I always think of myself as a cake person. Some people order the pie for dessert. I don't give it a second glance. Why chose pie when you can have rich, fluffy, delicious cake and icing? It's taken awhile for me to realize that not only do I like pie, I can't get enough of it. Here's the catch: I don't like warm fruit. 

I had this discussion with some people I worked with this summer. We started off on how disappointing it is to find a "hot raisin" has snuck its way into your bread pudding or cinnamon roll. We all found the term "hot raisin" and our distaste for them hilarious, but really, keep the hot raisins out of my cinnamon bread/buns/carrot cake/etc. However, somehow when you cool a fruit down everything changes for me. I eat Honey Bunches of Oats with Raisins almost daily. One of my all time favorite recipes is for cold blueberry pie. Strawberry shortcake makes me swoon, and suddenly, after 21 years of thinking otherwise (counting since birth for simplicity sake), I now absolutely love apple pie...more specifically this apple pie.

The only remotely difficult part of this recipe is peeling the apples. I'm sure some people know the trick to this, but the only trick I could think of was to purchase one of those apple peelers (a.k.a I have no shortcuts). The apples in the pie are not like spiced apples, they're more comparable to cinnamon sugar apples. The topping is also wonderful. I used a store bought crust, but I'm sure if you have some extra time and want to go the homemade route that would make this even better. This would be a perfect Thanksgiving recipe. Enjoy!

Apple Crisp Pie
Recipe from Beantown Baker

Printable Recipe
1 9-inch Pie Crust

For the Filling:
6 cups apple chunks (I used 3 cortland and 3 granny smith apples here)
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp lemon juice

For the Topping:
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare dry ingredients in a large bowl, set aside. Core, peel, and slice apples. Transfer into large bowl with dry ingredients. Top off with vanilla and lemon juice. Toss to coat apples well. Set aside for 10-15 minutes while you prep the dough.

Fit your pie crust into a pie plate. You can even use store bought pie crust if you prefer. Fill pie crust with prepared apple chunks.

In a medium bowl, combine the dry topping ingredients. Pour cooled melted butter into bowl. Toss and cut until small to medium sized chunks form. Break up large chunks as needed. Using a spoon, sprinkle crumb topping over entire pie.

Cover pie loosely with foil. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 375 and continue baking for an additional 35 minutes. Cool and enjoy.

From my experience I've found that there are few desserts more universally liked than Funfetti Cake. Regardless of how many homemade desserts I make, anything with funfetti is guaranteed to win the crowd's vote every time. My roommate saw this recipe and immediately passed it along to me to put on my must-bake list. It combines funfetti cake mix with a few homemade touches. Easy. Brilliant. Perfect.

This is one of those recipes I think I'll make time and time again because of how quick and easy it is.  I, of course, used dinosaur sprinkles, but I'm sure you could theme the extra sprinkles inside to various occasions. Maybe even throw some icing on top if you're feeling like a sugar overload. Hope you enjoy them as much as everyone in my life did!

Funfetti Cake Bars
Recipe from: Lovin' From the Oven

1 1/4 cup funfetti cake mix
3/4 cup AP flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
5 heaping tablespoons sprinkles of your choice (I used stars)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8 x 8 inch pan.
2. Cream both sugars, butter, vanilla, egg, and egg yolk. 
3. Gradually mix in flour, cake mix, and baking soda until just mixed. Stir in sprinkles.
4. Spread batter evenly into greased pan.
5. Bake for 30-35 minutes until top is lightly browned and middle still jiggles slightly. Cool completely before cutting.

It's amazing the number of dip recipes I have bookmarked compared with the number I have on this blog. I would say I bookmark about 75 percent of the dip recipes I come across, yet I probably only make about five percent of those. I have no idea why. I think it's possible I forget about them when my brain is either focused on dinner or desserts. Poor, poor dips. At least they win me over in the beginning.

I think it's about time I change that, though. Dip is so easy to whip up, and who doesn't love a great dip recipe? Even when people don't want dip at a party they always end up going in for at least one scoop..in my case I'm usually hooked after this point. This cheddar beer dip is nothing fancy (though calling it cheddar ale spread does move it up a notch or so), but it's a simple, solid dip recipe. I found that I liked it best when it had been refrigerated a bit, but I'd eat it either way. I also think pita chips or something of the sort would be delicious with this. Enjoy!

