Sweet Rolls for the Long Weekend

It seems that every time I have a little bit of time off, I make bread. I made cranberry buns last March break, fruit and nut swirl rolls and New Year's day and this Easter weekend, I made these lovely citrus sweet rolls with dried cherries and cardamom.

But .. but .. I have so many other exciting things to share with you. More yummy Asian treats, a comforting classic made vegan and low-fat, and a crispy crunchy addictive cracker that's the perfect vehicle for peanut butter and homemade Nutella ...




Alas, I shall be festive and proper for once in the my life and give you these sweet rolls as an alternative to the hot cross bun that's so traditional this time of the year. If you're not feeling the icing cross or the Catholic undertones that go with it, or if you're just looking for something sweet and different to play with for Easter brunch, these are the rolls for you. They're light and sticky sweet from the simple glaze that goes one top the second you pull them out of the oven, and they go perfectly with a strong cup of coffee in the morning. The lemon zest and juice really wake up the spices in these rolls, and give them an extra specialness that every holiday needs. The dried cherries are a real treat, but in a pinch, dried cranberries would be great too. I'm also betting that if you're so inclined, some shredded coconut and almond flakes wouldn't hurt at all.




Are you off again tomorrow? If you're as lucky as I am, make these sweet rolls and relax on your last day of this long weekend. If you're back to the grind, tuck this recipe away and wait for a rainy spring weekend when you're itching to turn your oven on and give you taste buds a kick out of bed.

Cherry Lemon Sweet Rolls
adapted from Crumb
makes 16 little rolls

3/4 cup of almond milk
2 tablespoons of butter (I used Earth Balance)
1.5 teaspoons of quick rising yeast
1/4 cup of natural cane sugar
2 tablespoons of yogurt (if you're keeping this vegan, just add two extra tablespoons of almond milk)
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
zest of two lemons, divided
1 1/4 cup of spelt flour
1 cup of all purpose flour (plus more for dusting)
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of cardamom
1/2 cup of dried cherries, chopped

juice of half a lemon
2 teaspoons of natural cane sugar

1. In a saucepan, place the almond milk and butter. Heat slowly until the butter melts and the milk becomes warm. Pour into a large bowl.

2. Add sugar and yeast to the bowl and mix well. Let it sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture becomes frothy. Add the yogurt, vanilla extract and half the lemon zest and mix until well combined.

3. Add the flours, cinnamon and cardamom, and mix until a sticky dough forms. On a floured surface, dump out the dough and knead, adding sprinklings of flour as needed. Knead for 5-7 minutes, or until your get a smooth elastic dough that's just a little bit sticky.

5. Place the dough in an oiled bowl and cover with a tea towel. Allow the dough to rise for 45 minutes. If you're using regular instant yeast (and not the quick rise), you'll have to double the rising times.

6. In the meantime, prepare your fruit filling and glaze. For the filling, simply combine the rest of the lemon zest with the chopped cherries. Mix it with your fingers really well, so that the zest is evenly distributed. If you're planning to add any extra goodies, now is the time! For the glaze, dissolve the sugar in the lemon juice. Taste the mixture and make sure it's to your liking. Add more sugar or lemon juice as needed.

7. Once the dough as rise, punch it down and give it a couple good kneads. Divide your dough in half. Working with half the dough ball, roll the dough out into a 10'6 inch rectangle. Sprinkle half the cherry filling over the surface of the rectangle. Roll it up nice and tight and cut them into 8 equal parts. Place them on a parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat for the other half.

8. Cover your rolls again with a tea towel and let them rest for about 25 minutes. Bake them in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes, or until the bottoms of the rolls get a nice golden brown colour. Pull them out of the oven and brush with the glaze.

