Spiced Tahini Roasted Rainbow Carrot Salad with Whipped Roasted Garlic Goat Cheese, Baby Arugula, Shaved Shallots, Toasted Walnuts, Fresh Cilantro, + a Spicy Blood Orange Gastrique

Spring has sprung, y'all! Let's all join in for a collective rejoice because that officially mean Farmer's Market season is back in full swing, and with that, it means fresh produce is at its' peak! My Mountain Man and I recently went to one of our favorite restaurants and we ordered a roasted carrot salad with goat cheese, arugula, + a citrus vinaigrette. We loved the combination of flavors, so I took the idea and ran with it. It just so happens that I spotted some baby heirloom rainbow carrots (try and say that whole spiel five times fast) and I instantly connected them with the inspiration burning in my belly to recreate this salad. It happens to still be citrus season down south, so I knew that I wanted to make a blood orange gastrique to drizzle over the top. Not only does this add a beautiful, deep scarlet color, but a beautiful acidic note to the entire dish. Oh, and it's got a nice spicy kick that will leave your mouth with slight tingling. After looking through my go-to cookbook, The Flavor Bible, and it suggests to pair carrots with cumin, other earthy spices, nuts, and citrus. I first made a "marinade" of tahini, olive oil, maple syrup, cumin, cardamom, coriander, cinnamon, + turmeric. The baby carrots are tossed + coated in this marinade mixture before being roasted in the over until they are golden brown and just slightly charred. And make sure to allow them to cool to room temperature before you begin assembling the salad, so the whipped goat cheese doesn't melt + the baby arugula doesn't wilt due to the heat. Now I want to make sure that you guys use baby arugula because the peppery note from these greens is so perfect, it doesn't miss a beat. I also added in some shaved shallots for a bit of a bite and some toasted walnuts for some texture. Obviously, I am a complete lush when it comes to goat cheese, especially when it is whipped and flavored with roasted garlic + honey, but you could easily make whipped feta as the base of your salad if you prefer that instead. After the salad is tediously layered and beautified, I sprinkle some fresh minced cilantro to round out all of the flavors. They say a picture is worth a thousand words and in this case, it is completely and utterly true. I cannot think of another dish that would be more enjoyable on a gorgeous springtime afternoon than this salad. So that only means that... you just gotta make it!! Enjoy :)

For the Spicy Blood Orange Gastrique:

1C Freshly Squeezed Blood Orange Juice

1 Blood Orange, Zested

3T Sugar

3T Red Wine Vinegar

2 Sprigs of Fresh Thyme

1T Light Corn Syrup

1t Dried Red Pepper Flakes

Pinch of Salt

For the Whipped Roasted Garlic Goat Cheese:

A Head of Roasted Garlic Cloves, Cooled

4oz Softened Cream Cheese

½C Heavy Cream

10z Honey Goat Cheese

Salt & Pepper, To Taste

For the Spiced Tahini Roasted Rainbow Carrots:

1 ½-2lbs Baby Rainbow Carrots (keep the stems on, but trimmed short)

4T Roasted Tahini

2T Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3T Maple Syrup

2t Cumin

½t Cardamom, Coriander, Cinnamon, + Turmeric

Kosher Salt + Fresh Cracked Pepper (we used a good pinch of salt to balance the sweetness)

For the Roasted Rainbow Carrot Salad:

Prepared Whipped Roasted Garlic Goat Cheese, Chilled

Baby Arugula (do not substitute any other greens, you need the peppery notes)

Spiced Tahini Roasted Rainbow Carrots, Room Temperature

1 Small Shallot, Thinly Shaved

1 Big Handful of Walnuts, Toasted + Roughly Chopped

Prepared Spicy Blood Orange Gastrique, Chilled

Fresh Cilantro, Minced (for garnishing)

Fleur de Sel + Fresh Cracked Pepper, For Sprinkling

Directions:

1. For the Spicy Blood Orange Gastrique: In a small pot, pour in the blood orange juice and add in the blood orange zest, sugar, red wine vinegar, a generous pinch of salt, and sprigs of fresh thyme. Bring this liquid to a hard boil, and then reduce it to a simmer. Allow this mixture to reduce in half, about 5-10 minutes. Once it has reduced down, remove the sprigs of thyme and whisk in the light corn syrup. Bring to a boil once more and allow it to thicken to a nice, smooth syrup. We reduced ours to about a little more than ¼C. Whisk in the dried red pepper flakes and chill the gastrique in the refrigerator until it has completely cooled.