Cheddar Ale Spread 

Recipe from Brown Eyed Baker

8 oz. cream cheese
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2½ cups shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons heavy cream
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup beer (pretty much anything but a light beer)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (I substituted 2 teaspoons dried)

Combine the cream cheese, mustard, cheddar cheese, cream, and salt in a food processor. Process for 30 seconds, add the beer, and continue processing until very smooth. Pulse in the parsley until just dispersed.

This can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. You will want to take it out an hour before serving if you do refrigerate.

One of these days I'll take a food photography workshop, for now I just plop the chip in there and act like it does something for the picture!

I was shocked how quickly this dessert came together. Being a southerner there's really no take on pecan pie that I don't like, these bars included. I made them for my family on our beach trip this year (hence the melted ice cream in the picture two seconds after I scooped it!), and everyone loved them. Ice cream is always an essential part of dessert for my family, and while I'm not a huge ice cream and cake fan, these pecan pie pars almost demand it.

Thinking about what else to say about these to convince you they're delicious makes me want to go make them right now, so I'm going to have to cut it off here seeing that I have class in an hour. Really the only thing you might not have in your cabinet out of these ingredients is a package of pecans. So write those down on your list now and make these asap!

Chunky Pecan Pie Bars
Recipe from Brown Eyed Baker

For the Crust:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
¼ cup packed brown sugar

Filling:
3 large eggs
¾ cup corn syrup
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1¾ cups coarsely chopped semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (or chocolate chunks in a bag!)
1½ cups chopped pecans

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan.

2. For the crust, mix together the flour, butter and brown sugar until crumbly. Press into the baking pan and bake for 12-15 minutes or until lightly brown.

3. For the filling, beat the eggs, corn syrup, sugar, butter and vanilla extract with a wire whisk. Stir in the chunks and pecans. Pour evenly over the baked crust and bake for 25-30 minutes or until set.

4. Cool in the pan on a wire rack. Cool completely and cut into bars. Store in an airtight container at room temperature (or in the refrigerator if you live in a warm/humid area with no air conditioning).

Yep, I was the impatient person who cut one right out of the center before taking pictures.

So which are you wondering more right about now: what on earth is a smookie or where on earth have I been for the past two months?


For the latter of those let's just say things got hectic and unfortunately blogging took the backseat, but I'm back now (for good this time!). As for the smookies, the short answer is it's a s'more and cookie in one. I've made s'more cookies before, but these are on their own level of good. Therefore, they get their own weird name. Not to be confused with Snooki, which people will undoubtedly think you are saying when you tell them you're making smookies. I'm not sure if I want to know what a cookie named the Snooki would be. Any ideas?


The concept behind these is fairly basic. You lay out the graham crackers, drop the chilled dough on top, pull them out of the oven right before they're done to top them off with chocolate, and a few minutes later you have yourself a delicious mixture of everything you love about s'mores and everything you love about cookies. I personally don't like the graham crackers when they're not as crispy, so I like to finish these off as quickly as possible (see how I justify things?). I also now omit the cinnamon because the first time I made these everyone's initial comment was, "Is there cinnamon in these?". We all know questions pertaining to a certain ingredient that aren't followed by an "Mmm!" aren't quite the best sign. That's also coming from a cinnamonster over here, so you know it pains me to leave it out. Your call! Hope you'll enjoy them regardless!


Smookies
Recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything


11 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 ½ cups flour
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup mini marshmallows
3 regular sized Hershey’s bars, broken into pieces
1-2 packages graham crackers, broken into squares

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line baking pans with parchment paper. I used one 11x17 pan and one 9x13 pan but you can really use any sized pans you want.

Lay out graham crackers side by side on the pans as close as possible (they should be touching). I used 16 graham cracker squares on one pan and 10 squares on another. You may have to add or remove graham crackers according to how much dough you have. If you want your cookies thicker you will use more dough and less graham crackers.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, sea salt and cinnamon to combine. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter with white and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixer and combine on low speed.

Fold in the chocolate chips and marshmallows. Chill dough in refrigerator for 1 hour to overnight (I did one batch right away and another after chilling overnight and found there was no difference.)

Place tablespoons of dough on graham crackers about 1 – 1 ½ inches apart. I averaged about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough per graham cracker square as seen in the picture above. Press down slightly with fingertips.

Bake for 5 minutes then remove from oven to press Hershey’s bar pieces on to the top. You can place as many pieces or as little as you want depending how much chocolate flavor you want.

