Wow, look at what my ingenious honey has done. He has made this here blog look more like a real blog, not My Very First Blog. No wonder he gets spoiled with food.

Last night was one of our “Fun Meals”; the kind of meal that seems almost guilty, like eating an entire pan of macaroni & cheese. Not that I’ve done that…*ahem.* There really isn’t a recipe for this one; I essentially made chicken nachos, except for using tortilla chips, I just used a large tortilla apiece. I found a can of refried beans at the store and all I can say this: I really need to make my own refried beans.

Let’s move on to the main event, shall we? Sweet roll dough formed with some sugar, yeast, milk and made into a pair of coffee cakes. The LSC got to take one into work this morning; I shall expect a raise given to him by his employers. Yes, I am that proud of it.

I was a bit shy about using anything yeast-based after my bread debacle but the following recipe allayed such fears. Aside from an oven I fear runs a bit high, these cakes turned out exquisitely.

You may or may not notice I attempted a basic glaze on the cake we kept here at the house. Unfortunately, that was not successful but in no way detrimental towards its deliciousness.

Sweet Roll Coffee Cake

sweet roll dough adapted from “Betty Crocker’s Cookbook—New and Revised Edition” (Golden Press)

1 package active dry yeast

1/2 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees)

1/2 cup lukewarm milk (scalded then cooled)

2/3 cup granulated sugar, divided

1  1/2 sticks margarine or butter, softened, divided

1 egg

4 cups AP-flour (approximately), divided

1 tsp. salt

butter or oil for greasing bowl and baking sheet

2 tsp. cinnamon

3/4 cup raisins (which I totally didn’t use)

1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in milk, 1/3 cup sugar, 1/3 cup margarine or butter, egg, 2 cups flour and salt. Beat until smooth. Mix in enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Place in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.

Punch down dough, divide into 2 pieces and turn onto a floured surface. Using a rolling pin, roll each into a flat rectangular shape about 9 by 13 inches and about a 1/2-inch thick. Carefully lift each loaf and place on a greased baking sheet. Use remaining margarine or butter to liberally coat each rectangle. In a small bowl, mix remaining 1/3 cup sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle sugar mixture over dough, followed by raisins and nuts.

Starting lengthwise with the first rectangle, fold dough over slightly. Using both hands, roll dough over to form a fairly tight tube. With a wet knife, make diagonal slashes about two-thirds of the way through the roll, spaced about 1 inch apart. Grasp the piece nearest the end and twist gently to the right so it forms a flat roll. Take the next piece and twist to the left. Repeat, alternating right- and left-hand twists until you reach the end of the roll (use knife to slash deeper if you need more twisting room to work with). Repeat the process with second rectangle of dough. Cover with a clean cloth or towel and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake until golden brown, about 25 to 30 minutes. To prevent raisins and nuts on top from burning, you may want to cover the loaves with aluminum foil the last few minutes and continue cooking.