Chocolate Coconut Rolls

Waking up super early  has it's benefits, but it also has it's drawbacks. One of the drawbacks is that I tend to want to bake when there is nothing else to do and I still have HOURS to get ready for work. Unfortunately, with me being on a whole foods eating plan, these bad boys were not on my food list of "can have" foods. Big bummer, cause they certainly looked and smelled delicious. Judging from reactions at work, I would have to guess they were pretty darn good. They got eaten right up and there was none left to bring home. So if you have a little bit of extra time on your hands and want something super quick and very easy to satisfy a sweet tooth, then this just  might be the recipe you are looking for!

 Recipe adapted from:
http://www.bakerella.com/chocolate-swirl-biscuits/

For the dough:

2 cups flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
5 Tbsp cold butter, cut into very small pieces
3/4 cup coconut milk

1/2 tsp almond extract

For the filling:

3 Tbsp butter, softened (not melted)
2 Tbsp sugar
3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup toasted coconut

1 cup almonds, chopped (you can substitute your favorite nut)

 

For the topping:

 
1 egg yolk
1 Tbsp coconut milk
sugar (for sprinkling on the top of the rolls) 

Preheat oven to 400°

Spray a cookie sheet with Pam. 

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt until blended. 

Use a pastry blender (or you can use your fingers) and work the butter into the dry ingredients until it is a crumbly texture. 

Add the coconut milk and almond extract and stir with a fork until a sticky dough forms. 

Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Flour your hands and shape the dough into a ball. Gently knead it 10 times. 

Lightly flour the counter that you kneaded the dough on and use a floured rolling pin to roll the dough into a 13 x 11 rectangle.  

Now toast your coconut by placing 3/4 cup coconut on a cookie sheet. Place the cookie sheet in your preheated oven and monitor it carefully. It should only take a few minutes for the coconut to become a nice toasty golden brown. Remove from the  oven when it's golden brown. Set aside.

Spread softened butter completely over the surface of the dough. Sprinkle sugar, chocolate chips,  toasted coconut, and chopped almonds, all over the buttered dough. 

Roll the dough up in a jelly roll fashion, from the long side, and cut the roll into 12 equal sections. 

Place the cut sections 2 inches apart on your greased cookie sheet. 

To make the topping: Mix together 1 egg yolk and coconut milk in a small bowl. Brush onto the tops of the rolls. Sprinkle sugar all over the tops. 

Bake for about 18 minutes or until golden.

Prosciutto, Basil and Gruyere Rolls

Who doesn't love bread? Seriously....but who truly doesn't love bread stuffed with yummy goodness? Last night was our first cold day/night of the Fall season. So I made a big pot of vegetable soup and made these rolls to eat with it. These will definitely be made again at this house, because every single one of them got eaten....and quickly!! They made a great addition to a bowl of hot soup, but trust me, I could eat these as the main dish itself. Super simple to make and I can't believe I never thought of doing this before finding this recipe.
*Sorry that my pictures aren't great. I never claimed to be able to take pictures haha!

 
*Recipe adapted from: Whatscookingamerica.net 


1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
4 ounces thinly-sliced prosciutto
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
 1 cup grated Gruyère cheese  
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1 egg, beaten

Heat oven to 400°
Place puff pastry sheet on work surface. Cut in half.
Place the prosciutto on each half leaving a small border along one side. Place basil onto each half on top of the prosciutto. Top with the gruyere cheese. Sprinkle red pepper over the top. Brush the small border that you left unfilled, with the beaten egg. Starting at long side opposite the egg washed border, roll the pastry up, pressing gently to seal. You can use more of the beaten egg if needed, to help seal. Wrap in plastic wrap. Put in the refrigerator for about an hour to firm up the dough. After the dough is ready, cut into 12 individual "pinwheels" or servings. Place on a Pam sprayed cookie sheet (or you can line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. I just used Pam) and bake at 400° for about  16 minutes.

Jalapeno Cream Cheese Rolls

This is another recipe I found on Pinterest. I cannot tell you how much I love that site! These rolls were super delicious and went very well with my vegetarian enchiladas and spicy asparagus.Yep, I had to keep the "spicy" theme throughout the whole meal. I did modify the amount of rolls the original recipe said to cut these into, as I wanted a little more than just a bite size.  These take only a few minutes to whip up and make for a great tasting bread side dish.

• 1 package Cream Cheese (8 Ounce Package)
• 4 ounces, weight Canned, Diced Jalapenos
• 1 Tablespoon Sugar
• 8 ounces, weight Tube Refrigerated Crescent Rolls

Preheat oven 375 degrees F.

In a bowl, mix the cream cheese, half the jalapenos ( I used almost the whole jar because I like my food spicy) and the sugar. Mix well with a fork. Set aside. Open crescent rolls and place on a cutting board. Separate them into two rectangles. Pinch together the perforations in each rectangle. Spread  the cream cheese mixture evenly onto the rectangles.Starting with the long side of each rectangle, roll up each rectangle into a "log" Once they are rolled up, cut each "log" into 8 pieces. Place the pieces onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for about 13 minutes until they are golden brown.