2. For the Whipped Roasted Garlic Goat Cheese: In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat together the softened cream cheese, roasted garlic cloves, and salt until thoroughly mixed. Scrape down the sides and turn the mixer to medium-high speed and add in ¼C heavy cream. Continue whipping, while continuously adding a little bit of crumbled honey goat cheese at a time, until the goat cheese is combined throughout. Add in the remaining ¼C heavy cream and beat on high until it is light & fluffy. Season with salt & pepper to taste. Place in the refrigerator to chill slightly.

3. For the Spiced Tahini Roasted Rainbow Carrots: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray it with some Pam. Set it aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the roasted tahini, olive oil, maple syrup, cumin, cinnamon, cardamom, Turmeric, kosher salt, and fresh cracked pepper. The mixture will be pretty thick, but that’s okay, it will help to thickly coat the baby carrots. Toss the carrots in the tahini using your hands until they are completely covered. Lay them out in a single layer on the prepared pan and roast for 25 minutes. Boost your oven up to broil and allow them to reach a gorgeous golden brown color with a slight char (just keep an eye on them, you don’t want them to burn). Remove the roasted carrots from the oven and allow them to cool to room temperature before assembling the salad.

4. For the Roasted Carrot Salad: On a pretty dinner plate, spoon a blanket of the whipped roasted garlic goat cheese on the bottom, and then mound a handful of baby arugula on top of the cheese. Now stack the spiced tahini roasted carrots on top of the greens (almost log cabin style), followed by some of the shaved shallots, and a scattering of the toasted walnuts. Drizzle the entire dish with some of the spicy blood orange gastrique, as well as a sprinkle of minced cilantro, fleur de sel and fresh cracked pepper. Serve immediately! 

Spicy Mexican Chocolate Silk Pie with Vanilla Bean Pâte Brisée , Salty Cajeta + Cajeta Infused Whipped Cream

Although it’s St. Patrick’s Day… I’m going way out-of-bounds and heading to a completely different area of the world… Mexico. Well, and America, too. Who doesn’t love chocolate? Everyone does. And chocolate pie, well it takes the cake (or pie) for me. This is a traditional recipe turned up a notch by taking Chocolate Silk Pie and making it spicy. It might sound crazy and a little insane, but bare with me a little bit as I explain it. I don’t know if y’all have been to (or heard of) Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream, but we sure have. She recently opened up a shop in Atlanta and we nearly go every week. Our favorite flavors are her salty caramel, queen city cayenne, and the buckeye state. So, I took inspiration from two of those to make a pie. Chocolate Silk Pie is great on its’ own, don’t get me wrong. It’s luscious, smooth, and so-wrong-its-right in every kinda way. But why not make it spicy? You truly haven’t lived if you haven’t experienced Mexican chocolate or any spiced chocolate for that matter. So instead of using unsweetened chocolate, I bought some Taza Spicy Mexican Chocolate Discs and added some spices into the pie filling. It warms you deep into your bones and your soul, and well heats your mouth up a bit, but we like that, a lot. The whole thing is put into a pre-baked pie crust, I use my own recipe, but you could easily just do a store-bought crust to save time and effort. But the secret ingredient to this blissful pie is the Cajeta component. Cajeta is a thick Mexican caramel made with goat’s milk, very similar to a can of caramelized, sweetened condensed milk. But wayyyyyy better. We found our Cajeta at Whole Foods; however, you surely can make your own at home. We spread the Cajeta into the bottom of the pre-baked pie crust, so that there was a luscious layer of caramel with every bite. And shhh, we sprinkled a tad bit of sea salt on top to make it a salty Cajeta (and it was so yummy). Then we took it another step forward and infused our whipped cream topping with more Cajeta because, well, why the hell not? It’s practically a Cajeta party, YAY. The pie is finished with just some more of that fabulous spicy chocolate grated over the top. And you, my friend, will be in paradise along with us. You won’t regret making this pie, y’all, you just won’t!! Enjoy :)

For the Vanilla Bean Pâte Brisée:

3 ¾C AP Flour (plus extra for rolling)

3 Sticks of butter, Cut into ½inch Cubes & Chilled

1 ½t Salt

1T + 1 ½t Sugar

12-18T Ice Water, Very Cold

3 Vanilla Beans, Sliced & Scraped for Beans

For the Cajeta-Infused Whipped Cream:

