Easy Pesto Chicken Bake

October 6, 2020 by Lauren Schmidt 2 Comments

This delicious Pesto Chicken Bake is easy to make, throw in the oven for a fresh weeknight family meal! Made up of healthy protein packed chicken breasts, garlic, pesto, tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese this dinner with be a breeze!

This post may contain Affiliate Links.

Hands holding a white baking dish containing pesto chicken bake, showing off melted mozzarella cheese on top.

Baked Pesto Chicken Recipe

Regular followers know how much I love my chicken bakes, and today’s recipe is no exception.

What is better than a healthy low-carb chicken dinner made with 5 ingredients and ready in under 30 minutes? Nothing.

This Pesto Chicken Bake takes it back to the basics with the classic flavors of pesto, garlic, tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese!

close up of a chicken cutlet baked in a dish with pesto, tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese.

What You Need

This recipe doesn’t call for anything crazy for supplies you will need:

9×13 Baking Dish – or similar sized baking dish
Measuring Spoons & Cups
Spoon or Spatula – something small to spread out the ingredients
Aluminum Foil or Sheet Pan – for covering the chicken to rest once it is out of the oven
Meat Thermometer – piece of mind that the chicken has hit 165ºF

Ingredients

Just a handful of simple things for the recipe:

chicken breasts cut into cutlets – A typical pack of chicken breasts at any given grocery store contain chicken breasts that are huge, most chicken breasts are roughly 16 ounces (1 pound) while a proper serving of chicken breast is 6-8 ounces, about half of a typical chicken breast found in a grocery store. So to keep this recipe properly portioned AND to keep cooking times down I recommend butterfly-cutting your chicken breasts in half. OR you can buy chicken breasts already portioned into proper sized cutlets. Typically when I am at the grocery store fo a recipe like this I look for a 2ish pound package of breasts with 2 large chicken breasts I can cut in half to make 4.
minced garlic
pesto – Try my Homemade Sunflower Seed Basil Pesto!
tomatoes
mozzarella cheese – I used shredded mozzarella in this recipe. You can get the pre-shredded or get fresh mozzarella and shred it yourself.

For a complete detailed list of the ingredients continue towards the bottom of the page.

Ingredients to make Pesto Chicken, chicken breasts, tomatoes, garlic, pesto, and mozzarella cheese.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400ºF.

First thing is to cut your chicken breasts into cutlets (Unless you bought properly proportioned cutlets). Grab a clean cutting board and sharp knife, very carefully cut the chicken breast in half.

6 photo collage showing the steps to butterfly cut a chicken breast in half to make a properly proportioned chicken cutlet.

Add the chicken breast cutlets to a baking dish in a single even layer. Season the chicken lightly with salt.

Add 1/2 teasoon of minced garlic to each chicken cutlet and spread the garlic out over the top.

Add 1 tablespoon of pesto to the top of each chicken cutlet and spread evenly over the top.

Now add 2-3 tomato slices to the top of each chicken. Then sprinkle 1/4 cup of cheese over the top of each chicken cutlet.

Transfer your dish to the oven. Cook for 22-25 minutes. Chicken will be ready when the internal temperature reaches 165ºF and juices run clear. Once you take it out of the oven cover the baking dish and let the chicken rest about 5 minute before serving.

Steps one of adding the ingredients to the dish to make Pesto Chicken Bake.

Steps 2 of adding ingredients to the pesto chicken bake before adding it to the oven.

PLEASE NOTE: There will be liquid on the bottom of the dish when you are done baking and that is OKAY! The chicken and other ingredients (especially tomatoes) will let off juices as they bake, this is normal.

side view of a white baking dish with baked pesto chicken topped with mozzarella cheese.

What are some good Side Dishes for Pesto Chicken Bake?

Try vegetables like my Oven Roasted Broccoli or a steamer bag of Mixed Vegetable.
A simple side salad, like my Simple Spinach Salad is a nice option
Or keep it low-carb with some Garlic Parmesan Mashed Cauliflower
Make some pasta to go on the side, maybe mix in extra pesto, something like pesto and angel hair pasta would pair deliciously

Spatula lifting a baked pesto chicken cutlet out of a dish, covered in melted mozzarella cheese.

Love Chicken Bakes? Me too! You might like these:

Yield: 4 servings

Pesto Chicken Bake

Name: Pesto Chicken Bake
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 22 min
Total time: 27 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 pounds chicken breast cut into 4 cutlets*; 2 teaspoons minced garlic; 4 tablespoons pesto; 2 large tomatoes, sliced; 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

An easy low-carb dinner that everyone will love! Chicken breast cutlets baked with garlic, pesto, tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese. Ready to go in under 30 minutes!

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 22 minutes

Total Time 27 minutes

Ingredients

2 pounds chicken breast cut into 4 cutlets*
2 teaspoons minced garlic
4 tablespoons pesto
2 large tomatoes, sliced
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400ºF.
Add chicken breast cutlets to a baking dish in a single even layer. Season the chicken lightly with salt. Add 1/2 teasoon of minced garlic to each chicken cutlet and spread out over the top. Add 1 tablesppon of pesto to the top of each chicken cutlet and spread evenly over the top. Add 2-3 tomato slices to the top of each chicken. Then sprinkle 1/4 cup of cheese over the top of each chicken cutlet.
Transfer dish to the oven. Cook for 22-25 minutes. Chicken will be ready when the internal temperature reaches 165ºF and juices run clear. Cover the baking dish and let the chicken rest about 5 minute before serving.

