Orange Chocolate Panettone

Panettone is a delicious Italian holiday tradition. This panettone had a wonderful orange citrus flavour and is studded with chocolate. Panettone makes a delightful gift and an even better french toast! 

Panettone is a traditional Italian Christmas bread and over the years the various flavours have seemed to get more elaborate - one year our panettone had ice cream inside! You can't leave my grandmother's house around Christmas without her gifting you at least one. My favourite have always been the ones studded with chocolate.  Panettone also makes for a delicious french toast - a perfect festive Christmas morning breakfast.

Last year, I made these mini orange cranberry white chocolate panettone. They were delicious and the perfect individual size. This year, I wanted to try making a traditional sized panettone. Since I do not own a panettone pan, I used one of my 8 X 3 inch cake pans with a tall collar of parchment paper to add height to the pans. This worked out great! 

I love the combination of orange and chocolate together. The perfect amount tart and sweet. I used a semi sweet chocolate in my panettone but a sweeter milk chocolate would also work well. To really up the chocolate flavour I dipped the top of the panettone in additional chocolate. The panettone also freezes well - so you can make it in advance if need be. I would recommend freezing it before you dip it in the additional chocolate.  

Orange Chocolate Panettone

Ingredients

2 packages instant yeast

4 c all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

3/4 c warm milk

1/4 c butter

1/2 c sugar

3 eggs

2 egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla extract

zest 1 orange

4 oz semi sweet chocolate, chopped

1 egg

2 tbsp milk

3/4 c, semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions

Grease a large bowl with butter, set aside. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together flour, yeast and salt on low speed for 5 minutes

In a small saucepan over medium heat combine milk, butter and sugar. Heat until all the butter is melted and mixture is warm. On low speed, slowly pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture. Mix until just combined. Add in eggs, egg yolks and vanilla. Stir in orange zest and chocolate until just combined. The dough should be sticky to the touch

Transfer dough to prepared bowl, cover with plastic wrap. Allow dough to rise in a warm, draft free area until doubled in size (approx 90 mins).

Grease and line an 8 inch cake pan with parchment paper, creating a cuff around the top of the pan.

Once dough is doubled in size, punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Roll into a ball and place in prepared pan. Cover with clean tea towel and let rise until doubled in size (approx 90 mins).

Beat together remaining egg and 2 table spoons of milk to create egg wash. Brush top of panettone.  Bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Allow panettone to cool for 10-15 minutes in the pan before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Melt chocolate chips, and top panettone with melted chocolate.

Cinnamon Rolls

Is there anything better than delicious doughy cinnamon rolls slathered with a cream cheese glaze straight out of the oven? 

These cinnamon rolls are dangerous! As in I wanted to sit and eat the entire pan straight out of the oven kinda dangerous. These things are good and they make your entire house smell amazing. 

I am always slightly nervous when baking anything that involves yeast. There is always the question of will this work out? Will it rise? You put in some much time (and hope) waiting for the dough to rise - you really want it to work out! There is something so relaxing about measuring out the ingredients, mixing the dough, leaving it to rise and watching it bake in the oven.  It is a lovely cozy ritual - perfect for a sunday morning.   You can make the dough for these cinnamon rolls the day before - and bake them the next morning! Enjoy them fresh from the oven with a large cup of coffee or tea. These would make for the perfect Christmas morning treat! 

Cinnamon Rolls 

With Cream Cheese Glaze

Directions

In a glass measuring cup, add the yeast to the warm milk and let it stand for 5 minutes. The yeast should start to foam in the milk.  

In a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, over medium speed beat together butter, sugar and the egg. Slowly add in the milk and yeast mixture. Mix in the flour and salt. Until just combined. 

Switch to a dough hook, and mix until a smooth dough forms (3-5 minutes).  Place dough in a greased bowl and cover. Let rise until double in sized. 

To create the filling, in a small bowl, mix together butter, brown sugar and cinnamon until smooth. 

On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough into long rectangle roughly 15 by 9 inches. Evenly spread the butter and cinnamon mixture over the dough. From one of the long ends, roll the dough into a log, pinch the ends together to seal.  Cut into 12-15 rounds. Place cinnamon buns in pie plate or cake pan. Cover and let rise until doubled in size. *If you would like to bake the dough the next day, let rise overnight in the fridge. 

Preheat oven to 350F. Bake cinnamon rolls for 30 minutes or until golden brown. 

While the cinnamon rolls are baking, in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment over medium to high speed, beat together, butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add in icing sugar and vanilla, beat until smooth. 

Top warm cinnamon rolls with cream cheese glaze. Enjoy! 

 For the Dough 

1 package yeast 

2/3 c warm milk 

1/2 c butter, at room temperature 

1/4 c sugar 

1 egg

3 c flour 

1/2 tsp salt

For the Filling 

1/4 c butter, at room temperature 

1/4 c brown sugar 

1 tbsp cinnamon

For the Cream Cheese Glaze 

1/4 c butter, at room temperature 

4 oz cream cheese, softened 

1 1/2 c icing sugar 

1 tsp vanilla

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Scones

Homemade apple cinnamon oatmeal scones with a delicious sweet nutty flavour. Top with almond butter or a drizzle of maple syurp for the perfect breakfast or snack! 

We went on our annual apple picking trip a couple of weeks ago - so get ready for lots of apple recipes! I tend to go a little bit over board while apple picking and some how we always end up with 20+ pounds of apples. Oops! Apples for everyone!  I like to pick a variety of apples - some for eating and some for baking. I love making pies and other baked desserts with various apple varieties. I find that using a few different types of apples makes for a really delicious dessert.

Apples, cinnamon and oatmeal are foods that feel cozy to me. They make me think of cool autumn mornings. I have been on a big oatmeal kick lately. I have been making lots of overnight oats, bircher mueslis and granola.  Which means I basically have some form of oats for breakfast on a daily basis. Since I have been on such an oatmeal kick lately it seemed only natural to incorporate oats into the apple scones that I was planning on making after we went apple picking. Does anyone else think about all the things they are going to make after they go apple picking (or berry picking)? Just me? 

These apple oatmeal scones are perfect for breakfast or for a quick snack! The oatmeal adds a delicious hardy texture and slightly nutty flavour to the scones. I love the combination of apples and cinnamon together. The apples add a nice natural sweetness to the scones. I would recommend enjoying these scones topped with almond butter, or butter with a drizzle of maple syrup!

Apple Oatmeal Scones 

Makes: 8 Large Scones

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Ingredients

1 c oats 

2 c AP flour 

1 tbsp baking powder 

1 tbsp sugar 

1 tsp cinnamon 

1 c apples, peeled & shredded (about 2 medium apples) 

1/2 butter, cold, cut into small cubes

1/4 c heavy cream, plus more for brushing scones

Corse sugar (optional)

Directions 

Preheat oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. 

In a large bowl, mix together oats, flour, baking powder, sugar, cinnamon and apples. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter, until coarse crumbs form. Using a rubber spatula stir in heavy cream. 

Turn dough out onto counter top and form into a circle about 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick. Cut circle into 8 wedges. Place scones onto prepared baking sheets and brush with cream. Top with corse sugar if desired. 

Bake for 15 minutes or until bottoms are golden brown.  

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