Cinnamon Twists

Don't you just love it when your coworker comes to you on Monday at 2 in the afternoon and is nice enough to not only tell you that there is a potluck tomorrow, but also give you a list of what everyone is bringing so as to make sure you don't double up.  This is especially frustrating when you are on a strict, albeit self-imposed, no grocery shopping until half of that crap left in my fridge is gone.  Ah, the joys of moving in 16 DAYS!  It's going to be an interesting few weeks to say the least.  I feel I should apologize in advance...

 So, bound by my own stringent rule making, I had limited options.  Frozen chicken breasts, puff pastry and sweet potatoes fries are the basic contents of my freezer.  I remembered seeing "Lemon Sugar Puff Pastry Twists" (quite the name, I know) awhile ago online.  The absolutely gorgeous pictures, which easily put mine to shame, had convinced me that was to be the end results of my left over puff pastry dough.  I just didn't realize the end would come so soon!  While I did have a lemon left over in the bottom of my fridge, all of its zest was stolen for the zucchini bread.  I then remembered, that it was supposed to be a healthy potluck.  And lucky for me, I will be convinced until the day I die that cinnamon is healthy for you and me and everyone else.  And that is how we got here.


They were quick and easy, and maybe not necessarily healthy, but they were still all easily demolished at the potluck, with coworkers coming up to me later asking if there were any leftover.  A surprise hit I would say.  And yay for using only what's in the freezer, fridge and pantry!

Cinnamon Twists

Inspired by Cookin Canuck

1 sheet of puff pastry, thawed
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
1/2 c. Turbinado Sugar (Sugar in the Raw)
1 Tbsp. cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 400 degree F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  In wide, shallow dish mix cinnamon and sugar well.

Lay out puff pastry sheet on well floured surface.  Roll out puff pastry dough until it's about an inch longer in each direction.  Using a sharp small knife, or pizza cutter, cut the sheet in half horizontally.  Next, cut vertical strips about 1 inch wide, or about 12 per sheet.

Brush both sides of each strip with butter.  Dredge both sides in cinnamon sugar mixture.  Twist sheets as you lay them on the baking sheet.  Cook 8-10 minutes, until strips are puffed and golden.

Chocolate Croissants

This afternoon I'm heading off to Chicago to visit Ben.  And being the good girlfriend that I am, I am bringing baked goods.  This time around, it was Chocolate Croissants, the basic recipe I gleaned from a lazy Saturday of watching Food Network all day.  The best chocolate croissants I ever had were in Germany (but maybe that's because I never had them in France...) and they were deliciously flaky with chocolate all the way through.  These were good, but they lacked that flaky action, which is basically key in a croissant.  So maybe a better title for what I made last night would be chocolate pastries; but that doesn't sound as good.   They did have chocolate all throughout, and when they are warm it's oozy and delicious.  I haven't tried them cold/room temperature yet, but I have high hopes.

I made these up Wednesday night, making some quick work of a frozen puff pastry sheet and some Belgian dark chocolate I bought from Trader Joe's (I feel like I'm almost running an advertising campaign for them.  What can I say?  They have some hidden, cheap treasures in that store)  My triangles were a little lopsided, giving the resulting croissants that rustic, homemade off-kilter sort of look.  I put them in the fridge until yesterday, when I threw them in a 400F oven for about 15 minutes.  There was an egg wash and light sprinkle of sugar somewhere in there too. 

They came out warm and gooey, as melted chocolate and puff pastry can be expected to do.  Make sure to learn from my mistake, a wait a little while before trying to eat one.  Also, don't skip the light dusting of sugar on the top.  About half I decided to try without, and they just didn't come out as pretty.  Again, these were good, but probably because I didn't have too high of expectations for them.  They did make me want to go back to Germany for the real deal, but what doesn't make me want to go back to Germany these days?  Just wait till I whip out my German potato salad recipe for the upcoming summer months!

Anyways, the recipe is below.  Sorry about the lack of pictures, I was busy packing and going to baseball games last night.  (The Drive won 12-6!  Woohoo!)

Chocolate Croissants

1 sheet of puff pastry, thawed

Flour, for dusting

1 bar of dark chocolate

1 large egg, beaten

Sugar, for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 400°.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Flour a clean working surface and lay out one sheet of thawed puff pastry dough.  Using a small, sharp knife, cut dough in half, widthwise.  For small croissants, divide each half into 6 equal sized triangles. 

Break chocolate bar up into small rectangular pieces.  Using one dough triangle, place a chocolate piece at the wide edge and roll up towards the tip to form a croissant.  Place seam side down on baking sheet.  Continue with remaining dough triangles.  When finished, cover with plastic wrap and put in fridge to firm up the dough (refrigerate up to one day).

When dough is firm, remove from fridge and brush croissants with the beaten egg.  Sprinkle tops lightly with sugar. 

Bake until croissants are golden brown, about 15 minutes.