Healthier Cinnamon Rolls

I have been craving cinnamon rolls for a long time now, and my first assumption is that it must have something to do with the cold weather we’ve been having here in Oslo. When it’s cold outside – get warm inside, and what is warmer and more “cozy” than fresh, fluffy cinnamon rolls?

Cinnamon Rolls

1 cup milk (LETT or low fat milk 1%)

6 tbs margarine

6 tbs sugar

8g dry yeast

3 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 large egg (or two small)

1/4 tsp salt

2/3 cup brown sugar

Cinnamon

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1. In a small saucepan, heat up milk, 3 tbs margarine and 1 tbs of the sugar on low temperature until the margarine has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Once the mixture is luke-warm, add the dry yeast and stir until it dissolves.

2. In a seperate large mixing bowl, put the remaining 5 tbs of sugar in with the 3 3/4 cup of flour and add the salt. Crack in the egg(s) but don’t mix it yet.

3. Pour the milk-mixture into the bowl of flour and mix with a wooden spoon. The trick now is finding the right amount of flour. For my sake the dough was too sticky at this point, so I kneaded a little more and more flour into the dough until it didn’t stick to the counter but DON’T PUT TOO MUCH FLOUR IN! It should stick just barely, but not to the point where you have to peel pieces off the counter.

4. Put the dough back into the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and a towel and let rise for approx. 35min or until doubled in size.

5. Roll out the dough to the shape of a square, about 1 cm thick (0.4"inches). Melt the leftover 3 tbs of butter and pour it over the dough, spreading it evenly all over. Then spread the brown sugar and desired amount of cinnamon evenly across the dough.

6. Roll the dough tightly into a sausage, then cut into desired slices (about 4-5 cm or 1.5-2inches). Place them on a baking sheet and cover. Let rise for 35 minutes in a warm place. Preheat oven at 175*C (350*F).

7. Uncover and bake rolls for approx. 20 minutes or until golden. Remember to let them cool before digging in!

8. Now to the healthy part; take one and put the rest in the freezer!

This recipe is inspired by THIS recipe on Cooking Light, however I ended up doing some of my own twists (which is the recipe I wrote above). If my recipe is anything like the one on Cooking Light these cinnamon rolls are only 234cal, and their recipe included frosting so they might even be less without the frosting (I didn’t make frosting)!

Enjoy!

A Riverwalk by Candlelight

Yesterday was the 13th annual riverwalk by candelight, hosted by the city of Oslo. This riverwalk started as a celebration of the new millenium in 2000, and has become one of the most popular events in Oslo. They estimated approx. 50 000 people went on the riverwalk last night. Candles, entertainment and great weather made this an experience I’ll never forget.

Oslo, 19/09/2013

Buffalo Chicken Eggrolls with Ranch Dip

Time for a seriously simple, yet damned delicious recipe. I used certain ingredients that might be hard for one or the other person to get hold of. First of all, a type of cheese that we were recommended by one of the shopowners of a foreign store here in Oslo. It’s called piknik ciftlik peyniri and it’s so yummy. I’m a cheese-a-holic, always have been and always will be. Second, I had these with ranch dip. Ranch is not a hard ingredient for Americans to find, but much harder for Norwegians. My best advice would be to find a recipe for ranch at foodgawker.com.

 

 

 

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Buffalo Chicken Eggrolls

2-3 medium sized chicken breast

3-4tbsp hot sauce (more if you like it spicy)

1 tsp liquid smoke

1 cup piknik cheese (or similar crumbly cheese)

2-3 scallions

Wonton wrappers

1. Cut the chicken into preferably small cubes. Put in a frying pan with a little vegetable oil and fry until the chicken is cooked through. Add the hot sauce and the liquid smoke and stir so you coat all of the chicken.

2. Chop scallions into thin slices and crumb the cheese so these are prepared to be placed on the wonton wrappers. Then place a little chicken, a little cheese and a few slices of scallions on the wrappers and roll into an eggroll. I made an absolutely fantastic description in paint as to how I wrapped mine.

Wow I hope that helped. I had to try out a few wrapping methods before I figured this one out. Worked though, just remember to tuck it tightly.

3. Place the eggrolls on a baking sheet, brush each with some vegetable oil and stick the platter in a preheated oven at 200C (392F). Bake for approx. 10-15min or until lightly golden brown.

Wham bam, thank you m’am. Delicious, crispy eggrolls filled with spicy buffalo chicken. Serve with ranch dip and celery to balance out the spicy flavor of the hot sauce!

Butternut squash soup with chili & crème fraîche

So fall is synonymous with soups for me, and I know I’m not the only one who loves a warm bowl of soup when the crisp fall air nips at the skin. So I’ve been looking at soups on pinterest and found one that me and my honey tried a little over a week ago. The recipe is from BBC Good Food, so all credit to them. You can find the recipe here, or just keep reading below the picture.

Butternut squash soup with chili & crème fraîche

1 butternut squash (approx. 1 kg)

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp butter

2 onions, diced

1 garlic clove (I used 2), thinly sliced

1 mild red chilies, deseeded and finely chopped

8,5dl hot vegetable stock

4 tbsp crème fraîche

Cut the butternut squash into large cubes and let them roast in the oven with half of the olive oil. Roast for approx. 30 minutes or until they are golden and soft. We had to leave them in almost 45min in order to get them soft enough. Remember to turn them at least once while they’re roasting.

Melt the butter and remaining olive oil in a large saucepan and add the garlic, onion and 3/4 of the chilies. Be careful, the chilies can make you cry when they’re cooking.. Put a lid on and let this cook on low heat until the onions are soft (approx. 15-20min).

Once the squash is soft enough, put it in the pan along with the crème fraîche and veggie stock. At this point, try as much as possible to use a stick blender and mix everything together into a soup. There is a lot of liquid, so in order to get a silky smooth soup you can pour the soup through a strainer and then try to purée the leftover chunky parts. Put everything back together and then the soup is ready!

Serve with a swirve of crème fraîche, a dash of pepper and the leftover chili! A spicy soup that’ll warm your tummy as well as your tastebuds!

Final days of summer

Oslo 25/08/2013

Tomorrow, ‘tis the season of warmth and color.

I follow a general rule of thumb; winter is December, January and February; spring is March, April and May; summer is June, July and August; and last but not least, fall is September, October and November. Tomorrow is the 1st of September, so in my mind then it will officially be fall; and I’m very OK with that.

Fall, or Autumn for those who call it that, is my favorite season. That might not make sense to some, but I love almost everything about it. This season feels so warm, despite the temperatures slowly going down. Nature explodes in reds, oranges and yellow; you start wearing big fluffy sweaters and scarves to keep warm; you start wearing slippers inside, instead of walking around barefoot..

You can drink hot chocolate and tea without going past the point of that comfortable warmth you seek when drinking it (if I drink any of these in the summertime I end up sweating like nobody’s business), evenings become just dark enough that you can light candles for a great atmosphere and you can make delicious, warm and comforting soups..

Though this might sound quite crazy, I don’t mind much catching a cold in the fall either. I don’t like it in the spring, definitely not in the summer, but colds and fall kind of go hand in hand.. And colds aren’t so bad when you can actually do the things above; wear big comfy sweaters, drink a cup of tea and eat yummy soups. Not to mention, fall leads to one of the best Holidays of the year: CHRISTMAS!
Have a great last day of summer!