Pumpkin Cinnamon Streusel Rolls

I had leftover pumpkin from when I made my pumpkin cream cheese muffins and I knew i had to use it up so it didn't go bad, but I hadn't been inspired by anything, and I didn't want to make muffins again. So I started peeking around online and found an amazing idea. Pumpkin cinnamon rolls! What could be better?! So here's the recipe I found and I hope you enjoy!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Streusel Rolls
(find original recipe here.)

1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1/4 cup warm water
2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, divided
1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 T granulated sugar
1 1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
Cooking Spray
3 T granulated sugar
3 T brown sugar
2 T flour
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 T chilled butter, cut into small pieces

Glaze:
3/4 cup powered sugar
1 T hot water
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

To prepare the buns, dissolve yeast in warm water in a large bowl; let stand for 5 minutes. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Add 2 cups flour, pumpkin, and next 5 ingredients (pumpkin through nutmeg); beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes); add enough of the remaining 3/4 cup flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel tacky).

Place the dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, for 45 minutes or until doubled in size. (Press two fingers into the dough. If an indentation remains, the dough has risen enough.)

Combine 3 tablespoons granulated sugar, brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal.

Punch dough down; cover and let rest for 5 minutes. Roll the dough into a 12 x 10-inch rectangle on a floured surface. Sprinkle with brown sugar mixture. Roll up the rectangle tightly, starting with a long edge, pressing firmly to eliminate air pockets; pinch seam and ends to seal. Cut roll into 12 (1-inch) slices. Place slices in a 9-inch square baking pan coated with cooking spray. Cover and let rise 25 minutes or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 375°.

Bake the rolls at 375° for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 15 minutes in pan on a wire rack.

To prepare the glaze, combine the powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon water, and vanilla extract in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Drizzle glaze over buns. Serve warm.

These cinnamon rolls came out great! They were quite easy to make. The longest process was letting the dough rise and then letting the rolls proof once in the pan, but besides that, I felt they were super simple to make. These don't have much of a pumpkin flavor as I expected but there is only 1/2 a cup of pumpkin in them, but they have a nice spice and flavor to them. The pumpkin gives these a lovely orangey color. They are really moist and the cinnamon sugar filling is really delicious. I think these are totally worth the effort and they are really, really good!!! Perfect for a nice fall morning, to go with your cup of coffee or tea.

Fresh out of the oven, waiting for the glaze

Eat, Drink and Be Merry!

-BellaRosa

Banana Oatmeal Cookies

I came across a banana oatmeal cookie recipe a couple weeks back and thought that those sounded amazing! I love, love, love oatmeal cookies, and I love baking with bananas so it seemed win/win for me! I looked up a few more recipes and found one that seemed perfect and thought I'd give it a try since I have some overly ripe bananas chilling on my counter.

Banana Oatmeal Cookies
(adapted from this recipe.)

1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 white sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
1 egg
1 cup banana, mashed (about 2)
1 3/4 cups old-fashioned oats

Optional:
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped nuts

In a bowl, combine the flour, sugars, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Beat in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Beat in egg and bananas. Stir in the oats and chocolate chips or nuts if using them.

Drop by tablespoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool on wire racks.


These soft, dense, flavorful cookies are great!! Really easy to make, although the whole, combining the sugar with the flour and THEN beating in the butter, was a little weird, but whatever, maybe that is why they are kinda thick and cakey. Also, I decided to go with brown sugar instead of all white sugar, because, well, I just like it more and I think that caramel-y flavor you get with brown sugar goes perfect with bananas. Also, to the last bit of batter I added a small handful of hazelnuts to see how those turned out. I think the nuts needed to be in bigger chunks, but I like the taste and texture of nuts in oatmeal cookies.

I hope you get inspired by these delicious cookies and use up some over-ripe bananas you may have sitting on your counter.

Eat, Drink and Be Merry!

-BellaRosa

Arancini - Italian Rice Balls

Arancini are fried, (or less commonly baked), rice balls coated with breadcrumbs, said to have originated in Sicily in the 10th century. The name derives from the food's shape and color, which is reminisient of an orange (The Italian word for orange is arancia, and in Sicilian arancici means little oranges.) Commonly in Sicily these rice balls are filled with ragu or vegetables, it is more of a Roman flair to have them filled with cheese, they are called suppli.

