Busy Baking

Lately we've been baking a lot more. Some were not the favorites: black forest brownies and cheeseburger muffins. But we liked the dinner rolls and Cranberry-Orange Pinwheels from Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. I'll put the Pinwheel recipe below:

Cranberry-Orange Pinwheels

1 cup cranberries

1 cup pecans

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

2 teaspoons finely shredded orange peel

3 cups all-purpose flour

For filling: in a blender or food processor, combine cranberries, pecans, and brown sugar. Cover; blend or process until finely chopped. Set aside.

In large mixing bowl, beat butter with electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add granulated sugar, baking powder and salt. Beat until combined, scaping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs and orange peel until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour. Divide dough in half, cover and chill dough about 1 hour or until easy to handle.

Roll half dough between pieces of waxed paper into a 10 inch square. Spread half of the filling over dough square to within 1/2 inch of edges. Roll up dough. Moisten edges; pinch to seal. Wrap in waxed paper or plastic wrap. Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Chill for 4-24 hours.

Cut rolls into 1/4 inch slices. Place slices 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 8-10 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms are lightly browned. Cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

My hubby also likes these with lemon frosting or glaze on them.

Here's a pic of Chief with a cake he helped to make.

You don't want to end up eating too much cake or you'll look like him:

Of course, I think he's quite handsome.

Other side effects of too much sugar include stickers and goofy faces.