Tell me your favorite CINNAMON goodies!!

[JKS]

My friend's bday is coming up in 3 weeks. She will be 38 weeks pregnant at the time, and she is a cinnamon lover (not cinnamon bear cinnamon, but cinnamon roll cinnamon)!! The thread on gift baskets has got me motivated. I'm pondering a "surviving the last few weeks" basket, or a "how to be a mother of 2" basket, or, most pertinent to this board, a CINNAMON LOVER'S BASKET. I started with my new Penzey's catalog today. She doesn't know Penzey's, so Cassia and Vietnamese will be new to her, and I will get her some cinnamon chunks, because they're so great in everything steeped/brewed.

As I was trying to think of additional ideas for the cinnamon basket, I knew this was the place to turn!! I was wondering if there are some specialty cinnamon products: candies, cookies, cakes, cookbooks, etc.,that you would recommend to round out the basket. I will have to ship it, so I don't think I will bake my own goodies, unless you know of something that would be conducive to shipping. I was thinking more of something I could buy. Any ideas????

Thanks a million for your time, thoughts, and inspiration.

[wallycat]

I googled "cinnamon foods" and found a few websites....some ideas:

There are some nice cinnamon flavored teas, Cinnamon flavored Altoids, Cinnamon rice, you could make an oatmeal mix or granola type of cereal in a pretty bag with lots of added cinnamon, some really nice, long cinnamon sticks tied with a pretty ribbon...she can use to stir tea, hot chocolate or coffee and as a potpourri(sp?) in drawers.
I also found some sites selling cinnamon flavored coffees and hot chocolate. Stuff like cinnamon apple jelly or even cinnamon toothpaste are available too.

Have fun.

[Denise]

Kaluha (sp?) Cinnamon Brownies! I make them every year and mail them out for X-mas pkgs. They mail very well. They are absolute heaven and the secret ingredient is cinnamon. They are very easy to make and I promise your friend will love them! If you do a search you'll find the recipe, but I'm happy to post it if you can't find it.

[AltoAtHart]

I'll second the Cinnamon toothpaste, Tom's makes a great cinnamon flavored one. Cinnamon altoids are also great, their hot, but not like red hots or cinnamon bears. Very good. If you continue on that line Big Red gum works too! Also there are several Candle companys (yankee cnadle being one of them) that make Cinnamon scented candles... Search around for a scent that is right for you. I don't know about cookbooks.. but I'm sure if you do a search on Amazon you could find some. Also How about a gift certificate to Cinnabon at your local mall. THey make great (albeit not CL) Cinnamon buns. Also Lindt Chocolate once made a wonderful cinnamon chocolate truffle that was to die for - first time i ever realized that cinnamon and chocolate could be a heavenly flavor combination! If you want to go on the elss sweet side. Penzeys 5 spice oriental mix has cinnmon in it, and you cna find cinnamon called for in several eastern ethnic cooking. Thats all I have for now.
Elle

[Little Bit]

Here's a great site for candles loaded with fragrance:

http://www.sweetscentscandles.com/candles.htm

[lisas3575]

Here's a super old thread on cinnamon recipes:
http://community.cookinglight.com/sh...ight=spotlight

[chelle]

Funny this post should be here, I had a craving for something cinammon today and now have the dough rising for the Cinnamon Bun Bread <found it in the CL recipe finder>, has anyone tried this before? It looks wonderful and might be a good idea for the gift basket. Also, Cinnamon chips, hershey's makes them and I just love them in muffins or scones...yum!!

chelle

[HRJ]

Originally posted by chelle
Cinnamon chips, hershey's makes them and I just love them in muffins or scones...yum!!

chelle

I'll confess -- I keep a bag of these in my freezer, for when a "cinnamon craving" strikes.

Bigelow makes a very nice cinnamon stick tea -- you can get a box of 20 individually wrapped tea bags. I found these right in my local grocery store.

Helene

[chelle]

Ohhhh wow! For anyone that likes cinnamon rolls or just cinnamon in general, this bread is a *must* They came out looking so pretty. I didn't have the apricot preserves, so I just omitted it, and sprinkled some chopped walnuts on top of the glaze. DH and I are eating a warm slice with coffee right now...and the house smells wonderful!

chelle

[pattyp.]

I made cinnamon biscotti last week. The recipe is posted. You can either bake them for her or include the recipe & ingreedients in the basket. They were yummy.

[tigermorris]

Denise,
I did a search for the Kahula Cinnamon Brownies, but I was not lucky.
If you have the time, will you please post it. Recipe sounds yummy, yet easy!!!
Thanks, Terri

[Holly in KC]

This may be obvious, but how about tucking a few of your favorite cinnamon recipes in the basket? I love getting handwritten (or computer printed) recipes... especially if when the "giver" notes a few personal notations about the recipe (i.e.: "found this recipe in Cooking Light, XX/XX... made it for DH's birthday. He loved it!")