9. Enjoy with your coffee and don't forget to share!

Help! Health Contradictions

Ok, so I did something that I didn't think I would do anytime soon: I signed up at the gym across the street from me. It's not just any old gym. It's like a weight-lifting, mind-changing, philosophy-pumping gym filled with large, muscly, oily looking men and women in tight spandex work-out shorts who don't smile back when I smile at them. Why? Well, the thai-boxing didn't work out (waaaaaaay too expensive!), and my partner and I wanted something exercise-y to do together that was convenient, interesting and a challenge. After muathai proved too hard on my summer budget, we signed up at the gym across the street.

Now, the signing up came with a 3 hour lecture on how to eat better and exercise better and a 1 hour training session on how to do 4 different lifts properly. We brought coffee, but I still left yawning. All I wanted was something to supplement my cardio workouts, something that would allow me to get stronger and more capable at doing certain physical tasks. The messages I got, were not only confusing, but hard to follow. Yeah, I'll spare you the gorey details, but apparently, cardio is a waste of time because it lowers your resting heart rate and you end up burning less calories when you're sleeping or resting -- but by lowering your resting heart rate aren't you making things less difficult on your heart?? It gets better. Apparently we're supposed to cut dairy out of our diets because it's so unnatural and no other mammal drinks another mammal's milk (so ... no other mammal wears clothes ... or uses technology ... or friggin pumps weights!), AND we're supposed to stop eating grains too because their not part of our "original diets" (yet at the end of it, he said that we should take advantage of the global market and eat a variety of meats and fruits and vegetables ... yeah, I don't think the global market was around when the first humans hunted and gathered!). Oh yeah, and basically all vegetarians have it wrong because you'll end up chubby and will never be able to build muscle because there's no protein in a vegetarian diet (Hello!! Brown rice + beans = complete protein!).


So ... does that mean that this (and I quote) "best oatmeal I've ever eaten," inspired by this gal and this lady shouldn't ever be made again? Oh come on! Peanut butter, bananas, strawberries? Until last summer when I read the mentioned posts, I never even thought to bake oatmeal. Now I do it all the time and experiment with different fruit/flavour combinations (apples, raisins, cinnamon and rhubarb, cherries and almonds). And that big dollop of skim milk yogurt on top .. that's no-no too??

The Best Baked Oatmeal

1 tablespoon of natural peanut butter
1/2 cup of soy milk
3/4 cup of skim milk
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
1 tablespoon of honey
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 banana, chopped
1 handful of strawberries, hulled and sliced
1 cup of quick cooking (5 minute) oats

1. Put the peanut butter in a large bowl. Whisk in the soy milk a little at a time so that the peanut butter gets incorporated (as opposed to just having big lumps in the liquid).

2. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until well-combined. Pour into a cake pan or square baking dish and bake in a 350 degree oven until all the liquid is absorbed and it gets little golden at the sides.

3. Prepare to taste oatmeal that you have never tasted it before! It's like having cake for breakfast! Even better topped with yogurt (oh no! the dreaded dairy! How am I ever going to build muscle!)

So, does this ALSO means that the honeyed cherry muffins I made yesterday morning are nixed from my repertoire as well?? I thought they were super healthy -- oatmeal, fresh fruit, honey, canola oil, psyllium husks (ok yeah that was random.. I tried to sneak that one in but it didn't work. My Dad brought over this huge jar of psyllium husks because it's supposedly super healthy. If you don't have it, just use wheat bran or wheat germ). The secret here is soaking the oats in the liquids for 5 minutes or so before adding the rest of the ingredients - makes a very tender, moist crumb for the muffins. But the grains are a no-no ... really?!

Honeyed-Cherry Multi-Grain Muffins

1/2 cup of quick cooking oats (5 minute kind)
1/4 cup of psyllium husks (or wheat bran or wheat germ)
1/2 cup of yogurt
1/2 cup of skim milk (or instead of milk and yogurt, use all buttermilk)
1/4 cup of canola oil
1/4 cup of honey
3 tablespoons of brown sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon of almond extract
1 egg
1 cup of whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 cup of cherries, pitted and chopped

1. In a large bowl stir together the milk, yogurt, oil and honey until well blended. Add in the oats and psyllium husks and stir. Let the mixture sit for at least 5 minutes (this would be a good time to pit and chop your cherries).

