Bolinhos de Canela - Cinnamon Cookies

I've been in a very nostalgic mood lately, I'm missing home, I'm missing my greatgrandma and the food she would make for us, and I just sometimes wish I could see her once more.

With those feelings of nostalgia come a craving for the food I grew up with, Portuguese.

As I prepare the menus for the next two weeks, I've decided to go with just Portuguese cuisine, so if you enjoy it you're in for a treat.

First on the list though, these yummy cinnamon cookies.

Oh the memories they bring back.  My greatgrandma lived with us for most of my life, and when my dad and stepmom were working, she would be the one getting us ready for school and welcoming us home in the afternoons.  Lunch would be homemade, and she would often have a little treat waiting for us as well.

Boy do I have wonderful memories of those days, and these cinnamon cookies, the delightful little buttery balls of goodness rolled in cinnamon and then baked until their tops start crackling.

I hadn't made them in a while, and when I put out a batch yesterday, my kids dug right in, matter of fact I think there may be one or two left, if I'm lucky.



So let's get right to the recipe. It IS in grams so I'll try to convert it for you, but what I did many many years ago was buy myself a little scale that measures grams and kilograms.  It's so much easier considering most of my recipes are in the metric system.

Bolinhos de Canela 

Cinnamon Cookies

300 grams flour (2 1/2 cups)
125 grams of butter, at room temperature (1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons)
100 grams sugar (1/2 cup)
1 egg
Ground cinnamon

Mix all ingredients together. 



Form into little balls



and then roll in ground cinnamon.



Place on a baking sheet with wax paper



and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.  Cookies should be soft to the touch when removed from oven as they'll harden as they cool down.

Weekly Meals in Review - August 31st to September 5th

Good morning everyone, hope you've all been enjoying your Labor Day weekend.  What plans do you have for today?  Are you taking it easy, did you have a big get together this weekend, or are you doing that today?

We've had a semi busy weekend and are just going to relax today and do nothing, really.  I will probably make some burgers later but other than that, nothing else on the agenda.

Right, so onto last week's meals in review, I'm a little lost, I only have 2 pictures, I'm not sure how that happened, but I'll try to remember what else we had.

Monday 31st August
Baked Pork Chops, Parmesan Garlic Zucchini, Wild Rice and Salad



Tuesday 1st September
Italian Sausage Pasta Bake



Wednesday 2nd September
Baked Grilled Cheese and Ham Sandwiches

Thursday 3rd September
Domino's Pizza, Best Chocolate Sheet Cake Ever



Friday 4th September
Lazy day we just ate leftovers

Saturday 5th September
At Anime Fest, had McDonald's on the way home

Best Chocolate Sheet Cake

Ok folks, I'm going to start this post by saying that when I see a recipe named "best ....... ever", I always think it's just a way to get people to click on it, or try it.  Really!!!!

So I'm always a little apprehensive until I've tried it myself.

Truth?  Most times the recipes are ok, not really anything out of this world and definitely not the best of anything, ever.

This cake though, yeah, this one can call itself the best chocolate sheet cake ever, because it certainly earned it's title.

Recipe comes from The Pioneer Woman, and again, I've never been a super fan of hers, but credit has to be given where it's due, and she certainly hit the jackpot with this cake.

Tomorrow, I have my daughter's boyfriend, his brother and a few of their friends coming over and spending the night before they all head to the Anime Fest in Dallas.  I wanted to make some sort of dessert seeing as I'm ordering Pizza, and young kids like cake right?  Chocolate cake especially, so in my search for the perfect recipe, I remembered that during our family reunion, my husband's cousin made this sheet cake, and so it came to be.  By the way, I totally made 2 of these this afternoon, even though they're super big, but really, it's that good.


Now enough talking.....let's get right on the recipe.

Best Chocolate Sheet Cake Ever

Source: The Pioneer Woman

FOR THE CAKE:
2 cups Flour
2 cups Sugar
1/4 teaspoon Salt
4 Tablespoons (heaping) Cocoa
2 sticks Butter
1 cup Boiling Water
1/2 cup Buttermilk
2 whole Beaten Eggs
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Vanilla

FOR FROSTING:
1/2 cup Finely Chopped Pecans
1-3/4 stick Butter
4 Tablespoons (heaping) Cocoa
6 Tablespoons Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 pound (minus 1/2 Cup) Powdered Sugar


Note: Pioneer Woman uses an 18x13 sheet cake pan.