Bake for 5 – 7 more minutes or until dough is beginning to turn golden brown at the edges. Remove to a wire rack to cool. For clean cutting make sure cookies are completely cool and cut with a sharp knife.

Well, I'm obviously failing on getting back in the habit of a post a week. It's interesting how living in a different place changes around your schedule entirely. I'm certain that I have much more free time on my hands now than when I'm back at school, yet I can't seem to find the time to post to save my life. I honestly think it's because I'm not doing homework, so I'm not seeking sources of procrastination.


This pie is extremely easy to make, and with a little ice cream or whipped cream will absolutely appeal to any crowd you might be feeding. As you can see, my chocolate chip pie more closely resembles a chocolate pie. I guess that's what happens when you only buy chocolate chips in 72 ounce bags. I think I may have doubled what it asked for. There are certain ingredients I always do this with. Sometimes it backfires, this is not necessarily one of those times since it was still delicious, but it did change up what the pie was intended to be. Next time I'll resist temptation and stick to the recipe.


Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie
Recipe Courtesy of A Little Bit Crunchy A Little Bit Rock n Roll


1 unbaked pie shell (*see my no-roll pie crust below)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup flour
small pinch salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (6 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate morsels (plus additional chips for drizzle)
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)


Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.


Beat the eggs, on high, until foamy.  Beat in the flour and then both sugars.  Beat in the butter.  (I usually have a few small specks of butter left in the batter- this is fine and the pie will turn out great.)  Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts.  Spoon into the pie crust and bake for 55-60 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack.


For the topping:
Melt 1/4 cup chocolate chips.  Add about a 1/2 teaspoon oil.  Stir and pour into a zipper bag.  Cut off a tiny corner and drizzle over the pie.


Optional:
Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Contrary to what my long hiatus from blogging might suggest, I am, in fact, still alive, baking and well! I've been in DC since May 16th interning in the area, but when I made the trek up here I didn't bring any of my baking supplies (what was I thinking?). Thankfully, I have now sufficiently frightened my roommate by lugging up far more chocolate chips, pans and types of cocoa powder than anyone should ever need. I don't think she knew what she was getting herself into when I asked if I could bring up some bakeware.

Anywho, this post isn't like my other posts. This post is announcing/showcasing my entry into my first baking contest ever!

These little sandwiches of deliciousness are my entry for North Carolina into the Better Homes and Gardens State Cookie Contest. The second I was asked to participate in this contest I came up with about a million different ideas of what I would make. Then I hit the problem: just because something is one of my favorite ingredients, or even a southern ingredient, does not mean it has any relation to North Carolina. We have some darn good food in North Carolina, but thinking of a dessert that was in cookie form was quite a challenge. It's probably just because I love both North Carolina and desserts so much that I'd hate to do either of them injustice.

Well, I finally arrived at the decision that I would have to make a pie in cookie form. After a bit of googling I found the Neely's recipe for sweet potato pie cookies. Apparently (according to my brother-in-law who, unlike me, actually has culinary training), North Carolina produces about 90 percent of US sweet potatoes. Who knew?! So with a few changes of my own I made sweet potato pie sandwich cookies with a maple cinnamon marshmallow filling and a cinnamon glaze on top. That's a mouthful. 

Any southerner knows that the key to the perfect sweet potato casserole is a marshmallow topping, hence why I had to add that on my pie-cookies. The frosting on top has shortening in it, and something about shortening screams "southern"...maybe because we're the only ones still using it. I ended up a little pressed for time with these (read: ran to the Watergate Safeway at 5:45am to buy JetPuffed to sandwich the cookies before work), but they turned out delicious. Unfortunately it was raining for the pictures, but I like to think it was sunny in NC on the day I made them.

BHG sent me a pan for the baking (another plus for a broke college student), and let me tell you, I don't think I've ever baked with something that was so nonstick. Literally, right out of the oven these cookies could've slid from one side to the other. Goodbye parchment paper. So there we go, that is my honest to goodness endorsement, and trust me, I wouldn't give that if I didn't like it.

To close this LONG post I will ask that if you have a second, please vote for North Carolina in the cookie contest---even if you're not from NC, don't have any connection to the state, or just don't particularly like us, it would mean a lot to me to get any votes you're willing to dish out!

www.facebook.com/bhglivebetter and then go to State Cookie Contest and North Carolina.

Thanks and enjoy!