2C Heavy Cream

¼C Sugar

½C Cajeta (we purchased some at whole foods)

Pinch of Salt (or to taste)

1t Vanilla

For the Mexican Chocolate Silk Pie:

4oz Spicy Mexican Chocolate, Chopped (we used Taza Chocolate Discs)

1C Salted Butter, Softened

1 ½C Sugar

½t Chili Powder, Cinnamon & Paprika (and a pinch of a cayenne)

4 Whole Eggs

½C Cajeta (to spread in the base of the pie shell)

Pre-Baked Vanilla Bean Pâte Brisée, Cooled

Directions:

1. For the Vanilla Bean Pâte Brisée: Start by cutting the sticks of butter into ½inch cubes and placing in the freezer bag, along with the flour, salt, and sugar. Place the bag of flour into the freezer and chill for at least 1-2 hours. In a food processor, pour the frozen flour bag in, as well as the scraped vanilla beans, and pulse 6-8 times until the mixture resembles a course meal, with pea size pieces of butter. Add water 1T at a time, pulsing until the mixture just begins to clump together. If you pinch of some of the crumbly dough and it holds together then it’s ready. Remove the dough from the machine and place on a clean surface. Carefully split the dough into three equal pieces and shape into discs (save the other two rounds of pie dough in plastic wrap and freeze them for a rainy day). Do not over knead the dough. You should still be able to see little bits of butter in the dough. Sprinkle the discs with a little flour on all sides and wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least an hour. Remove one of the discs from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes. Sprinkle some flour on top of the disk. Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to a 12inch circle (1/8inch thick). Place the rolled out disc on to a pie dish, lining up the fold with the center of the pan, trimming the excess. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for 30 minutes.

2. For the Cajeta-Infused Whipped Cream: The night before you make the pie, heat a small pot over medium-low heat. Add in the heavy cream, sugar, cajeta, & a pinch of salt to taste and whisk constantly until the cajeta has dissolved into the cream and has become smooth (it should be a light khaki color). Remove the heat from the pan and add vanilla extract. Pour cajeta-infused cream into and container and let it chill overnight. Firstly, make sure the cream is thoroughly chilled. Add it into the bowl of a standing mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, and whip on high-speed until a fluffy, yet thick whipped cream. Season it with some sugar, vanilla extract, and salt if needed (really it’s up to your tastes).

3.  For the Mexican Chocolate Silk Pie: In small microwave safe bowl melt 4 ounces of the Mexican spicy chocolate until you can stir it (about 45 seconds on high). Set aside to cool. In a large bowl with an electric mixer beat 1 cup (2 sticks) of regular (salted) butter, spices, and 1½C of white sugar until fluffy (about 1 to 2 minutes). When melted chocolate is cooled, drizzle it over the butter/sugar mixture. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Beat the mixture thoroughly until combined (on a Kitchen Aid mixer, you will be using the whisk attachment). Turn your mixer to a medium speed and over a period of 15 to 20 minutes add in the four eggs, one at a time, leaving about 5 minutes between each egg addition. Prepare your pie by spreading some of the Cajeta into the base of the pie shell, so that you will have a nice, thick layer of Cajeta when you slice & bite into a slice (and sprinkle a little fleur de sel on top). Once the pie filling is well mixed, pour it into the baked & Cajeta-filled pie shell, scraping every last speck of it out of the bowl. Smooth out the pie filling and place pie in the refrigerator to chill for at least two hours (preferably longer). Plop a heaping mound of Cajeta-infused whipped cream on top of the pie, smoothing it out so it completely covers the chocolate.

4.  Serving the Pie: Cut a slice of the pie and grate some more Mexican spicy chocolate on top and enjoy! 

New Orleans "King Cake" Cronuts with a Brown Sugar-Cinnamon Custard Filling, Toasted Pecan Sugar, Bourbon Glaze, + Festive Mardi Gras Sprinkles