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt.

In a saucepan, melt butter. Add cocoa. Stir together.
Add boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.

In a measuring cup, pour the buttermilk and add beaten eggs, baking soda, and vanilla. Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into sheet cake pan and bake at 350-degrees for 20 minutes.

While cake is baking, make the icing. Chop pecans finely. Melt butter in a saucepan. Add cocoa, stir to combine, then turn off heat. Add the milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Stir together. Add the pecans, stir together, and pour over warm cake.

Cut into squares, eat, and totally wig out over the fact that you’ve just made the best chocolate sheet cake. Ever.

Weekly Meals in Review

Good morning everyone.  Well another whole month has gone by and I have yet to really update this blog, life has just gotten way out of control for me lately and I'm so ready to go back to a normal schedule, and to be able to cook and share with you.

I've decided to start doing a new feature in September.

Every week, I will post what our meals were, so a Weekly Meal in Review post where I'll share photos and if available, links to the recipes.  Are you up for that?

I just think that it will be a good one to keep me accountable to the blog and to make me get back on track, kind of like slowly easing back into the habit of posting often.

So, here are what we enjoyed last week, and yes, I've been taking photos of this week's meals so far and will share those this weekend.

Monday 24th

Chicago style dogs and Cheesy Fries





Tuesday 25th

Grilled Ham Steaks, Mashed Potatoes and Salad



Wednesday 26th

Homemade Pizza 



Thursday 27th

Sweet and Chili Drumsticks, Rice, Carrots and Broccoli



Friday 28th

Cheesy Sausages, Salad

Hawaiian Bread Rolls

Love, love, love Hawaiian bread rolls but honestly they can be a little pricey, and I love being able to make something that I get at the store, at home.

It has always given me a sense of accomplishment and joy to know that I can put on the table a favorite dish, or bread roll or cake.

I have a huge family reunion next week, at my house.  Oh boy!!!


One of the things I plan on making are my Baked Ham and Cheese Sliders, and for that I need dinner rolls.  I usually either use the small butter flavored, or the hawaiian rolls but come to think of it, knowing that I have to make 40 is going to be extremely pricey, so I wanted a way to cut some of the cost out, and usually making it at home is a lot cheaper.


I made a test run of this recipe today and it was a huge hit.  My husband and children are in love and say they are better than the ones from the store, that is all I needed to hear.  I'll be making a bunch this weekend to use for the reunion.

Hawaiian rolls recipe

Adapted from King Arthur Flour

Makes 16 rolls

For the sponge

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon yeast
2 tablespoons lukewarm water

For the dough

1/2 cup pineapple juice
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs, plus 1 egg yolk; reserve the egg white
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt



Prepare the "sponge." In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine all of the sponge ingredients. Let them rest for 15 minutes.

Add the pineapple juice, butter, brown sugar, eggs and yolk, and vanilla, mixing until combined.

In a separate bow, sift together the remaining flour, starch, and salt. Add the dry mixture to the liquid ingredients in the stand mixer bowl.

Begin to mix the ingredients using the paddle attachment. The mixture will start out quite sticky. Once the ingredients have come together, continue to mix and knead until the mixture becomes smooth and elastic. You can continue with the paddle attachment or switch to the dough hook.

Lift the dough out of the bowl for a moment. Lightly grease the bottom of the mixing bowl, form the dough into a ball, and place it back in the bowl. Cover, and let rise until puffy, about 2 hours.

Grease a 9" x 13" pan. Gently, deflate the dough. Divide it into 16 equal pieces, by dividing in half, then in halves again, until you have 16 equal pieces.

Form each piece into a smooth ball, with the seam, if any, facing down. Space the buns in the pan (two rows of 5, and one of 6).

Cover the dough with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise in the pan for 1 hour, until it's nicely puffy. Toward the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350 F.

Mix the reserved egg white with about 1 tablespoon of water, and brush over the tops of the rolls. This will give them a shiny finish.

Bake the rolls for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden on top.

Remove the rolls from the oven, and place the pan on a wire rack. Let cool for several minutes, then remove from the pan to serve warm.

Store leftovers, wrapped, at room temperature for 3-4 days, or freeze for up to 1 month.