2. Add in a beaten egg, brown sugar, vanilla and almond extracts and mix well.

3. Sift in the flour and baking soda and mix until just combined (don't over mix!). Stir in the cherries.

4. Spoon the batter into lined muffin tins (makes 12 big ones and 24 mini-muffins) and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes or until a cake tester inserted comes out clean.

5. Enjoy your whole grains! Yeah, I'm never going to get a six-pack anyway!

Happy PRIDE!!

Quick little post here to say HAPPY PRIDE, TORONTO!! People were commenting that Pride was too highly politicized this year, but you know what? I think when we're talking about LGBTQ pride, politics has to play a role. And politics dividing the people involved with organizing the Pride festivities? Well, that's how we learn. There's conflict, there's division, but hopefully in the end, there's learning and knowledge that comes about of all that conflict. Because conflict can spark discussion and debate, and that is how we learn.

Politics ruining Pride? Not for me. I fully enjoyed booing the police, waving and blowing kisses at Olivia Chow, and waving peace signs and shouting in solidarity whenever I saw "My Pride Includes Freedom of Speech." Plus, there was a really cool sign: Boobs NOT Blair! I think that was my favourite! The day could not have been more perfect (or hot and steamy!), but what made it over the top, were crazy screaming friends, and ... COOKIES. Two kinds to be specific -- because my pride includes a little sweetness!

Lemon and Strawberry-kissed Sugar Cookies
adapted from "Cookies" p. 92 - by Catherine Atkinson, Joanna Farrow and Valerie Barrett: I usually don't go for a roll-out cookie simply because I'm lazy, but my Pride-going friend had just bought me these cute little cookie cutters, plus a bunch of pretty pink and purple dazzle sugar, so I couldn't resist! I originally thought that the strawberry puree would dye the cookie pink, but they only got a tiny bit blushed. The flavour of the strawberries is subtle and wonderful.

zest and juice of half a lemon
1/2 cup of ripe strawberries - hulled
1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 cup of softened butter
1/2 cup of sugar
1 egg yolk
coloured sugar for sprinkling

1. Put the lemon juice and strawberries in a mini-chopper or blender and blend until you get a smooth puree. This makes about 1/3 of a cup of puree. Set aside.

2. Cream the butter, sugar and lemon zest. Add the egg yolk and mix until light and fluffy.

3. Add the flour alternately with the strawberry puree, mixing well between additions. You should end up with a soft dough. Chill the dough wrapped in plastic for at least an hour, overnight preferably.

4. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured. I found that it was easier to roll it out in two separate batches. Roll it out to maybe half a centimetre thick, maybe a tiny bit more. Think shortbread texture. Use your favourite cookie cutters to cut out the dough. Place on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with coloured sugar.

5. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes. The cookies will puff up a bit and get a teeny bit brown around the edges.


Chocolate Almond Cherry Cookies
adapted from eat me delicious: These cookies are absolute heaven, and YES, even I used real butter in the one. The chocolate and almonds and cherries are just such a perfect match. It's a chewy, buttery deep dark chocolatey cookie. Be careful when transporting them in hot weather ..they get melty!

1/2 cup of soften butter
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of white sugar
1/2 teaspoon of almond extract
1 egg
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 cup of cocoa powder
1/2 cup of ground almonds
3/4 cup of all purpose flour
1/3 cup of chocolate chips
1/2 cup of chopped dried cherries

1. Cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the egg and almond extract and stir until everything is combined.

2. Add the salt, baking soda and sift in the cocoa. Give it a good stir. Add the flour and ground almonds and stir until everything is covered in cocoa magic.

3. Add the chocolate chips and cherries and mix well. Drop spoonfuls of dough onto a cookie sheet and bake in a 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes, or until cookies crackle on top and you can smell the chocolate-y goodness.