Sweet Potato Pie Cookies

Recipe adapted from Down Home with the Neelys

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) salted butter room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup mashed sweet potatoes *
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 tablespoon butter melted
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar

*To make mashed sweet potatoes, wrap sweet potatoes in foil and place them in an oven heated to 400 degrees for 45-50 minutes. Remove from oven, peel off skin (it should slip right off), and put in food processor with the 1 tablespoon maple syrup. You'll only need 2 or 3 sweet potatoes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and adjust racks to the middle position. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. in the meantime mix the pecans with the melted butter and brown sugar and toast until glaze begins to set on pecans.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and salt.

Using a hand held mixer (I used my stand) cream together the butter, granulated sugar and the brown sugar until light and fluffy and the volume has increased. Add the egg and the vanilla and mix until incorporated. Stir in the sweet potato puree and blend until smooth. Beat in the dry ingredients in increments and combine well. Stir in the pecans.

Drop in small mounds onto the prepared cookie sheets, leaving about 2 inches of space between each cookie. Bake until the cookies are lightly golden around the edges and they spring back from the touch, about 12 minutes. Let cool completely on the cookie sheets

Maple Cinnamon Marshmallow Frosting

Recipe adapted from Sprinkle Bakes

1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 7-ounce jar marshmallow fluff

1 1/2 teaspoons maple extract

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add marshmallow fluff, cinnamon and maple extract; beat until blended and smooth. 

Cinnamon Frosting

Recipe adapted from Group Recipes 

1/4 cup butter shortening
1 teaspoon vanilla extract  
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2-1/2 cups confectioners sugar 
3 tablespoons milk 

In a small mixing bowl, cream shortening, vanilla and cinnamon. Gradually beat in confectioners sugar. Add milk; beat until light and fluffy.

To assemble: 

Wait for cookies to cool. When cool, either pipe on a tablespoon or so of frosting or spread on with a spoon or spatula. As a side note, I don't have my piping bags with me so I used a ziplock back with the tip cut off and it worked perfectly (tried and true trick). Drizzle the icing over the top of the assembled cookies with either a piping bag or spoon. The frosting may have to be slightly heated if using a spoon.

Of course it was a rainy day when I had to take the pictures!

Oh browned butter, where have you been all my life? I'm sure I've had browned butter in something before, not because I actually remember it, but because somewhere in my mind I've always known it was amazing. That knack had to come from somewhere. Or perhaps it just came from the fact that I like butter in every form.

I'm so devoted to my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe that it's hard for me to say this, but these cookies just might win. I'll move on before I have to retract that statement. The browned butter flavor really comes through and brings these cookies beyond the average chocolate chip cookie recipe. They are incredible. Sure, sometimes I want a run of the mill chocolate chip cookie. For that craving I'll turn to my normal recipe, but then there are times when I want to jazz it up a bit. These fit the bill.

I took the pictures a few days after I made them, something I am often forced to do after procrastination takes its toll. Does anyone else do that? I set out the cookies, brownies, etc. that I like the best and tell people not to eat them. Then I forget to take the pictures, and my favorite ones don't look nearly as nice as they did on day one. It's a bad habit. So, you'll just have to take my word that these taste a million times better than they photographed. Or, better yet, you can check out the mouthwatering pictures from Pixelated Crumb if you don't believe me.

Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe from Pixelated Crumb (adapted from Cooks Illustrated)


1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (8 3/4 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
14 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 3/4 sticks)
1/2 cup granulated sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
3/4 cups packed dark brown sugar (5 1/4 ounces)
1 teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 1/4 cups semisweet (or bittersweet) chocolate chips or chunks
3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted (optional)
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 large (18- by 12-inch) baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.
Heat 10 tablespoons butter in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and, using heatproof spatula, transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl. Stir remaining 4 tablespoons butter into hot butter until completely melted.
Add both sugars, salt, and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Add egg and yolk and whisk until mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds. Let mixture stand 3 minutes, then whisk for 30 seconds. Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times until mixture is thick, smooth, and shiny. Using rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minute. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts (if using), giving dough final stir to ensure no flour pockets remain.
Divide dough into 16 portions, each about 3 tablespoons (or use #24 cookie scoop). Arrange 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets, 8 dough balls per sheet. (Smaller baking sheets can be used, but will require 3 batches.)
Bake cookies 1 tray at a time until cookies are golden brown and still puffy, and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft, 10 to 14 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack; cool cookies completely before serving.

