Making vegetarian sweet potato enchiladas always brings me back to my first apartment with no air conditioning. I was so proud of that nasty apartment. My roommate and I instated a Tequila Tuesday each week, where a group of friends would come over to make authentic enchiladas. On a very tight budget, we pulled together an amazing spread of cheese enchiladas over a rickety gas stove that had to be lit with a match in a kitchen with windows that were painted shut (safe, right?). A lot of sweat and love went into those enchiladas. Mostly sweat. But that was the beginning of my love for veggie enchiladas. I have since then tweaked my recipe with sweet potatoes, poblanos, and portobello mushrooms, and of course verde enchilada sauce. Now it’s my go to dish when I’m having friends or family over. It’s perfect for entertaining and a little goes a long way. We somehow always have leftovers. If you have a little filling left, make a second 8×8 pan of enchiladas with any leftover tortillas, sauce and cheese. …
food styling
Christmas Morning Pistachio Cookie Crumble Cake
When I told Sam I was making this cake for the blog, his response was “Cake for breakfast?!” The answer is of course, YES, because it’s coffee cake… haha. Also it’s a holiday, so I give myself a pass. This is the perfect cake to make for Christmas morning. It keeps well, for several days, so if you can keep your hands off of it until then, you can make it ahead and cover it.
Sam and I spent our first Christmas together after three short months of dating, and he came to visit my family in Louisville. I had to explain to him how serious we are about Christmas. We have some pretty deep traditions in my family, and I’m the oldest of lots of brothers and sisters, the youngest being eleven at the time. So when I told him we had to arrive at 7:00 am to open presents on Christmas morning, he almost didn’t believe me. And when we showed up, everyone was sitting around with piles of presents on their laps waiting for us. My dad was using his “World’s Best Dad” mug that my brother gave him years ago. We had a very specific method for opening gifts in a circle, one at a time. Did I mention that we take Christmas seriously?
But it’s these funny traditions, and the fact that my stepmom had to prep everyone for Sam coming by telling them all to wear pants, not just robes, that I will always remember. Or the times my dad used to set up a video camera on a tripod before we opened presents. But traditions are so important! I made this cake as a reminder of all those times, and as something special to have on Christmas morning during your time with family.
It’s perfect for a crowd, and you can have fun making it together if you want! I love the addition of pistachios, but of course you could use pecans or walnuts. It’s up to you! My favorite part is definitely the ginger cookies tucked into the center of the cake. It adds a nice flavor that’s slightly different than your standard coffee cake.
Let’s get started!
You’re gonna need lots of mixing bowls, so prepare. Below is a photo of the cookies I used, but any ginger cookie will work.
Beat those eggwhites into snowy peaks! How festive is that? (Can I be the Barefoot Contessa, please?)
Look at that buttery crumble! So good.
This cake is delicious. I hope you enjoy making it for loved ones, and let me know how it turns out. See below for the full recipe, and I have a new printable recipe feature at the bottom! So click the button if you’d like to print and save it!
What do you normally make for breakfast on Christmas morning?
CHRISTMAS MORNING PISTACHIO COOKIE CRUMBLE CAKE
makes 1 standard bundt cake
adapted from The Pioneer Woman
Ingredients:
For the cake:
2 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 egg whites
1 stick butter
1 1/3 cups sugar
3/4 cup milk plus 1 TBSP
For the topping:
3 ounces ginger snaps or ginger thin cookies (about a cup, blended)
1 cup pistachios, chopped roughly
1 stick butter, softened to room temperature
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F.
For the cake: In a medium sized bowl, sift the flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside. In another medium mixing bowl, beat the eggwhites to stiff peaks and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, add the 1 stick of butter and sugar. Beat with an electric mixture until creamy. Add the flour mixture and milk alternately, a little at a time, beating between additions. Fold in the eggwhites, gently.
