"Vanilla butter cookies"

This comes from my mom's old Soviet time's recipe book. You can probably find everything you need in your cupboard already!

Ingredients

• 250g white flour
• 125g white sugar
• 125g butter, softened
• small pinch of salt
• 1 tsp vanilla sugar (optional)
• 1 egg

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (355°F).
2. Mix everything together into a ball of dough.
   
3. You can roll the dough out and cut out different shapes or do what I did by taking small pieces of dough, making them into small balls and pressing flat with your hands.
   
   
   
4. Bake for 12 min. or until cookies start to brown slightly from the edges.
   
   
   

Review: This is a really simple recipe. The cookies go well with a cup of tea.

Tip: You can get a nice ruff look on cookies if you use a fork when pressing the dough balls flat.

"Chocolate brownie in a mug"

I was looking for a comfort food recipe that wouldn't include an oven. So this is what I found. I modified it a little.
WARNING! Very simple and addictive!!! 

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp flour
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder (unsweetened)
• small pinch of salt
• 2 tbsp milk
• 2 tbsp melted butter

Method:

1. Put flour, sugar , cocoa powder and salt in a cup or a ramekin and mix well.
2. Add milk and butter and stir everything together.
   
   
3. Put the cup in the microwave and microwave on a high for 1 minute. Check it! It should be cooked on top but still moist inside. If it's still not ready, pop it back in and microwave for another 30 sec. and so on.  The cooking time shouldn't exceed 2 min. (UNLESS you are microwaving a bunch of cups at the same time. Then it will take longer to cook!)
   
   
   
4. Serve immediately with vanilla ice cream/whipped cream and salted peanuts (no I'm not crazy!) or eat it just as it is!

Review: I chose to modify the original recipe (which was calling for water and oil instead of butter and milk) because this way the brownie comes out smoother and doesn't get rock hard as it cools!

Now the taste...oh that taste!! It was heaven!
And although it has a lot of sugar in it, it's not too sweet at all! Just the right balance between tartness of the cocoa and sweetness of the sugar.

"Hazelnut cookies"

I found an old Disney recipe book that I got when I was probably 8 years old. I discovered that I hadn't tried any of the recipes. So I decided to "fix" that! 

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 85g sugar
• 60g flour
• 50g hazelnuts

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C(392°F).
2. Beat the eggs.
   
3. Add the sugar and beat until the mixture becomes pale yellow and a bit fluffy.
4. Stir in the flour
5. Finely chop the hazelnuts and add to the mixture. Stir everything nicely together.
6. Take a small teaspoon and put small spoonfulls of cookie dough on a tray that's been lined with a baking sheet. The dough will be quite runny so leave at least 2 cm between cookies.
7. Bake for about 6-7 minutes or until cookies turn golden.

Review: They were very easy and quick to make. I had to bake them for 12 minutes instead of what recipe said...but they turned out just fine eventually!  I liked that they had nuts in them and that they were crunchy - went well with a cup of tea!

"Cinnamon rolls"

I had some dough left over from "Sticky buns" , so I decided to make these delicious rolls.

Ingredients:

For the dough:

• 1 package of dry yeast (11g)
• ¼ cup of water, warmed up to 40 degrees
• ¼ tsp of vanilla extract
• ¼ cup of granulated sugar
• ¾ cup of whole milk
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp of salt
• ¼ cup of butter, melted
• 4 cups of flour

For the filling:

• 1/3 cup of unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ¾ cup of brown sugar
• ¼ cup of granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp of ground cinnamon

For the glaze:

• ¼ cup of cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 tbsp of butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups of powdered sugar
• ½ tsp of vanilla extract
• 3 to 4 tbsp of warm milk

Method:

1. For the dough: In a small bowl, combine the warm water and 1 tsp of the granulated sugar, sprinkle the yeast over the top and let it sit for about 5 minutes.
   
   



2. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix the egg, milk, salt, sugar and melted butter. Add 2 cups of the flour and the water, vanilla and yeast mixture, mix until its all incorporated and slowly add about 2 more cups of flour. Turn the speed up to medium and let it mix for about 5 to 7 minutes or until you have a smooth dough.
   
   
   
   
3. Pull the dough together with your hands to form a ball. Pour a little vegetable oil on top and grease the ball with your hand so that it won't stick to the bowl when rising. Cover with plastic wrap and place it in a warm spot to rise for about 1,5-2 hours.
   
