Cinnamon Flake Biscuits

          When the weather turns cool it is time to start baking again.  That's the advantage of cold weather.  This is a recipe that my mom made when I was young and I make it for my family. These biscuits are oh so tasty.

One of my sons is an expert at this recipe and when he is around I don't even attempt them.  If we need these biscuits to go with some soup for dinner I just ask him and he makes them.  But currently he is living away from home and so I have been making them again.  

Sometimes I double the batch because even if we don't eat them all at once, they tend to disappear.  Here is how to make them.

You start with a batch of baking powder biscuit dough.  You can use any recipe and in a pinch you can even use bisquick.  My mom's original recipe is at the end of the post.  

Once you have the dough, roll it out into a 10"x24" rectangular shape, about 1/4 in thick.  Spread with melted butter. Sprinkle with about ¼ cup of cinnamon-sugar mixed together. 

 Cut lengthwise into 5 two inch strips.  As you can see my edges are kind of scraggly and I never measure to see if the dimensions are exact.  The important thing is to get it rolled as thin as you want and get the butter and cinnamon-sugar all over it!

Stack the strips one on top of another. Cut the long stack into 12 pieces. 

 

Place edge side down, in greased muffin tins. Bake at 450* for 10-13 minutes, watching closely so they are browned on top but don't let them burn. 

Mmmmm! now you have a yummy snack or biscuits to go along with dinner. 

Cinnamon Flake Biscuits

Stir dry ingredients together. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles course crumbs.

3 Tablespoons sugar

2 cups flour

4 tsp. Baking powder

½ tsp. Cream of tarter

½ cup shortening

2/3 cups milk – add all at once

Mix wet and dry together and put the dough on the floured counter. Knead a minute, and then roll out into a ¼ inch rectangular shape, about 10”x24”. Spread with melted butter (about ¼ cup). Sprinkle with ¼ cup of cinnamon sugar mixture. Cut lengthwise into 5 two inch strips. Stack the strips one on top of another. Cut into 12 pieces and place edge side down, in greased muffin tins. Bake at 450* for 10-15 minutes, watching closely so they don't burn.

I use butter instead of shortening in this recipe.  I also use less butter when spreading it over the rolled out biscuit dough. 

 

A Birthday!

Always a wonderful reason to eat cake.

 

My son turned 15-years-old and decided on a peanut butter-ice cream cake.  

Other than that he left the details up to me and this is what I came up with.

I started out with a layer of cake.  I used a yellow cake mix and swirled in 1/2 cup peanut butter.  It was good but I think chocolate cake with peanut butter chips would have been really good too.  I baked the cake in a spring-form pan, and there was enough batter to make some cupcakes as well.  You could simply bake it in a round pan, but a spring-form is especially convenient for ice cream cakes.  Since I had one, I used it. 

After baking and cooling I took the sides off and sliced off the top of the cake because I didn't want too thick of a layer and I also wanted it flat. Then I put the sides back on to assemble the rest of the cake.  

I made up a batch of fudge sauce (see recipe below)  and spread some over the top of the cake.  I put it in the freezer to harden it up a bit and then spread softened ice cream over the top of the fudge layer.  I used an entire container ( I think that is 1.5 quarts) of peanut butter cup ice cream.  Then another layer of fudge sauce.  After that I left it in the freezer to harden up.  

Now for decorating the cake.  First, for the sides I used cool whip.  

Then for the best part, I made a peanut butter frosting to decorate and write "happy birthday".  (recipe below).  This frosting was seriously so good, I could eat it plain!  I should have used a lot more of it, it made the cake.  You can tell I am a peanut butter lover.  I also used some reece's peanut butter cups for decorations.  Then I wrote happy birthday.  It was difficult since my peanut butter frosting was getting a little thick by then.  

Mmmmmmm!  With only 5 of us at home nowadays we didn't finish the entire cake off  at once.  That still amazes me that a cake can last more than a day.  It made great after school snacks the next afternoon.  

 Delicious!

Fudge Sauce

1/2 cup butter

1 cup chocolate chips

1 12 ounce can evaporated milk

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Melt  butter and chocolate chips.  Add other ingredients

 and boil over medium heat for 6 minutes.  Makes 3 cups.

 

Peanut Butter Frosting

Use equal amounts of peanut butter and butter.  I used 1/4 cup of each, but next time I will make more.  
Soften the butter and the peanut butter ( separately so you can get them the right amount of softened - not liquid just easy to stir.)  Mix together and then add powdered sugar  gradually until you have it the thickness that you prefer working with.  You could drizzle it but mine was thicker and I piped it through a decorating bag.   

Very simple, that's all there is to it!