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Bev's Baking Corner

Quick & Gooey Biscuit Cinnamon Rolls

Biscuit Dough

· 2 cups all-purpose flour

· 4 teaspoons baking powder

· ½ teaspoon salt

· 1 teaspoon granulated sugar

· 5 tablespoons very cold or frozen butter

· 1 cup cold buttermilk

Cinnamon Filling

· ¼ cup butter, melted

· ½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar

· 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

· ⅓ cup raisins, optional

Vanilla Glaze

· 1 cup confectioners' sugar

· ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

· 2 tablespoons butter, melted

· 2–3 tablespoons heavy cream

· Toasted chopped pecans, optional

Before You Begin

For the fluffiest rolls, keep your ingredients as cold as possible. Cut 5 tablespoons from a stick of butter and place it in the freezer for at least 20 minutes. Just before making the dough, grate the frozen butter with the large holes of a box grater.

If you don't have time to freeze the butter, don't worry. Use very cold butter and refrigerate the assembled rolls for about 10 minutes before baking.

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Cut a round of parchment paper to fit the bottom of a 9-inch round baking pan. Place the parchment in the pan and lightly coat it with nonstick cooking spray.

In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.

Grate the frozen butter directly into the flour mixture. Gently toss the butter through the flour with a fork or your fingertips until evenly distributed. Don't overwork the mixture—you want those little pieces of cold butter to remain intact.

Make a well in the center and pour in the cold buttermilk. Using a fork, gently stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened and a soft dough forms.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Gently pat or roll it into a rectangle approximately ⅓-inch thick.

Brush the dough evenly with the ¼ cup melted butter, then sprinkle the cinnamon-brown sugar mixture over the top. Add raisins at this point, if using.

Beginning with a long side, gently roll the dough into a log. Cut into approximately 1-inch slices.

Kitchen Tip: Unflavored dental floss makes beautifully shaped cinnamon rolls without squashing those tender biscuit layers. Slide the floss underneath the dough log, bring both ends up, cross them over the top, and pull in opposite directions until the floss slices cleanly through the dough. No floss? A sharp serrated knife works, too—use a quick, gentle sawing motion and reshape the rolls as needed.

Arrange the rolls in the prepared pan and bake for 13–15 minutes, or until puffed and beginning to turn golden brown.

While the rolls bake, prepare the glaze. In a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners' sugar, vanilla, melted butter, and 2 tablespoons heavy cream. Add additional cream, a little at a time, until the glaze reaches your preferred consistency.

Allow the cinnamon rolls to cool for about 5 minutes, then drizzle the glaze generously over the warm rolls. Sprinkle with toasted pecans, if desired.

Serve warm or at room temperature—and preferably with a good cup of coffee.

These rolls are at their very best fresh from the oven and are best eaten the same day they're made. Fortunately, a pan of warm, gooey cinnamon rolls disappearing too quickly has never been a problem in my kitchen.

Bev's Baking Corner

Heavenly Harvest Cupcakes

As the weather starts to cool and autumn leaves paint the streets of East Texas, the comforting aroma of baking spices begins to drift from local kitchens, bringing with it a taste of the season: the harvest muffin. Perfectly balancing rustic charm with a modern twist, this seasonal staple swaps traditional pumpkin for a vibrant medley of sweet apricots, tart cranberries, and rich dates, all brought together with a warm blend of cinnamon and vanilla. Crowned with the satisfying crunch of chopped nuts, it captures the cozy essence of an Upper East Side Texas autumn in every single bite.

Pecans, walnuts, almonds, apricots, dates, and cranberries make these cupcakes a celebration of the fall harvest that can carry you right through winter. With the brown sugar batter loaded with 3 cups of fruit and nuts, and even more of them garnishing the butter rum frosting, there is probably more fruit and nuts in these cupcakes than cake.

Makes 12 Regular Cupcakes

CUPCAKES

1 1/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

2/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon rum, preferably dark

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup (about 2 ounces) finely chopped pecans

½ cup (about 2 ounces) finely chopped walnuts

¼ cup (about 1 ounce) coarsely chopped almonds

¾ cup dried apricots, cut into small pieces

½ cup dried cranberries, cut into small pieces

½ cup chopped dates, cut into small pieces

FROSTING

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 ½ cups powdered sugar

1 tablespoon rum, preferably dark

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

GARNISH

1/3 cup mixed chopped nuts, dried apricots, and dried cranberries for topping

Instructions:

Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 12 muffin tins with paper cupcake liners. Spray the inside of each liner with nonstick cooking spray.

MAKE THE CUPCAKES:

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon into a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until smoothly blended and lightened in color, about 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides o the bowl as needed during mixing. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the rum and vanilla. On low speed, mix in the flour mixture just until it is incorporated. Stir in the pecans, walnuts, almonds, apricots, cranberries, and dates. The batter will be thick.

Fill each paper liner with a generous 1/3 cup of batter, to about 1/8 inch below the top of the liner. Bake just until the top feels firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Cool the cupcakes for 10 minutes in the pan on a wire rack. Remove the cupcakes from the pan onto a wire rack and let cool completely.



MAKE THE FROSTING:

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on low speed, beat the butter and powdered sugar until blended but still crumbly. Add the rum and vanilla and beat until smooth and creamy, about two minutes. The frosting will be thick.

Use a small spatula to spread about 1 ½ tablespoons of frosting over the top of each cupcake, then spoon about 1 ½ teaspoons of the mixed fruit and nuts over the top.