Show of hands...who else feels like there are not enough hours in the day? I know I'm not the only person. In fact, I'm sure there are people out there who think I have it easy. All I know is that I was never this busy when I had the 9-5 (er...7:30-3:30) desk job. But I also wasn't this happy, and that's what really counts. However, being busy equals boring photos because I don't have the time to pull in various props and pretty colors. So hopefully the food can speak for itself.

So today I took the afternoon off. It was 65 degrees and sunny today, and I sat out on my front porch and read a book. It was sublime. I didn't sit inside on the computer (although I had plenty of work to justify that). I sat outside and took a moment to smell the roses. Or the melting snow and the crocus. It was exactly what I needed. Refreshing.

Sidebar...did you guys know that there's a TV show on now that has both Charles in Charge and Hanging with Mr. Cooper? My head exploded when I saw this. I have no idea if it's any good because I spent time reliving Charles, Buddy, Mark Cooper, Vanessa, and my golden years. Back when I thought life was complicated and busy. Ha!

Oh...the muffins. They're incredible. They're juicy and full of blueberries. There's a crunchy topping of cinnamon sugar that somehow pulls everything together and makes it the perfect breakfast, lunch, snack, or dessert. I feel like I say a lot that things are perfect, but at least you guys know that I enjoy eating the recipes that are posted on here.

Blueberry Muffins with a Crunchy Cinnamon Sugar Topping
Makes 15-16
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Note: If you’re making these at high altitude, simply adjust the baking powder to use the * amount.

For the muffins:
1/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cups + 2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons (*1 3/4 teaspoons*) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

For the topping:
Heaping 1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons cold butter

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

In the bowl of your mixer, cream together the butter and sugar using the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Mix in the egg and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add in the vanilla, baking powder, and salt and mix on low until combined. Mix in half of the flour with the mixer on low, pour in the milk and let it mix, and then add in the rest of the flour. Once combined, stop the mixer and fold in the blueberries by hand. If you're using frozen blueberries, do not thaw them first.

Separate the batter into muffin liners, placing about 1/4 cup batter in each cup. Make the topping by mixing together the sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Cut in the cold butter using a fork until it resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the topping over the muffins.

Bake for 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for a few minutes and then remove from the pan to finish cooling.

Barely adapted from Taste of Home

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I heard an extremely exciting piece of information on the news this morning...it's daylight savings on Sunday! I'm pretty sure this is the one day a year that I look forward to the most. Is that strange? And it wasn't just when I became a food blogger and needed more daylight. I've always been really excited about this day in March (or April, like when I was a kid). I've just always hated the dark I suppose. I'm sure we could psychoanalyze that one, but let's move on. 

The other amazing thing about daylight savings is that it means spring is here. Well, to me, at least. Spring is my second favorite season because things start to grow and turn green and it's pretty and warm and just lovely. Can you guess what my least favorite season is then? (brown=death=yuck.) Anyway, we made this cake for Valentine's day, but I love it for this time of year. It's fun, cheerful, and bright. It's spring in a cake.

Normally I do this cake as chocolate with chocolate frosting and regular Kit Kats. However, the client wanted it to be white and pink. So we found these cookies and cream Kit Kat bars at Cost Plus and made it a vanilla cake with pink buttercream. You can do whatever you want--I've even made this cake in a heart pan. Pictured is an 8-inch cake, but I highly recommend you do a 9-inch, two-layer cake instead. The cake layers were too tall for the Kit Kats, so we had to pipe a row of pearls on the bottom to fill in the space. It's pretty, but if you're looking to avoid any piping details, go with the niner. (Did I hear a niner in there? Were you calling from a walkie talkie?)

I love baking from scratch, but use your favorite cake recipe (or box cake mix). Here are my favorite vanilla and chocolate cake recipes, adapted for high altitude. Here are my favorite vanilla buttercream and chocolate frosting recipes, too. 

