Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

I love Pillsbury cinnamon rolls. When my mom makes them it is a trial in willpower to stop myself at two. I'd never made them from scratch because it's something you have to start the night before (not that morning trying to decide what to make). As long as you know in advance you want to make them, it's not a lot of work and they're delicious. They're not quite as sweet as the Pillsbury variety and they're so doughy and warm and wonderful. This makes 12 and I don't think you'll have trouble finishing them off. I used this recipe from Alton Brown.

Ingredients:
4 egg yolks, room temp
1 egg, room temp
1/4 cup sugar
6 tbsp butter, melted
6oz buttermilk, room temp
4 cups flour
1 package instant dry yeast
1 1/4 tsp salt

Snickerdoodles

If you want your house to smell amazing (a la Clueless), bake these. The cinnamon sugary goodness wafts out from the oven and will make anyone in the house come to the kitchen for a sample. Also, you probably have most of these ingredients in your kitchen already. These are simple cookies but they just taste so, so good.  You do need to know about an hour in advance just to be sure your butter and shortening are nice and soft.

Makes about 24 cookies

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups sugar

1 tbsp cinnamon

2 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp cream of tarter

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

8 tbsp butter, softened

8 tbsp vegetable shortening (like crisco)

2 large eggs

Smitten Kitchen's Cinnamon French Toast

This is the a great way to make French Toast for a group. By making cinnamon toast first, the flavor is cinnamony and great, adding some extra sweetness. It's perfect for when you have a group of people to feed for breakfast and you don't want to serve everyone one by one and have to eat alone at the end. Very tasty!

Serves 4 (double to serve 8)
Ingredients:
1/2 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
8 pieces of white toast
1/2 stick butter
1 1/2 cups whole milk
3 eggs
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla
maple syrup

Directions:
To make cinnamon toast, preheat oven to 450. Whisk cinnamon and sugar together in a small bowl. Line a baking sheet with foil and place bread on the sheet.

Moussaka

Moussaka is one of my favorite Greek recipes. I love eggplant and the great flavors of cinnamon and onions and garlic in the tomato-meat sauce. This is a great alternative to lasagna and is good for feeding a large group (there were six of us and we ate the moussaka twice - once the first night and then another night we ate the leftovers, yum!). It's a bit of a labor of love, so you have to set out an hour or two to make it, but it's well worth it. It also tastes even better the next day.

Ingredients:

4 eggplants

Olive oil

4 medium onions, chopped

6 garlic cloves, minced

1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes in tomato puree

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 cinnamon stick (or 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon)

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (maybe more to taste)

2 pounds ground beef

1/2 cups dry white wine

Black pepper to taste