Peach Cobbler with delicious crumble topping

Though the season for peaches is fading away, you can still make a yummy fresh peach cobbler if you hurry!

This is very simple and the cobbler topping is easy.

Peach Cobbler

Peach center:

9-10 peaches

1/2 C sugar

OPTIONAL:

1/4 C Peach schnapps

few drops of:

banana flavor

cherry flavor

strawberry flavor

Cobbler topping:

2 1/4 C flour

3 sticks of butter

1 1/2 C sugar

vanilla

Cut peaches into chunks. I kept the skins on them and it tasted great.

Mix in a bowl with the sugar ( and optional ingredients )

Place in a large baking dish. This will make enough for a 9 by 10 pan with more left over.

Mix all the ingredients of the cobbler mix in a bowl. no need to mix to a pulp or use a mixer. Just mix with a spoon or a large open whisk.

Sprinkle gingerly on top of the peaches. Don't worry about patting it down

Crumbles of joy!

Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. If you like a really soft cobbler topping,bake for 40 minutes. If you like a crunchy cobbler topping,bake for 50 minutes or more until it's very golden brown.

My peach cobbler came out reddish in color because of all the extra flavors I added. It was amazingly delicious. It didn't last but an hour, thanks to my friends.

YUMMY peach cobbler!! Enjoy!

Pain Au Chocolat - a delight!

I work with a French woman. Sadly, she is moving back to France in a week or two. I asked her "What would you like me to make for you before you leave?" She replied "Pain Au Chocolat!" I had never heard of such a thing. She described it as puff pastry wrapped around chocolate. YUM! I researched it and found great pictures to match but...could I make it taste fresh and delicious like it just came from a French Bakery?!

Here we begin. I found a great recipe from Dinner With Julie, another blog. I do feel bad about going off of someone else's recipe, but I had no idea how to make this otherwise. The directions and ingredients are exceedingly simple. I hope you'll give this delicious, but time consuming, recipe a try!

Pain Au Chocolat

Dough:

3/4 cup warm milk
1 pkt yeast
1/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp. salt

Butter:

1 cup (1/2 lb.) butter, room temp
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Chocolate:

1/2 cup or more chocolate (I chopped mine into slivers. I used Ghiradelli 60%Cacao, Intense Dark Evening Dream Chocolate Bar. Found it in the candy section of Wal-Mart. I'm sure you could use a semisweet bar as well.

Mix all of the dough ingredients and knead until smooth and no longer sticky (a few minutes). Don't add more flour to reduce stickiness. Adding flour will make the end result tough.

Whip/mix the butter ingredients until very fluffy and pale. I mixed it in the stand mixer the whole time I was working on the dough ingredients and kneading it. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. Butter doesn't need to be refrigerated.

Take the dough out of the fridge. Roll it on a lightly floured countertop into a rectangle about 13" by 18" and 1/4inch thick. Stand facing it so that the 18" is horizontal and the 13" is vertical.

Spread the butter onto the right 2/3rds of the dough.

You will be folding the dough into thirds. At this point, take the 1/3rd of the dough that isn't covered in butter on the left and fold it over halfway to the other side of the dough, so that it covers only 1/3rd of the butter.

Then, fold the right side over the part you just folded so that it's a tri-fold.

Wrap it up in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Take it out of the fridge, place the open ends to your left and right and roll out into another 13X18 rectangle 1/4 inch thick.

Then, do the tri-fold routine again. Don't be afraid if the butter looks odd or if the dough cracks. It will all work out.

Place it in the fridge for 30 minutes. You will do this an additional 2 times to make the total 4 times that you roll out and fold.

At this point, place the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 5 hrs or overnight (I didn't have plastic wrap, so I used wax paper)

At this point, it shouldn't take too long to get these guys in the oven. I know it's a lot of prep time, but it's worth it when you see the flaky buttery layers in croissants!

Take the chocolate and shave/chop it into little bits. I used a baking bar, so I just shaved bits off the edge.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface so that it is 1/4 inch thick. I used a pizza cutter to cut long strips and then cross cut to make pieces the size of a business card.

If the pieces are too thick for you, roll them a bit thinner. Place a small strip of chocolate down the middle.

Chocolate!!!

Roll them up tightly and place seam side down on the ungreased baking sheet.

Lots! If you have the time, let rise for an hour. I did not, so I just baked them. 400 degrees for about 15 minutes.

Finished! I made a mistake and only baked mine at 350 for 15 minutes and they don't seem as flaky as I thought they'd be. Be sure you bake them at the right temperature!

Pain Au Chocolat!

I taste tested a couple out of the oven and...although they tasted good, I look forward to trying them when they have cooled down. I think the flavor will come out more at that point.

Enjoy!

Great Homemade Cinnamon Rolls in 45 minutes

You'll need:

2 boxes of hot roll mix

1 1/2 C ( 3 sticks ) salted butter, room temp

Cinnamon

Vanilla

Brown Sugar

White Sugar

optional: chocolate chips, nuts

Prepare hot roll mix as directed for cinnamon rolls on the side of the box.

Note: DO NOT add more flour. Yes, the dough will be sticky. Deal with it! Keep on kneading it. I promise--if you add more flour to the mix to try to make it less sticky, you'll end up with tough hard cinnamon rolls. When you need a bit of flour to coat your table, sprinkle gently and not a whole lot.

Let rest for 5 minutes

Dough resting.

Dough should be soft, springy to the touch,and lightly floured, not coated in flour or sticky.

Whip butter.

Add cinnamon and vanilla

Whip whip!

See how soft the dough looks?!

Roll out dough. I like a thicker dough.

lightly flour as needed

Spread the whipped butter onto the dough.

Sprinkle white and brown sugar. It's really up to you. I don't like an overly sweet cinnamon roll, so I go heavy on the cinnamon instead.

Start rolling it up! I roll it towards myself. I lift up the edge just a tad, push it away from me to stretch it just a tad, and then I roll it tight. I do this the whole way down.

At this point, find a string or unflavored dental floss. Cut yourself a piece and slide it under the cinnamon roll log. Bring both edges up and criss cross the string and pull down. It will cut the cinnamon roll log into pieces. I like big cinnamon rolls so I make my pieces rather large.

I greased a pan with pam and floured it.

At this point, you can add almonds, walnuts, pecans, butterscotch or chocolate morsels!

If you prefer, you can add those things after you add the sugars. that way, they're rolled up into the cinnamon roll.

My three types of rolls- chocolate chip, almond slivered, and plain ol' cinnamon.

I sprinkled them with a bit more cinnamon. YUM!

This was an edge that I baked separate to test the baking temp and time.

Bake them at 350 for about 12-15 minutes (depending on how big the rolls are. bigger ones last about 15)

It was perfect. Soft center and a gentle crisp on the outside.

Yum!