Basket of Berries Cake Recipe
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Two 9-inch round cake layers
Frosting
12 Kit Kat candy bars (1.5 ounces each)
2 pounds fresh strawberries, halved
1 pint fresh raspberries
1 pint fresh blackberries or blueberries
2 tablespoons apricot preserves

Place your first baked and cooled cake down on the plate or cake board. If it is domed, slice off the dome part so it's flat (do this on both cakes). Spread frosting over the first layer. Place the second layer on top of the frosting and press down lightly. Spread frosting over the cake, making sure the sides and top are completely covered. You don't have to worry about it looking perfect because the candy bars and fruit will cover it up.

Unwrap the candy bars and use a knife to separate the bars from each other (instead of snapping them). Place the candy bars side by side around the cake. It will look more like a basket if you stick the side with the writing to the cake, but we didn't do that because we wanted the white side to show.

Arrange the fruit on top of the cake and pile it on. Warm the apricot preserves and brush it on top of the fruit to give it a shine. If desired, wrap a ribbon around the cake. Store in the fridge, but bring it up to room temperature before serving.

Idea from Taste of Home

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I never really thought I was a big fan of cinnamon rolls until I started making different varieties. And then I was hooked. I've done pumpkin cinnamon rolls, apple pie cinnamon rolls, and now these strawberry cinnamon rolls. These are perfect when you want something that's a little more light and refreshing. 

These are also pretty simple to make after you take care of the dough (which isn't hard to do). Just use a good quality jam for the filling and doctor it up a bit with some cinnamon. Sprinkle on some fresh strawberries, roll it up, slice and bake it, and viola! Perfect breakfast! I'll be adding these to my list of weekend breakfasts, that's for sure! 

Strawberry Cinnamon Rolls Recipe
Makes 18 rolls
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For the dough: 
6 1/4 cups all purpose flour (794 g/28 ounces)
2 teaspoons salt
6 tablespoons sugar
5 teaspoons instant yeast
2 cups + 2 tablespoons lukewarm milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil

For the filling: 
1 1/2 cup strawberry jam
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 cups sliced strawberries

For the glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2-3 tablespoons milk

To make the dough, mix the yeast with the sugar and warm milk and let sit for about 5 minutes. Measure the flour into the bowl of your mixer, add in the yeast mixture and oil, and mix with the paddle until everything is incorporated. Add in the salt, switch to the dough hook, and mix on low speed until a smooth, tacky ball of dough forms. Transfer the dough to a greased bowl, cover it, and let it rise until doubled, about 1-2 hours.   

When the dough is almost done rising, stir together the jam and cinnamon. 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 

To assemble the rolls, divide the dough in half. Roll it out on a floured surface into a long rectangle, about 15x25 inches or so. The dough will be thin. Spread half of the jam mixture onto each rectangle.  Sprinkle the strawberries on top. The berries won't cover the entire rectangle, but you want to make sure they're evenly spaced. Roll the dough up from the long side and then cut it into 2-inch pieces. Place the slices into greased cake pans, cut side down. Let sit for about 15 minutes to rise. Bake for 25-30 minutes until browned on top and cooked through. 

After the rolls have finished baking, make the glaze by combining the powdered sugar, cinnamon, and almond extract. Add the milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the glaze is a pourable consistency. Pour over the cinnamon rolls and serve.  

Dough recipe from Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day

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Chocolate and peanut butter. Is there any better combination? I don't think so...although I guess brownies and peanut butter is even better, right? I've had these in my back pocket for some time, and they're pretty stellar.

I had never heard of an edible Buckeye until I started dating my husband, who is an Ohio State Buckeye. An edible buckeye is a candy that has a soft peanut butter filling and is surrounded by chocolate (an inedible buckeye is a poisonous nut). It's awesome (the candy one of course). The only problem is that they can be a pain to roll and then dunk in the chocolate. So turning them into a bar is pure genius. I adore these buckeyes...and my buckeye.