For the topping: In a food processor, add the cookies and pulse until roughly crumbled. If you don’t have a food processor, add the cookies to a ziploc bag, seal, and roll over it with a rolling pin until the cookies are crushed. In a medium bowl, add the cookies, pistachios, soft butter, cinnamon, brown sugar, and flour. Use a fork to mix everything together and then use your hands to crumble it all together.
Grease and flour a standard bundt pan. Add half the batter to the pan, spreading evenly. Sprinkle half the cookie mixture on top. Add the remainder of the cake mixture on top, evening with your spatula. Sprinkle the remainder of the cookie mixture on top. Bake for about 45-50 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Let cool slightly before removing from the pan.
Our Favorite Sweet Rolls
If my family takes one thing seriously, it’s tradition. We tell the same stories over and over again, and we reminisce about things more than most. Just ask Sam. We take our Christmas menu seriously, too, and we always have Ham with my Aunt Joy’s “Favorite Sweet Rolls.” Some of the biggest fights that have happened are over whether to change something that has been the same for the past thirty years, so we’re pretty serious about traditions.
This recipe is one of those that is written out in my grandmother’s handwritten recipe book with no clues as to it’s origin and titled “Our Favorite Sweet Rolls.” She also wrote out her Christmas Lunch menu that she served every year for her friends next to each person’s name and who had passed away. In her handwriting at the bottom she wrote, “Whatever you would do for friends, do quickly! Time does not stand still!” Considering my grandmother is no longer able to attend holidays, and is in a nursing home with dementia, it’s comforting to hear her advice now, when she can’t give it.
My Aunt Joy was the one who used to make these, to continue with Grandmother’s tradition. Aunt Joy passed away about fifteen years ago, and ever since, we stopped making these. We talk about them every year and always say that Christmas isn’t the same since no one made the rolls again. But I was determined to bring them back this year. I am probably the only other person with the patience to make yeast rolls.
Since my sister was visiting this weekend, it was the perfect opportunity to recreate our Christmas tradition. We watched Little Women, the best Christmas movie, shopped in downtown Franklin, painted ornaments, and of course, made these yeast rolls! They’re scored, dipped in butter, and filled with cinnamon sugar, so they’re slightly sweet. I used to eat so many of these that I earned the nickname “roll butt” from my cousin.
Let’s get started! Put your patience hat on. First you will melt the shortening in a saucepan with the milk, sugar, and salt. Let it cool before adding the yeast and the egg. Whisk together and mix in the flour a little at a time with a wooden spoon. You’ll get a tacky mess until it’s just right, but you’ll know when it’s ready to knead because it will be difficult to stir.
To know when to stop kneading, feel the dough. Is it lumpy? It’s not ready. If it’s smooth and elastic, it’s where it should be. It also will no longer stick to the countertop. If you poke it, it will quickly jump back. It’s all about really getting to know the dough.
Cover and let it rise for a couple hours in a warm place. My trick to a quick rise is to turn on the oven to 350 and place the bowl near the vent to keep it nice and warm.
Now comes the fun part! You punch it down with your fist and then knead it for a couple minutes. Then roll it out with a rolling pin on a clean surface. My aunts use a juice glass to cut the rolls, but I used a cocktail shaker. If you’re not an animal like me, you can use a cookie cutter.
Get together your cinnamon sugar and melted butter in two bowls.
I flatten out the roll slightly with my thumbs and score the center with a knife. Dip the scored side in butter then cinnamon sugar. Then fold it in half like a taco and press it down firmly until it stays like that.
Place them on a parchment lined baking sheet and brush them with butter. Let them sit for about 20 minutes and bake for 12-20 minutes or until they’re golden and fluffy.
I hope you make these and they become a new tradition at your holidays. What Christmas traditions does your family have?
See the full recipe below.
OUR FAVORITE SWEET ROLLS
makes about 24 rolls
Ingredients:
2 cups milk
2 tsp salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup shortening
2 packets of rapid rise yeast
1 egg
about 6 cups flour
1 stick butter, melted
another 1/2 cup granulated sugar (for the filling)
2 tsp cinnamon
Directions:
In a small saucepan, mix together milk, salt, 1/2 cup sugar, and shortening over medium heat until shortening is melted and sugar is dissolved, about 4 minutes. Pour mixture into a large mixing bowl to cool. Let it sit until it is room temperature, about 20-30 minutes.