As many of y'all know, my Mountain Man and I made a trip recently to New Orleans for New Years Eve. And although it was the greatest trip... you know the part where I fractured my foot about 30 minutes after leaving our hotel room. Yeah that part sucked, so did the crutches, and being cooped up in our hotel room for three days, but I still was able to explore the city for one day. And that one day drew a bunch of inspiration for future recipes. I know I want to make some beignets, a fried green tomato + shrimp remoulade po'boy, bacon pecan pralines, and a king cake. Well I took all of that food to heart and used it as inspiration for some upcoming recipes. So today we're taking a glance at King Cake, with a delightful twist. For the last year, I think the country has been enamored with the new pastry concoction that marries a croissant with a doughnut. You might know them by name, the infamous "Cronut". I've made about 5 versions at home and featured two recipes on this blog. So what do you get when a Cronut and King Cake come together? A KING CAKE CRONUT. And it's just about as good as it gets when it comes to pastry confections. I started off by making the Cronut dough, which involves making a yeast based dough that is laminated with some sticks of softened butter. I began this process about two days before because I wanted to take my time and not rush any of the components. After all that tedious folding, I used a doughnut cutter to make them into the specific doughnut shape, and then I moved onto everything else. Most King Cake recipes involve the following ingredients... the cake itself, brown sugar, cinnamon, pecans, and bourbon (if you're lucky). So, a filling of a Brown Sugar-Cinnamon Pastry Cream seemed to be a necessity. It is thick, luscious, smooth, and perfectly oozes in between the flaky layers of the croissant. After frying the Cronuts to a crisp, golden brown, I let them cool before I filled them with the pastry cream. Meanwhile, I toasted some pecans in a  pan and pulsed them with some sugar to make a Toasted Pecan Rolling Sugar. Then it was time to fill the insides of the Cronuts with the chilled pastry cream, followed by rolling the entire thing in the pecan sugar. By far the best part of this whole recipe is decorating the King Cake Cronut. I whipped up a thick bourbon-infused glaze to squeeze on top of the Cronut before finishing it with Mardi Gras-inspired purple, green, and yellow sparkling sugars. Not only do they look amazing, but they taste even better!! Just for some advice, two regular ole squeeze bottles with me needed to complete the recipe... one to inject the filling into the Cronut and one for the bourbon glaze on top. Now since I live in Georgia, I went on quite the escapade to find some miniature babies to top the King Cake Cronuts with, but to no such luck. So instead, we did tiny pigs, which seemed fitting considering that we are bacon-fanactics and we were slightly depressed that we couldn't incorporate any pork products into this pastry. Oh well, the pig is there as a stand-in, and might I add, I think they are adorable :) Now I completely understand that this project seems daunting, but every now + then I love to completely challenge myself culinarily, so I really enjoyed the whole process of it all. And hey, getting a real Cronut from NYC is harder than making them at home. Once you finish, just stand back and enjoy the creation you have completed... before eating everything single one!! Enjoy :)

some cronut frying action

the perks of frying cronuts... eating the holes right away :)

a cronut after being injected with the pastry cream

all tossed in some toasted pecan rolling sugar

hereeeeee piggy piggy pig

oink oink

oh yes those layers + pastry cream oozing

For the Cronuts:

¾C Milk, Warmed

1T Active Dry Yeast

1/3C Sugar

2 Large eggs

1t Vanilla Extract

3 ½C AP Flour (divided)

1t Kosher Salt

1 Cup of Butter (or two sticks), at least room temperature  

Brown Sugar-Cinnamon Custard Filling:

1 ½C Whole Milk

¾C Brown Sugar

¼C Cake Flour

½t Sea Salt

1T Cinnamon

4 Large Egg Yolks

1 Vanilla Bean, Split & Scraped for Seeds

2t Vanilla Extract 

½t Butter Extract

¼t Almond Extract    

For the Toasted Pecan Sugar:

1C Toasted Pecans

1C Granulated Sugar

For the Bourbon Glaze:

2C Confectioners’ Sugar

Pinch of Salt

2T Whole Milk

1T Bourbon

¼t Vanilla Extract

 

For the King Cake Cronuts:

Prepared Cronut Dough, Cut into Doughnut Rounds

Chilled Brown Sugar-Cinnamon Custard Filling (put into a squeeze bottle)

Prepared Toasted Pecan Rolling Sugar

Prepared Bourbon Glaze (put into a squeeze bottle)

Purple, Green, & Yellow Sparkling Sugar Sprinkles, For Decorating

Directions: 

1. Prepping the Cronuts: In the bowl of a standing mixer, stir together the warmed milk and yeast. Stir in the sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Mix well. Add a cup of flour and the salt, and then gradually add another 2 ¼C of flour, stirring and then kneading for a few minutes, until it’s smooth, elastic, and still a little bit tacky. Transfer to a baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour. Meanwhile, beat the butter and remaining ¼C of AP Flour with an electric mixer for a couple minutes, scraping down the sides of a bowl, until smooth. When the dough has chilled, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a rectangle that is about ¼inch thick. Spread the butter evenly over the dough, and then fold it as you would a letter, in thirds. Cover the dough in plastic wrap and place it into the fridge for another 30 minutes to an hour.

