Churro Waffle Sticks with Chocolate Sauce

It's been a long time, my friends. Much too long. I've missed you, and I hope you've missed me. I'm marking my return in the most beautiful of ways. With waffles. On National Waffle Day. YAS.

If you know me even a little bit, you know that I have a fairly scary obsession with waffles. I celebrate waffle related holidays three times a year: International Waffle Day (March 25th), Galentine's Day (Feb. 15th), and National Waffle Day (August 24th). It's something I take very seriously, and you should too because, well, waffles make things better. They have little pockets to hold in the happiness. They're so delightfully crisp on the outside and tender on the inside.

When I stumbled upon a recipe involving churros in a waffle iron there was simply nothing I could do. It was like God was forcing my hand to make them. PLUS, this recipe involves ganache. You guys already know about my obsession with ganache right?! 

Basically, this is a regular churro dough, or a pâte à choux (AKA cream puff dough). You cook it on a stove, and then cook it a second time either in the oven, oil, or in this case a waffle iron. No raising agent is used, rather a high moisture content creates steam to puff it up. Science. Then these babies are covered in butta (YAS) and then smothered in cinnamon sugar (YAS YAS!). 

If that's not enough to sell you on it then, there's no hope for you. For the rest of you, HAPPY NATIONAL WAFFLE DAY!

Churro Waffle Sticks with Chocolate Sauce

Batter

  • 1/2 cup water
  • 4 tablespoons of butter
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 2 large eggs

Topping and Chocolate Sauce

  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
  • 1 teaspoon corn syrup
  • Nonstick spray
  • 1 tablespoon melted butter

Directions: 

  1. For the batter: In a small saucepan, bring water, butter, salt, sugar and cinnamon to a simmer over high heat. 
  2. When butter has melted and sugar has dissolved, lower heat to medium, add flour and stir quickly. The batter will come together quickly. Continue cooking for 1 minute.
  3. Remove saucepan from heat and let cool 5 minutes before adding eggs. Add eggs one at a time and stir until each is completely incorporated. The batter will be very stiff.
  4. For the topping and chocolate sauce: Mix together cinnamon and sugar in a bowl and set aside. In a saucepan over low heat, combine cream, chocolate and corn syrup. Stir frequently until it begins to melt. Remove from heat and stir until completely melted. Set aside.
  5. Preheat waffle iron (set to medium if settings are available). Coat both sides of iron with nonstick spray. 
  6. Place about 1/4 cup of the batter in lines on the iron. Close iron and cook for about to 5-10 minutes. 
  7. When finished, brush with butter and sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Serve warm with chocolate sauce. 

Bonus! Boyfriend enjoying the waffle goodness. 

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Written by Mary Ryherd On In , , Tagged , , ,

Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut Muffins

Hello old friends. I've got a good one for you to make up for my prolonged absence. It involves sugar, cinnamon, and everyone's favorite ingredient: butter. Lots of it too. I like the simple things in life: a nice cold beer, snuggles from dogs, Netflix, and butter. 

Let's discuss one other thing in life that makes me happy. Doughnuts. Side note: it's doughnut not donut, because doughnuts are made from dough not do. I love doughnuts. Any type of doughnut. Big, small, sugary, filled, round, square, fried, baked: bring them to me. Bring them ALL to me. When I found this recipe that combined muffins and doughnuts it was meant to be. Meant to be like, coffee and mornings, or milk and cookies, or bacon and, well, anything really. I belong with these cinnamon sugar doughnut muffins. 

These guys are super simple, and the recipe doesn't make too many muffins, so it's perfect for someone like me who wants to hoard all of them without feeling too guilty. Make them. Go on. Get you some doughnut muffins. 

Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut Muffins

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg (freshly grated)
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup butter, melted
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 large egg

Topping:

  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350F. 

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and nutmeg. Use the freshly grated stuff. It's so much better. Plus, the inside of nutmeg looks like brains (as pictured above). Brains! Isn't food cool? Add the wet ingredients, and stir until combined. Don't over mix on this step. The batter will still be slightly lumpy.

Scoop the batter into a greased muffin tin using a large ice cream scoop. I only got about seven muffins out of the batter. If you want more, and I'm sure you will, double it, or triple it. I'm not here to judge. 

Bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. While the muffins are in the oven, mix together the cinnamon sugar concoction, and melt the butter.

When the muffins are done, and while they're still warm, dip them in the butter and then roll them in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Enjoy!

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Cinnamon Rolls

Oh boy do I have something good for you. Cinnamon rolls. Really good cinnamon rolls. Now, I'm going to be honest with you. I've never made something with yeast before on my own. There I said it. It's out on the table, and I feel like we're closer now that I've been honest with you.

That being said, if you've never made something with yeast before it's not as scary as you may think. I'm all about overcoming fears and dealing with new and exciting things, and yes, yeast is an exciting thing. It brings us bread, which in my opinion is gold that has fallen from the skies and has been kissed by actual angel lips. So how could yeast not be exciting?

At first, during the proofing stage, you'll be filled with self doubt. But have no fear! It will be OK. I promise. After an hour or so, and if you've followed the directions (like you should) you will reveal your perfectly proofed bread dough, and then at some point you will create with your own beautiful hands cinnamon rolls. You can do it. I believe in you.

I added pecans into my cinnamon rolls because a little added protein never hurt anyone. If you like pecans it highly suggest the addition.

I stumbled upon this recipe on The Girl Who Ate Everything's blog. Grab your yeast, and get proofing, because these cinnamon rolls will be gone before you know it.

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Cinnamon Rolls
by May-7-2014
Ingredients
  • 1 package Active Dry Yeast
  • 1 cup warm milk
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup butter, melted
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 4-1/2 cups bread flour
  • FILLING:
  • 1 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 2-1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/3 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup roughly chopped pecans
  • ICING:
  • 3 oz. cream cheese
  • 4 tbsp butter, softened
  • 1-1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/8 tsp salt
Instructions
1. Microwave milk for 40-60 seconds or until it is about 110ºF in temperature. Dissolve yeast in the milk. In the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment, add the dissolved yeast mixture, and the sugar, butter, salt, eggs, and flour. Mix until the dough forms a ball. You can continue to knead the dough for several minutes in the stand mixer or with your hands on a clean surface. 2. Put dough in large bowl that has been sprayed with cooking spray and cover it with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise in a warm place for an hour or until it has doubled in size. I put the dough in my microwave with a bowl of hot water to let the steam from the water create a warm, damp environment for the dough. If you choose to do this warm water up in the microwave before placing the dough inside. Do not turn microwave on while dough is inside. 3. Once the dough has doubled in size you can begin to mix the filling. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle flour onto clean counter surface and roll the dough out to a 16x21in rectangle, about 1/4in thick. Spread the softened butter on the surface of the dough, and sprinkle evenly with the brown sugar cinnamon mixture. Add pecans to taste. Roll the dough up starting at the longer side. Cut the dough into even sizes. I got 16 rolls out of my log, but anywhere from 12-18 is good as long as they are the same size. Place the rolls in a lightly greased 9x13in baking dish. 4. Cover the rolls and let rise again until they are doubled in size. I did the same technique of warming up a bowl of water in the microwave and placing the rolls inside the microwave with the bowl. 5. Preheat oven to 350º F. Bake rolls for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.6. While the rolls are in the oven begin to make the icing. Beat together cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt until combined. When the rolls come out of the oven spread the frosting on them while they're still hot. The icing will melt all over the rolls.
Details
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: 12-18 Rolls
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Written by Mary Ryherd On In Tagged , , , ,