, courtesy of my special helper

Recipe adapted roughly from "Mommy's Kitchen"

And this morning's masterpiece:  

CINNAMON ROLL PANCAKES!

The first thing you need to do is make that super yummy cinnamon swirl stuff and put it in a baggy to kind of chill.  I mixed 1/4 c. unsalted butter (that's half a stick ;) ) with 1/2 c. brown sugar and 1 tbls. cinnamon.  It "swirls" better if it gets to "un-melt" a little bit.  Use a baggy so that you can snip off the corner to swirl.


Pancake Batter:
adapted from this recipe

1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 c. sugar
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. milk PLUS 1/4 c. heavy whipping cream
2 lightly beaten eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 tbls. veggie oil

Whisk dry ingredients together.  Make a "well" in the middle and pour in the milk.  Whisk together and then add the eggs, vanilla, and oil.  Don't over mix!

I used a hot griddle (about 325-350*) and poured a 1/4 c. mix on the buttered tray.  Let it sit and bubble a bit and then squeeze out a swirl of the cinnamon/sugar/butter mix that has been waiting so patiently in that little baggy. 

***Here's a life lesson:  a little dab will do ya...  

Don't put too much of that swirl stuff on the pancake 

or it makes a cinnamon-y mess on the griddle! :)

Flip the pancake when it's good and bubbly and golden brown underneath (I always peek, you know).  If you're a professional pancake maker, you know that the second side doesn't take nearly as long to cook.

Flip back over on a plate (so you can see that beautiful masterpiece!) and lightly drizzle with cream cheese icing.

I actually made a big batch of vanilla cream cheese frosting and then just took a little out of that and thinned it out with heavy whipping cream (yes, I do know why I'm chubby...)  But here's my best guess:

2 tbls. cream cheese
2 tbls. room temp (NOT melted!) unsalted butter
1/2-1 c. powdered sugar
1-2 tsp. vanilla
dash of salt
Whipping cream to thin to your liking.

I whip the butter and cream cheese together until they become as one (about 5 minutes).  Then add some powdered sugar.  Then add the vanilla.  Then add some more powdered sugar.  Then add your dash of salt.  Whip it, baby, whip it.  Thin out with the whipping cream so that you can drizzle it on your pancakes!  A little bit goes a loooong way-- I'm pretty sure I only used about 1/2 cup (if that!) for our entire batch of pancakes.  I even had a little left over that I just poured back into the "big batch o' frosting" that I made and froze for later use.

ENJOY!!! :)