Healthy? Tasty!

Some of you may have seen my post on facebook yesterday as I was getting ready to take homemade cinnamon rolls and almond rolls out of the oven. The almond roll experiment was a success! All the taste of those I had tried at a bakery in Lincoln City, and probably almost half the calories and fat. I realize many people don't always have time to make homemade, but there are tricks to make it easier. A basic homemade bread dough is pretty forgiving -- it can be stirred together while making dinner, allowed to rise for 30 minutes or so while eating dinner, then covered with plastic and put in the refrigerator until needed. For breakfast, as an example, break off some dough and set it on the counter to rise/warm to room temperature as you shower. Quickly assemble into something resembling a roll shape (one needn't roll out nice and smooth to roll up as a cinnamon roll, sprinkle with cinnamon / sugar to taste and knead lightly to mix in) and put in oven to bake while you get ready for the day. (I use the toaster oven when baking small amounts like this) 15 minutes later, fresh hot breakfast on your way out the door!

For those desiring more detail:
Basic Bread Dough
Stir together:
1 c. warm water
2 1/4 tsp. (1 pkg.) dry yeast
1-3 tsp. sugar (depending on what you'll use the dough for)
Let sit 5 min.
Add and stir to blend:
1 T. oil (canola or olive)
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. flour
Stir in:
1 1/2 c. flour, kneading toward the end as necessary.
Let rise 15 min. for pizza dough; an hour for lighter breads and rolls.
Shape into desired end result. Let rise 30 min. (skip this rising for pizza dough)
Bake 15 min. at 420. Check depending on oven and desired degree of doneness.

For the almond rolls, I melted 1 T. butter and added 1/4 tsp. almond flavoring and some brown sugar to make a paste. Roll dough out to rectangle and spread with almond butter paste. Roll up and slice
to make rolls. Top with sliced almonds and bake.