I saw a posting for this recipe on Brown Eyed Baker and thought, I have to make those! They looked delicious and sounded pretty easy to put together. I mean what could be better than rice and cheese, baked and all gooey in the middle...Yum! I was happy to see that these rice balls were baked, rather than fried. I am trying to make healthier choices these days so its nice to have the option to bake instead of deep fry. I also made my own quick marinara sauce to go with the little rice nuggets and I was quite proud of how that turned out.

Arancini - Italian Rice Balls
(original recipe from Brown Eyed Baker is here.)

2 eggs
2 cups cooked rice
3/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs
4 oz. mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2 inch cubes, about 1 cup
2 T olive oil

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper

2. Beat eggs lightly with a fork. Combine with the cooked rice and mix thoroughly.

3. Take 1 tablespoon of the rice mixture, place a cube of mozzarella in the middle ane then top with another tablespoon of the rice mixture. Shape into a ball and roll in the breadcrumsbs. Place on parchement-lined baking sheet and continue with the rest of the rice mixture.

4. Refrigerate the pan of rice balls for at least 30 minutes.

5. Meanwhile preheat oven to 425. Drizzle 2 T of olive oil over the rice balls.

6. Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve with warm marinara sauce.


Marinara alla BellaRosa
(I know totally cheese right HA!)

1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes, pureed (or 1 can crushed tomatoes)
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1/4 sweet onion, chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, grated or finely minced
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp. red pepper flake
1/2 tsp. sugarsalt and pepper

Heat olive oil in a small or medium sauce pot, add onion and garlic and saute until softened. Add the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce and seasonings. Simmer until slightly thickened, about 20 minutes.

Gooey, baked Italian Rice Balls
with Marinara Sauce

Ok...now let me just say...these were a pain in the butt to make!!! The rice was really hard to work with, trying to form them into balls...I swear I lost a lot of the rice in the breadcrumb cause I was just trying to get it to stick together and keep a ball shape. It was really messy and I found I almost gave up cause I was getting so aggravated that it wouldn't stay together. I finally found a way to get it to stay was to just press the breadcrumb into it and almost have the breadcrumb help with binding it all together.

I totally forgot about refrigerating them before baking, but I was so frustrated. They came out great though! They were really delicious and very satisfying. I don't know when I would make these again, I mean they are really good, but a pain to make. I was really proud of my sauce though, I thought it was quite tasty. These were interesting to make, a pain, but the end result was delicious. Also according to the wikipedia definition, I think these should be called suppli...but what do I know?

Baked Arancini

Eat, Drink and Be Merry!

-BellaRosa

Baked Rigatoni with Tiny Meatballs for the In-Laws

We had my in-laws over for dinner last night, and I found this recipe from Smitten Kitchen last week and knew I had to make it! So there were a few new things for me in this recipe that I have either never done before or was a different way of me doing something.

I have never done the "piece of white bread soaked in milk and then rung out and put in the meatballs instead of bread crumbs." I don't think I would do this again, I thought it was disgusting to do. I mean the meatballs were great, but that process was kinda gross to me.

And then making a bechamel was new, at least the way they have you do it, but it was delicious! I mean, I have made alfredo sauce before and essentially its like the same, the flour and butter and make a roux and then add the milk, but they way they have you incorporate they milk was new to me.

I felt that this took me way longer to make than I had anticipated. It took me and hour and a half start to finish. But then again I don't always have the best time management when cooking, like it's really bad, and I tend to do a step last that I could have had going while something else was working, but oh well.

The tiny meatballs were fun to make, a little tedious, but so they look so cute! And the bechamel came together quite quickly and then just the pasta to boil and then bake everything, not too shabby. It was so good, my father-in-law had 3 helpings...I kid you not! That means it was amazing!! And he took the leftover with them for his lunch the next day!

I thought this recipe was amazing and delicious and I think everyone should make it, it was so saucy and the meatballs were so tender and just melted in your mouth, this was a great dinner. I served it with a nice salad and some ciabatta bread, and it was great. I suppose you could add veggies or some spinach in for more nutritional value, but I liked it just the way it was.

For the original recipe click here.

Eat, Drink and Be Merry!!

-BellaRosa