2. Laminating the Dough: Pull the dough back out and put it back onto the floured surface, with the open sides facing the left and right. Roll it out into another rectangle that is ¼inch thick. Fold the left third over the middle, and then the right third over the middle (this is referred to a “turn”). Chill the dough for another 30 minutes to an hour. Roll, fold, and refrigerate the dough two more times, so that is had been “turned” for a total of four times. Cover and refrigerate it for at least an hour or preferably overnight.

3. For the Brown Sugar-Cinnamon Custard Filling: In a medium saucepan, heat milk over medium-high heat until bubbles just start to form around the edges but milk is not yet boiling. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together egg yolks and vanilla bean seeds until well combined; slowly whisk in flour mixture until thick and pasty. Remove milk from heat and slowly add to egg mixture, whisking constantly. Transfer egg mixture to saucepan and place over medium heat, whisking constantly until mixture thickens and comes to a boil, about 3 minutes. Boil, whisking, for 10 seconds, and immediately remove from heat. Pour mixture through a fine mesh sieve set over a small heatproof bowl; stir in vanilla extract, butter extract, and almond extract. Strain into a plastic squeeze bottle and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight.

4. For the Toasted Pecan Rolling Sugar: Toast 1C of Pecans in a sauté pan over medium heat. Continuously move the nuts around, so that they will not get burned. Once they have reached a nutty fragrance and slightly browned, they are done! This should only take a few minutes. Place the toasted (make sure to cool first) pecans into a food processor and pulse until small grind has been achieved. Add in the cup of sugar and continue to process until you have a finely ground pecan sugar. Pour into a bowl and set aside until you are ready to use.

5. Frying the Cronuts: Cut the dough, using a doughnut cutter, into rounds (it should make about 12 Cronuts total). In a heavy pot, heat a couple inches of oil to 350 degrees and a scrap of the dough sizzles when you dip it in. Cook the Cronuts in batches, without crowding the pot (because that can cool down the oil), flipping as necessary until they reach a golden brown color. Transfer to a baking sheet, lined with paper towels, and let them sit until excess oil is completely soaked up. Next, move them to a cooling rack.

6. For the Bourbon Glaze: Add all of the ingredients into a mixing bowl and whisk together until a smooth, cohesive glaze has been made. Pour this white glaze into a squeeze bottle and set aside until you are ready to use it.

7. Assembling the Cronuts: It is now time to start filling the fried Cronuts. I did this “Twinkie-style” by using the squeeze bottle that is filled with the brown sugar-cinnamon pastry cream. Gently poke holes into the bottom of a Cronut and fill them all the way through with cream. Repeat this process until you have about 5-6 cream filling holes in each Cronut. Scrape off any excess cream that begins to ooze out. Now that they have all been filled, roll them in the toasted pecan sugar before placing them back onto the cooling rack (make sure the poke holes are facing up) and squeeze some of the prepared bourbon glaze in a circle around the top of the Cronut.

8. Finishing the Cronuts: Garnish the top of the glazed Cronuts with the purple, green, and yellow colored sparkling sugars, making sure to alternate colors, that way you form bands. Let them cool and enjoy!!

Revamped : Red Hot Velvet Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Icing Glaze

Revamped: Red Hot Velvet Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Icing Glaze