[Beth]

Target has some popcorn flavorings -- a shake on apple cinnanom one and another one for kettle corn. I think it is called red hot cinnamon, but it is a mild sweet/hot, so she might like it. I got it for DH. If you decide to let her try it, tell her to ignore the instructions n the label (says cook normally after adding the flavoring to the hot oil and corn). Shake it continuously once you add the flavoring until the popping stops.

[JJeannette]

Yesterday I made pumpkin bars and wanted something different for an icing--ended up with a faux cinnamon fudge icing that is really the best part of the bars! That got me to thinking--why couldn't you use the cinnamon chips to make a real cinnamon fudge?

[Denise]

Here you go....

Kahlua-Cinnamon Brownies
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup Kahlua
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon cinnamon -- ground
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons brown sugar -- packed
1 large egg
Cooking spray
1 teaspoon granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine chocolate chips and butter in a small saucepan; place over medium-low heat, and cook until chocolate melts. Remove from heat; stir in Kahlua and vanilla.

Combine flour and next four ingredients in a medium bowl.

Beat brown sugar and egg in a large bowl at low speed of a mixer until blended. Add chocolate mixture; mix well. Add flour mixture, beating until smooth. Pour batter into an 8 inch square pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven; sprinkle with sugar. Cool in pan on wire rack.

Per serving: 108 Calories (kcal); 4.1g Total Fat; (34% calories from fat); 1.5g Protein; 16.5g Carbohydrate; 13mg Cholesterol; 93mg Sodium

[JKS]

This is going to be even more fun than I thought, now. All your suggestions have got me motivated to try sending some baked goods!

Denise, I'm definitely going to try those brownies. Thanks for the mailing info!

Pattyp-I looked up the cinnamon biscotti, and I'm going to try them today! I've never made biscotti, so it will be an adventure.

Beth--We just got a Target! I'm on my way to check out that spice!

I also love cinnamon chips and keep a munching stash--they're incredible in oatmeal cookies, too. My friend and I munched a bag together the last time she visited. She also is a Cinnabon addict--I have an imitation recipe I always make for her when she's here. I think I will include it in her basket. She also loves cinnamon ice cream....hmmm.....I'll have to search for that too.....

Thank you, again, for all your great ideas! She's going to LOVE this!

[HRJ]

Just wanted to say, I followed that link that Lisa posted, and found a wonderful recipe for Greek Cinnamon Chicken from keeganm on that earlier thread. (Not appropriate for mailing to someone, but it makes a great dinner!)

It was easy, and very, very tasty. And used ingredients that I almost always have in the house -- except that I subbed boneless, skinless chicken breasts for the skinless thighs called for in the recipe.

But, it's a great dinner dish for a cinnamon lover.

Helene

[HARRYET]

I have a recipe for cinnamon popcorn. It's made w/red hot candies.

If you or anyone is interested let me know and I'll post the recipe. It's quite festive for christmas.

Ann

[Beth]

Ann, would you post your recipe? The kettle corn sprinkle is sure easy, but I'm sure I could do something from scratch cheaper, and it might turn out to be better too.

[LaraW]

These rolls are my mom's signature item. They are time consuming but SO good!

She actually calls them Sweet Rolls, but I call them cinnamon rolls.

Melt 1 stick of butter into 2 cups of milk, cool to lukewarm. Stir in 1/2 C minus 2 tbsp sugar into the milk. Sprinkle 2 tbsp yeast on top of milk mixture.

Stir in enough flour to make a soft dough (4 to 4 1/2 c maybe) and turn out onto a floured surface and knead until you have a soft stretchy dough.

Let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch down and roll out into a large rectangle. Melt 1-2 tbsp butter, and brush onto dough. Sprinkle (generously) with cinnamon and sugar (maybe 1/3 C of cinnamon/sugar - adjust cinnamon to taste). Roll up and slice into individual rolls (I usually get about 18 rolls). Place on cookie sheet and let rise until doubled (about 1 hour). Bake at 350 until golden brown.

[paulryb]

Originally posted by chelle
Funny this post should be here, I had a craving for something cinammon today and now have the dough rising for the Cinnamon Bun Bread <found it in the CL recipe finder>, has anyone tried this before? It looks wonderful and might be a good idea for the gift basket. Also, Cinnamon chips, hershey's makes them and I just love them in muffins or scones...yum!!

chelle

This bread sounds great, but I just did a search and got 0 matches! Can you help by posting it or telling me how you did your search? I'm surprised no one has already asked for the recipe!