To say I've tried a lot of coffee cakes is an understatement. In my opinion everyone is pretty keen on their mom or grandma's coffee cake recipes. But that's not to say those recipes can't be topped or at the very least tied. It's just what we're used to.

This is the quintessential coffee cake. It's loaded with butter, and the first time I made it I was sure that I had measured incorrectly because of the enormous amount of cinnamon sugar crumble on top (I hadn't). I've made it twice now, and it's been delicious both times. I vaguely remember the last one turning out a bit prettier, but you can't win 'em all.

Ree titled this recipe "The Best Coffee Cake. Ever." It's hard for me to pick a favorite coffee cake because I have so many that I love that at a certain point all of the best ones start blending together in my mind. I probably have 10 favorites that I transition between. I'd rather not have added a coffee cake to that list that has 3 sticks of butter, but once I tried it I knew it was a keeper, butter and all.

So, here's one more coffee cake to add to the "bests" list. You can never have too many. Ree titled it "The Best Coffee Cake. Ever." - it's definitely up there with the best I've made, but the jury is still out on whether it's actually the best ever. Regardless, it's absolutely one you will want to make as soon as possible.

"The Best Coffee Cake. Ever."
Recipe from The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

FOR THE CAKE:

• 1-½ stick Butter, Softened
• 2 cups Scant Sugar
• 3 cups Flour, Sifted
• 4 teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1-¼ cup Whole Milk
• 3 whole Egg Whites, Beaten Until Stiff

FOR THE TOPPING:

• 1-½ stick Butter, Softened
• ¾ cups Flour
• 1-½ cup Brown Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Cinnamon
• 1-½ cup Pecans, Chopped

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat egg whites and set aside.
Cream butter and sugar. Add flour mixture and milk alternately until combined. Don’t overbeat. Fold in beaten egg whites with a rubber spatula. Spread in a well-greased 9 x 13 (or LARGER!) baking pan. A cake pan with higher sides would be best.
In a separate bowl, combine topping ingredients with a pastry cutter until crumbly. Sprinkle all over the top.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until no longer jiggly. Serve warm—delicious!

I just love an easy recipe. Maybe that's why I keep coming back to Christie's plethora of frozen bread dough recipes over at Southern Plate. I've had my eye on these cinnamon buns for awhile now, but my infatuation with pizza bread from frozen bread dough made me more than a little wary to subject myself to a new obsession (maybe I should refrain from using words containing the word "fat" when talking about my favorite foods?). 

I've now made them twice in three days--at least I know myself well.

But, it's exam time and having food around the house is essential while studying. I don't do libraries because I get too distracted by all the studious people around me. I like to take a power nap break when I get tired, and I want to eat when I get bored (I'm a bored eater if there ever was one). Not that I can't do both of those in the library, but I'm sure I'm the type of person who would wake up sleep talking, so I'd rather not disturb the peace. I am two exams away from freedom, and then I'll be heading up to DC for the summer. Hopefully living in a dorm again won't hurt my cooking too much!  Anywho, make these. They are wonderful. 

Cinnamon Buns 

Recipe from Southern Plate

1 loaf frozen white bread dough (such as Rhode’s)

Filling:

1/4 C butter or margarine, softened

1 C brown sugar, packed

3 T ground cinnamon

Icing:

3 ounce cream cheese, softened

1/4 C butter or margarine, softened

1 1/2 C confectioner’s sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla (optional)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Place loaf of dough on plate and let sit at room temperature until thawed. Once thawed, roll out onto floured surface to a size of about nine inches by sixteen inches. Spread 1/4 C margarine over dough.

In small bowl mix together brown sugar and 3 T cinnamon. Sprinkle over top of cinnamon roll, stopping about 1/2 an inch away from the sides so it will seal.  Carefully roll up cinnamon roll into a log and press lightly to seal. Slice into one inch slices with serrated knife. Place in greased 9×13 inch pan and cover with cling wrap. Place in warm spot and allow to rise until doubled in size. Remove cling wrap and bake at 400 for about 15 minutes, or until done.

Icing: Mix all ingredients together and beat with electric mixer until creamy. Spread over cinnamon rolls.

I tried to be creative and get more angles, but apparently creativity isn't my strong suit when I'm running on two hours of sleep. Note to self: ripping a cinnamon bun apart doesn't look nearly as appealing on camera as in person.