   
   
4. For the topping: In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, granulated sugar and cinnamon for the filling, set aside for a few minutes.
5. When the dough ball has doubled in size, punch it down and roll out onto a floured surface into a  rectangle, the size of your baking dish/tray. Spread the butter over the top and sprinkle evenly over the sugar and cinnamon mixture.
   
   
   
6.  Starting from one of the long ends, tightly roll the dough into a jelly roll form.
   
7.  Cut into 14 to 16 slices (make sure they are even) and place them cut side down in your baking pan. Cover with plastic wrap and put them back into a warm spot to rise for another 1 ½ hours.
   
8. Meanwhile preheat your oven to 175 °C (350°F).
9. Once risen, brush them with some melted butter and bake them for about 30 minutes or until golden brown.
   
10. While the cinnamon rolls cool for a few minutes make the glaze. Mix all the ingredients of the glaze in a bowl except for the milk, once the cream cheese is all mixed, slowly add the milk until you get a runny glaze consistency.
    
11. Immediately pour the glaze over the cinnamon rolls and enjoy!

Review: Oh my GOD! They were sooo goood! They were sweet...chewy... and sticky... and yummy!! Definitely adding this recipe to my favorites!

"Sticky buns"

I've never made any buns or rolls in my life before. So I thought I'll give it a shot!

PS! The ingredients list is long but most of the things you'll probably find in your cupboard anyway and the result is totally worth it!

Ingredients:

For the dough:

• 1 package dry yeast (11g)
• ¼ cup water, warmed up to 40 °C
• ¼ tsp vanilla extract
• ¼ cup white sugar
• ¾ cup (full fat) milk
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp salt
• ¼ cup butter, melted
• 4 cups of flour

For the filling:

• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1 apple, peeled, cored and cut into small little pieces

For the glaze:

• ½ cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 tbsp light sugar syrup
• ¼ cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract
• 1 cup nuts (almonds, pecans etc.) (optional)

Method:

1. In a small bowl, combine the warm water and 1 tsp of the granulated sugar, sprinkle the yeast over the top and let it sit for about 5 minutes.
   
   



2. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix the egg, milk, salt, sugar and melted butter. Add 2 cups of the flour and the water, vanilla and yeast mixture, mix until its all incorporated and slowly add about 2 more cups of flour. Turn the speed up to medium and let it mix for about 5 to 7 minutes or until you have a smooth dough.
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Pull the dough together with your hands to form a ball. Pour a little vegetable oil on top and grease the ball with your hand so that it won't stick to the bowl when rising. Cover with plastic wrap and place it in a warm spot to rise for about 1,5-2 hours.
   
   
   
   
4. Now for the glaze: In a saucepan, add the butter, cream, brown sugar and light sugar syrup and let it cook and melt together just long enough for the sugar to be dissolved. Turn the heat off, stir in the vanilla and let it sit and cool for a bit. 
   
   
   
   
5. Once cool a bit, pour it in the bottom of a well buttered (big) baking dish/tray and sprinkle the chopped nuts over the top. Set aside. 
   
   
   
6. For the filling: In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, granulated sugar and cinnamon, set aside for a few minutes.
7. When the dough ball has doubled in size, punch it down and roll out onto a floured surface into a  rectangle, the size of your baking dish/tray. Brush the butter over the top and sprinkle evenly over the chopped apples and sugar and cinnamon mixture.
   
   
   
8.  Staring from one of the long ends, tightly roll the dough into a jelly roll form.
   
   
   
   
9.  Cut into 14 to 16 slices (make sure they are even) and place them cut side down in your baking pan. Cover with plastic wrap and put them back into a warm spot to rise for another 30 minutes.
   
   
   
10. Preheat your oven to 175°C (350°F).
11. Cover the pan lightly with foil and bake them for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake them an additional 10 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Allow the rolls to cool for only 5 minutes in the baking dish and then carefully invert them on a large platter.
    
    
    
12.  Wait for a bit for them to cool down and dig right in!

Review: It was very delicious. Quite sweet, nice with a cup of milk! I didn't put any nuts at first but after tasting the first roll, I found that it lacks in crunchiness, so I sprinkled some almonds on top and it was PERFECTION!