Once the mixture is room temperature, add yeast and egg and whisk together. Add the flour, one cup at a time, mixing together with a wooden spoon between flour additions. Once the mixture is tacky and difficult to mix with a spoon, turn it out onto a clean surface to knead. Add a little flour to the surface and knead for about 10 minutes. You’ll know it’s been kneaded enough when the mixture no longer sticks to the counter without the help of flour and it’s smooth and elastic. If you press it with your finger, it will spring back.
Roll the dough into a ball and place in a greased bowl. Cover with saran wrap and leave in a warm place to rise for about 2 hours or until it has doubled in size. Once doubled, remove the saran wrap and punch down the dough with your fist. Turn the dough onto your clean surface again and knead for a couple minutes. Roll out with a rolling pin to about a half inch thickness. Using a juice glass, cut circles out of the dough and place on a parchment lined baking sheet or a greased baking sheet.
Mix together the sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Using your thumbs, gently flatten the circle and score a line down the center of the circle with a butter knife. Dip the scored side into melted butter and then dip into the cinnamon sugar mixture. Fold over like a taco on the scored line and place onto the baking sheet on its side, pressing down gently so that it doesn’t reopen. Brush the tops with the remaining melted butter. Let the rolls sit for another 20 minutes or so.
Preheat the oven to 400 F. Bake for 12-20 minutes or until lightly golden and puffy.
Green Chile Skillet Cornbread
Lately I’ve been soaking in the last of the fall weather before things turn frosty over here. We’ve been having dinners with friends, meatball parties (more on that later), afternoon walks in the park, and fires in the backyard. It smells smoky outside all the time, like leaves and campfire. There’s nothing better. A couple of our friends, one of which is a far superior cook to me, invited us over for Chili Verde, and I knew that I had to bring my A-game. I made this Green Chile Skillet Cornbread with actual corn in it. Is that a thing? Because I swear I’ve had it that way before, but I don’t know where! His Chili Verde blew me away, so I’m going to have to try and recreate it for the blog soon. It was the perfect pairing to this cornbread.
We have been eating this recipe for days, and I even made it twice this weekend. This recipe has green chiles and corn kernels in it with lovely crispy edges like it fried itself in the oven. I wanted to make something really special, so this couldn’t be your nasty, sweet, run of the mill jiffy mix. It had to be complex. I decided to put corn in it for texture, green chiles for flavor, and the skillet part adds an extra element.
But even better than that, I made the leftovers into breakfast by putting a fried egg and some spicy salsa verde on top. It was incredible! It’s worth the work to make this just to put an egg and salsa on top. It’s a great thing to make for any of your Thanksgiving houseguests this weekend so that breakfast is easy.
We always try to make special breakfasts on the weekends, and this has to be my favorite. This recipe is going to be a new staple this winter at our house. Try the recipe below and let me know what you think!
GREEN CHILE SKILLET CORNBREAD
makes one 12inch skillet of cornbread
adapted from The Pioneer Woman
Ingredients:
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup milk
1 whole egg
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup shortening, melted
1/2 cup canned corn, drained
one 4 ounce can green chiles
1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
2 tbsp shortening
Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 F.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, salt, and baking powder. Mix together with a fork. In a separate bowl, add the buttermilk, milk, and egg. Mix together with a fork. Add the baking soda. Mix again. Pour the buttermilk mixture into the cornmeal mixture and stir together until combined. Add the melted 1/4 cup shortening a little at a time. Mix together until just combined. Add the corn, chiles and cheddar. Mix again.
In a cast iron skillet, add the 2 tbsp shortening over medium heat on the stove top. Once shortening is melted, add the batter. It should sizzle. Cook for one minute on the stove and then place in the oven to bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown on top. Slice into wedges and serve warm.