Paul

[chelle]

Well, here you go Paul..hope you enjoy it as much as we did. The original recipe called for 1/4 cup apricot preserves, melted and brushed over the tops of the loaves after they were out of the oven. I didn't have it, so omitted it and brushed on a little butter. After I put on the glaze I sprinkled some chopped walnuts on it. The glaze was pretty thin. I set my loaves on a baking sheet <after they'd cooled a bit> drizzled the stuff over it, waited until it hardened a little and then put the loaves on a cutting board <so they didn't get soggy from the glaze that pooled on the sheet>. It sure made the house smell good! Oh...and just fyi, I did add quite a bit more flour as I was kneading, I'm not sure how much, but it was quite a lot, just until it 'felt' right.

chelle


Cinnamon-Bun Bread

Published: Cooking Light- 01/01/99

INGREDIENTS
Bread:
1 package dry yeast (about 2-1/4 teaspoons)
1/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
1-2/3 cups warm fat-free milk (100` to 110`)
1/4 cup butter or stick margarine, melted
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large egg yolks
5 cups all-purpose flour, divided
2 teaspoons salt
Cooking spray
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Glaze:
1 tablespoon butter or stick margarine, softened
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 tablespoon fat-free milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract


INSTRUCTIONS
To prepare bread, dissolve yeast and 1 tablespoon granulated sugar in warm milk in a large bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Stir in 1/4 cup butter, vanilla, and egg yolks. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Add 4-1/2 cups flour, 3 tablespoons granulated sugar, and salt to yeast mixture; stir to form a soft dough. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes); add enough of remaining flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel tacky).

Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85�F), free from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in size. Punch dough down, and let rest 5 minutes. Divide in half. Working with one portion at a time (cover the remaining dough to keep from drying), roll each portion into a 14 x 7-inch rectangle on a floured surface. Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle each dough portion with half of brown sugar mixture, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Roll up each dough rectangle tightly, starting with a short edge, pressing firmly to eliminate air pockets, and pinch seams and ends to seal. Cut each dough roll crosswise into 3 pieces. Place 3 pieces, cut sides up, into each of 2 (8 x 4-inch) loaf pans coated with cooking spray. Cover and let rise 30 minutes or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 350�F.

Uncover dough, and bake at 350�F for 35 minutes or until loaves are browned on bottoms and sound hollow when tapped. Cool in pans 10 minutes on a wire rack, and remove from pans. Brush tops of loaves with melted preserves. Cool loaves on rack.
To prepare the glaze, beat 1 tablespoon butter at low speed of a mixer until creamy. Add remaining ingredients, beating just until blended. Spread over tops of loaves.

YIELD: Yield: 2 loaves, 12 servings per loaf

[HARRYET]

Beth, Here you go!

Cinnamon Candy Popcorn

8 qts plain popped popcorn
1 C butter or margarine
1/2 C light corn syrup
1 pkg (9 ounce) red-hot candies

Place popcorn in a large bowl and set aside. In a saucepan, combine butter, corn syrup and candies: bring to a boil over midium heat, stirring constantly. Boil for 5 mins. stirring occasionally. Pour over popcorn and mix thoroughly. Turn into two greased 15" x 10" x 1" baking pans. Bake at 250 degrees for 1 hour stirring every 15 minutes. Remove from pans and place on waxed paper to cool. Break apart; store in airtight containers or plastic bags. Yield 8 quarts.


enjoy Ann

[paulryb]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by chelle
[B][Color=Purple]Well, here you go Paul..hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Thanks for the quick reply. Definitly will be making it Sunday morning instead of making an outing to Sharon's Apple Dumpling Diner for their famous, huge cinnamon buns! I've made lots of bread, so I can deal with varying the amounts of flour needed.

Thanks again!

[Beth]

Thanks, Ann! This could start me on the quest for the perfect carmel corn too. I have tried many and not gotten the flavor and texture I want. It shouldn't be that hard, but the experiments are too many calories to keep doing!

[tigermorris]

Thanks so much for the Kahula Cinnamon Brownies, sounds yummy!!!
Maybe I will make them tonight after dinner. Thanks again, Terri

[mrswaz]

Originally posted by JJeannette
That got me to thinking--why couldn't you use the cinnamon chips to make a real cinnamon fudge?

I never thought of that...my intitial thought is "hey, what a great idea!"

I'll have to pick up some cinnamon chips on my next grocery run...

[Robyncz]

Originally posted by paulryb


This bread sounds great, but I just did a search and got 0 matches! Can you help by posting it or telling me how you did your search? I'm surprised no one has already asked for the recipe!

Paul

I was just logging on to ask for this recipe. I searched too, but I couldn't find it. I think the problem is the hyphen! I searched for "cinnamon bun bread" instead of "cinnamon-bun bread." That dang hyphen gets me every time!!!

Thanks, chelle, for posting the recipe!