peanut butter

This weekend was all sorts of perfect.

My brother and his family came in on Friday night for vacation. It’s been a year+ since we have seen each other so it was great getting to hang out and catch up. Best of all was the girls playing really well together, like they had just seen each other the weekend before. And the age different (3 & 6) even worked out well.

On Saturday we went Strawberry picking. So fun with the girls. And delicious. I made biscuits for shortcake for dessert that night. It was great with the grilled veggies, burgers, and hot dogs that we enjoyed for dinner. So yummy.

Besides that they also had a blast putting on tons of make up from my big makeup kit. Shoot, as long as you are not fighting, yelling, or destroying something… do whatever. They were so proud of themselves as well. But, let’s be real, they need to work on their eye liner application skills. ha!

And then Sunday was all about hanging by the pool. We had a leisurely morning enjoying breakfast before we headed out to the pool. The weather was great and the pool was warm so we had a blast lounging around and playing with the girls in the pool. Autumn was so worn out that she napped on me for 2.5 hours as we sat by the pool. I even napped. The best kind of day ever.

More family came over later on and we made homemade pizza (of course the girls wanted boxed mac and cheese…). The night wrapped up with baths and girls cuddled up to me while I read to them.

I am loving this year’s weekly recipe theme. I love working with dough and perfuming our house with cinnamon and sugar is just so fun. Plus, it’s fun as hell to come up with different flavors and combinations for the cinnamon rolls, monkey breads, and pull apart breads. And since we can’t possibly eat them all, I love getting to share with with our neighbors when they are fresh out of the oven.

Rock on Monkey Bread Mondays!

If you love peanut butter then you will looooooove these cinnamon rolls. There is just the right amount of peanut butter in them where you can taste it, and smell it, but it’s balanced out so nicely with the typical cinnamon and sugar in cinnamon rolls. Plus, the jam glaze on top rocks.

I always make PBJ’s with strawberry jelly so it just felt right to use that for the glaze, but if you like grape or something else then just give that a try. I bet a blueberry jam would be awesome on it too. No matter what, you can’t go wrong.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cinnamon Rolls

Makes 12 large cinnamon rolls

Ingredients

For the Rolls

• 1 Cup warm milk (100-110 degrees)
• 1 packet yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted (but not hot!)
• 4 Cups flour
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 Cup melted butter
• 1/3 Cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 Cup brown sugar
• 2 Tablespoons cinnamon

For the glaze

• 1/2 Cup strawberry preserves
• 1 Tablespoons orange juice

Process

1. Add the yeast to the warm milk. Let rest for 5 minutes to activate the yeast.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the eggs, then slowly mix in the warm milk mixture. Add the butter and just mix to combine.
3. Add in the flour, sugar, and salt. Using a hook attachment, work the dough until combined.
4. On a well floured work surface, roll the dough into an even ball. Add the dough to a large oiled bowl. Rotate to cover the dough with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let double in size, at least 1 hour.
5. While the dough is rising, cut the bacon into very small pieces and cook. Drain well and set aside.
6. Once the dough is ready, preheat your oven to 350 F and grease 1 9x 13 baking pan.
7. On a well floured work surface, roll the dough out so it is approximately 14″ x 24″.
8. Mix the peanut butter into the melt butter and then evenly spread out on the dough.
9. Then sprinkle with the cinnamon and brown sugar. Roll towards you and then cut into 12 evenly sized rolls. Arrange in the baking pan.
10. Bake for 24-26 minutes or until golden brown.
11. While the rolls are baking, warm the strawberry preserves and orange juice together; mix well. Drizzle all over the baked cinnamon rolls. Enjoy!