By far + away, the single-most FAVORITE recipe here on PLC are my Red Hot Velvet Cinnamon Rolls. They are probably my greatest creation. Actually at the time when I first concocted the idea of this "dessert for breakfast", it was the only one on the internet. Now different versions are popping up EVERYWHERE. So, I am very proud to say that this was the ORIGINAL idea behind the celebrity. Anyway, I am a firm believer in that everything can be improved upon, so why not revamp the most visited recipe on my site? Well, it happened that my Mountain Man's place of work had a Valentine's Day Bake Off, so I knew I just had to enter my Red Hot Velvet Cinnamon Rolls to be judged. I changed a few things around a bit this time though. Firstly, I took out the cocoa powder in the dough. I felt like that made the cinnamon rolls a bit cake-y in texture, so I wanted to achieve a more yeasted cinnamon roll this time around. But of course, in order for it to be considered "red velvet", there's gotta be buttermilk, red dye, vinegar, and cocoa powder. Instead, I sifted cocoa powder on top of the butter, sugar and cinnamon for a lightly chocolatey filling. It was perfect. To make sure the rolls were extra puffy, I used instant yeast instead of active dry yeast, but either will work for y'all, I'm sure. Also, I felt like my cream cheese frosting was a tad bit thick last time, so this go-around, I whipped up a cream cheese icing glaze. It's still thick enough the coat the rolls, but it is thin enough that in seeps into the middle of the rolls... making them extra gooey. And that's all we want, amirite?! We added some cinnamon into our cream cheese glaze, for a little more spice, but you can easily leave it out, no worries!! As for the garnishes, we found some nifty red velvet cake sprinkles to sprinkle over the top to be super festive and they were awesome! But you can also use any Valentine's Day themed sprinkles or crushed red hots. It's up to y'all!! These are 10 times better than the original, so I hope y'all can get around to makin' them soon!! Enjoy (we sho' did) :)

roll out the red velvet dough with some flour...

spread the melted butter everywhere...

sift over some cocoa powder, cover with sugar, + sprinkle on a mess of
cinnamon (and press gently down so it adheres together)

and tightly roll them up...

so they look gorgeous like this...

and this...

then proof them, so they rise a bit and look like this...

then bake them until they are huge + puffy

and cover them in the cream cheese icing glaze...

and finish them with some sprinkles, butofcourse!

For the Cinnamon Rolls:

2C Buttermilk (minus 2T)

2T White Distilled Vinegar

½C Vegetable Oil

½C Sugar

2-3oz Red Food Coloring (or to the color of your liking)

1 Package of Instant or Active Dry Yeast (0.25oz Packets)

4C AP Flour + ½C AP Flour

½t Baking Powder, Heaping

½t Baking Soda, Scant

1t Salt, Heaping

1C Butter, Melted

1-2T Cocoa Powder (depending on how chocolate-y you like it)

1C Sugar

Generous Sprinkling of Cinnamon

For the Frosting:

4oz Cream Cheese, Softened

7T Unsalted Butter, Softened

1 ½C + 2T Confectioners’ Sugar

3-4T Buttermilk, For Thinning

1t Cinnamon (optional)

¼t Salt (or to taste)

1t Clear Vanilla Extract

Festive Valentine’s Day Sprinkles & Crushed Red Hot Candies, For Decoration

Directions:

1. Measure out the 2C buttermilk in a large measuring cup, and then remove 2T of the buttermilk and substitute by adding in the 2T of white vinegar. Mix the buttermilk, vinegar, vegetable oil, sugar, and red food coloring in a pot. Heat the mixture until just before the boiling point. Turn off the heat and leave to cool for 45 minutes to an hour. Meanwhile, sift together the 4C AP flour and set it aside. When the milk mixture is warm (but not hot), sprinkle in the package of yeast. Let it sit for a minute or two, and then add in the sifted flour. Stir the mixture and cover, and then let it rise for at least an hour.

2. After rising for an hour, add in ½C AP Flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir the mixture together. Refrigerate the dough overnight to help it become firm and better for presentation.

3. The next day, sprinkle a rolling surface generously with flour. Take the dough and form a rough rectangle, and then roll the dough thin, maintaining a general rectangular shape. Drizzle or spread on 1C of the melted butter over the dough. Now, sift the cocoa powder over the butter, followed by sprinkling 1C of sugar over the cocoa and butter, followed by a generous sprinkling of cinnamon. Press the spices lightly into the butter to make sure they adhere together.

4. Now, starting at the opposite end, begin rolling the dough in a neat line toward you. Keep the roll relatively tight as you go. Next, pinch the seam of the roll to seal it. Spray a 13x9-baking pan with Pam, and set it aside. Then, begin cutting the rolls into approximately 12 thick round rolls and place them into the prepared buttered pans. Let the rolls rise for an hour.

5. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

6. Bake the cinnamon rolls for 17-25 minutes or until light golden brown.

7. To Make the Frosting: Beat together the cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer in a large bowl until creamy. Mix in the clear vanilla extract and buttermilk, then gradually mix in the confectioners' sugar and salt until smooth and fluffy. Add in the cinnamon if you are using.

8. Spread the cinnamon rolls with the icing (generously), sprinkle with garnishes if using, and enjoy immediately while they are still warm.