Buckeye Bars Recipe
Makes a 9x9 pan
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1/2 cup butter
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips or coarsely chopped
3/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped peanuts (optional)

For the filling:
1/2 cup peanut butter
14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x9 pan with aluminum foil, leaving a few inches hanging over the sides (this foil will turn into handles to lift the brownies out of the pan later). Spray the foil generously with nonstick spray, paying special attention to the corners and sides.

In a large microwave-safe bowl, add the chocolate and butter. Microwave for 30-second intervals until melted and smooth, stirring in between. Add the sugar and vanilla into the bowl with the chocolate and whisk until incorporated. Add in the eggs and whisk until thick and glossy (about a minute). Stir in the flour and salt until just combined. Fold in the chopped peanuts if using.

Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan. Whisk together the peanut butter and sweetened condensed milk until smooth and spread over the brownie batter in the pan. Drop the remaining brownie batter on top of the peanut butter by spoonfuls. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean and the center is set. Let cool before serving.

Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens

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I must confess that I am obsessed with this brown butter cinnamon rum sauce. Even though it's not actual rum...just rum extract. It's warm and homey and amazing, and I want to bathe in it. Or drink it. Or put it in everything...it started with a cake and then it led to these apple pie cinnamon rolls, and now I've put it in and on my pancakes. And I don't regret it one iota.

I took my regular pancake recipe and then while they were cooking, I drizzled this sauce on top of the uncooked side. The sauce is a little thick, which is perfect when you drizzle it onto the pancake batter. If you want to drizzle it over your pancakes before you shovel them into your mouth, you could add a little water to it if you want it to be runnier. It's amazingly perfect either way and the best way to start a weekend morning. 

Brown Butter Cinnamon Rum Pancakes Recipe
Makes about 12 pancakes
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For the pancakes:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/4 cups milk
1 egg
3 tablespoons melted butter, cooled

For the brown butter sauce:
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon flour
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon rum extract
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

Make the pancake batter first. In a large bowl, combine together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Whisk in the egg, milk, and cooled melted butter until just combined. Set it aside and make the sauce.

In a medium saucepan melt the butter. Stir and watch as it gets foamy and then starts to turn brown. When it turns into a dark honey color and smells nutty, quickly stir in the sugar, flour, and salt. Gradually add the water. Bring to a boil and cook and stir for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add in the extracts and cinnamon.

Heat a griddle or skillet over medium heat and spray with cooking spray. Drop 1/4 cups of the batter on the griddle. Drizzle about 1-2 tablespoons of the sauce on top of the pancakes. Let them cook for 2-3 minutes until bubbles appear on the top of the pancakes and the underside is golden brown. Flip the pancakes and let them cook for 1-2 minutes longer until golden brown.

Serve immediately with the rest of the sauce or let them rest on a wire rack so they remain crisp.

If the sauce is too thick to use as a syrup, whisk in up to 1/4 cup more water to thin it.

Sauce adapted from Taste of Home Fall Baking Cookbook

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For years I have been searching for the best chocolate frosting recipe. Essentially I wanted something that looked like the chocolate frosting you can get in the can but it needed to taste better (although I loved that frosting when I was a kid). I wanted it to be dark in color and super chocolatey. I wanted it to not taste like sour cream (like many of them do). I wanted it to taste like canned chocolate frosting...but not.

And then I finally found it. Well actually I found it months and months ago but I never tried it until a few weeks ago. And then I kicked myself for not trying it sooner. I do this a lot unfortunately. The secret ingredient is Ovaltine. I realize this is pretty unorthodox, but it totally works.

I could happily eat this frosting with a spoon. If you're looking for the perfect chocolate frosting, look no further. You've found it.

By the way, a year ago I started this little blog on a day when I had nothing to do at my office. Here I am a year later, laid off from that job, but happily running a bakery an