White Chocolate Raspberry Rolls

Well, we love sweet rolls at our house.  Usually I make a cinnamon roll or carmel sticky bun, but recently I have been making lots of freezer jam with all the wonderful summer berries, so I decided to jazz it up and do a raspberry roll.  One of my favorite combinations of flavors is white chocolate and raspberry, so I thought, why not roll 'em up in dough?


White Chocolate Raspberry Rolls

1 package yeast
1 cup warm milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
4 cups flour
1 cup raspberry freezer jam (homemade is best)
1 cup white chocolate chips

1. Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm milk.  Stir in salt and melted butter.  Stir in eggs.  Add enough flour (about 3 1/2 cups) to make a workable dough.  Knead on a floured surface until dough is smooth and elastic.

2. Put in a greased bowl, cover and allow to raise until double in bulk. 1 - 1 1/2 hours.  Punch down and let dough rest 10 minutes before rolling into a 12" x 18" rectangle.

3. Spread dough with the raspberry jam.  Sprinkle with white chocolate chips.  Roll dough up.  Slice into 1" rolls.  Place in a well greased pan (either 9 x 13 or jelly roll).  Cover and let rolls rise 15-30 minutes.  Bake at 350° 23 - 25 minutes.

4.  Frost with your favorite roll glaze and enjoy!

Raisin Bread

This one is our very favorite breakfast toast!!

Raisin Bread

1 cup raisins
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 T. cinnamon
1/2 cup warm water
2 T. yeast
2 cups warm milk
1 cup sugar
2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup oil
7 cups flour

Combine the raisins, 1/2 cup water and cinnamon in a small saucepan.  Bring to a simmer then remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.

Combine the warm water, yeast, milk, sugar and salt in a large bowl and let stand 5 minutes.

Stir in cooled raisins, oil and 5-6 cups of the flour (enough to make a soft but not too sticky dough). Turn onto a well floured counter and knead for 5 minutes.

Return kneaded dough to greased bowl.  Cover and let rise until double in size.

Punch dough down and form into 3 small or 2 large loaves.  Place in greased bread pans.

Let rise until almost double.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

And voila - delicious raisin bread to eat or toast and enjoy with butter.  This bread freezes well to be used later.

Vanilla Pancake Syrup

This one is definitely a Yum!  I almost feel like I should keep it to myself because it is so good and so easy.  Your family will surely enjoy this one, and it's bound to impress anytime you put on a breakfast or brunch.  This weekend I had a house full of 14/15 year old girls for a breakfast and they absolutely loved it - not a drop left.  I got this one off of the blog of a family I grew up with in Oregon - they had used it on Mother's Day morning.  Enjoy!

Vanilla Pancake Syrup

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 cup sugar

1 1/2  teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat.  Add the buttermilk, sugar and vanilla. Over medium heat bring to a gentle boil while stirring.  Remove from heat and slowly stir in the baking soda.  Stir slowly and gently because the mixture will foam up.  Let the syrup sit for 10-15 minutes before serving, so that the foam will dissipate.  This can be stored in the refrigerator and reheated in the microwave when needed.