Notes

*A typical pack of chicken breasts at any given grocery store contain chicken breasts that are huge, most chicken breasts are roughly 16 ounces (1 pound) while a proper serving of chicken breast is 6-8 ounces, about half of a typical chicken breast found in a grocery store. So to keep this recipe properly portioned AND to keep cooking times down I recommend butterfly-cutting your chicken breasts in half. OR you can buy chicken breasts already portioned into proper sized cutlets. Typically when I am at the grocery store fo a recipe like this I look for a 2ish pound package of breasts with 2 large chicken breasts I can cut in half to make 4.

Try my Homemade Sunflower Seed Basil Pesto in this recipe!

How To Make All Butter Pie Crust

November 13, 2018 by Lauren Schmidt 2 Comments

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve seen me post a few pie photos and I always mention how its a personal goal of mine to be an old ‘pie lady’. I have always just wanted to be able to whip up gorgeous fantastic pies that people are in love with. So in my quest for this life goal I have to start at the beginning, with pies that means a crust. So today I thought it share with you what I’ve learned about pie crust and show you how to make all butter pie crust.

Growing up my family always made Tourtière or also known as French-Canadian Meat Pie for Christmas. We would use a recipe that was passed down through our French-Canadian voyager ancestors who would come to Minnesota for fur trading. My large family would always get together ahead of Christmas to make what seems to be about 100 pies (we didn’t make 100 pies, the original recipe is for 8 pies, so I am guessing probably made about 8 haha). Aunts, Uncles, and cousins would be running around making filling and pie crust. The pies then would be baked for Christmas brunch once everyone was done opening all of their presents. And the smell of our family’s Tourtière is still the epitome of Christmas to me.

It is such a pleasant tradition that brings a smile to my face BUT I will say this, I always hated my family’s crust recipe.

I said it, and hopefully too many family members are reading this and passing judgement! The reason I am not a big fan is because it is an all shortening recipe. Shortening does have its place in pie crusts, and I do enjoy a good half shortening half butter crust for certain pies every so often but nothing beats an all butter pie crust.

Why I love butter pie crusts.

First off flavor, the authentic flavor of butter beats shortening any day, hands down on this reason alone I would make all butter pie crusts every time. Butter also makes a puffier and flakier crust when done correctly.

Second, workability. I always struggled to shape and roll shortening pie crusts, I always got too much bounce back. I switched over to butter and I was able to work with the crust a lot better, I was able to shape them with ease as long as the crust doesn’t get to warm.

Did I mention the taste of butter again! haha

The downside to all butter pie crusts…

I’m over here ranting about how great they are but there are a few reasons why some people chose shortening over butter. First is patience, which sounds sort of awkward, but with butter pie crust you have to keep the butter cold, you want to touch it with your hands as little as possible and perhaps even letting it rest in the fridge if it starts to get to warm. With shortening you don’t have to worry about that, you can work with it and reshape it a lot easier.

So with that being said once you learn the tricks of all butter pie crust you’ll never have an issue again!

So let’s take a look at how to make this.

The Method

You will start with 5 very simple Ingredients. Flour, salt, sugar, butter, and water. Most likely items you probably have at home. In my directions you’ll also need a food processor BUT if you don’t have one you can still follow this recipe and get an awesome pie crust, it will just take a little longer.

As you are collecting your ingredients you are going to want to get a cup full of cold water with ice cubes to ensure you have ice cold water when it comes time to measure out your water. Also leave the butter in the fridge until you are ready to cut and use it, the success to this recipe is to keep the butter cold.

You’ll add the flour, salt, and sugar to the processor and give it a quick pulse to combine.

Next you’ll add the butter, so take it out of the fridge and cut it into small cubes about the size of a marble. Make sure to try to touch it as little as possible when cutting it to keep it cold. You’ll then add the butter cubes to the processor and pulse 5-6 times until mixed sized crumbs have formed.

Using the ice cold water you have set aside add 4 tablespoons to the processor. Plus processor an additional 5-6 times until the water is mixed and no more flour streaks appear in the crumbs.

It will look like little butter beads at this point, so the next step will be to roll it into a ball to form the dough. On a clean floured surface dump the contents of the food processor out, scrape out the crumbs with a spoon or spatula if necessary. At this point you have permission to use your hands 😉 but try to do it quickly. Gather the butter crumbles together to make a ball of dough.

If you aren’t using immediately cover with plastic and store in the refrigerator. Can be stored for up to 2 days or frozen. If you are ready to make your crusts right away use plenty of flour to roll it out.

If at any point you are working with the dough and it becomes overly sticky and hard to work with transfer the dough to the refrigerator and let the butter get cold again. I recommend giving the dough a little fridge time before rolling out just to keep it easy to work with.

While I do recommend that you handle it with caution you are able to re-roll the dough and re-use the dough scraps, they might just need a quick chill in the fridge though if they get too warm.

Transfer your pie crust to a pie plate. Decorate the edges to your liking and fill with delicious pie!

So that is How To Make All Butter Pie Crust. This recipe doubles super easy, and you can make a double batch in the food processor if you need a double pie crust or are making two single pies. If you need more than that I recommend splitting it into two separate batches.

Now if you are still wondering if you can make this by hand absolutely! You just will need either a Pastry Cutter or 2 forks. You will just add the flour, sugar, and salt to a bowl, add the butter and make crumbs by hand with the pastry cutter or use the forks together in a scissor like movement to break up the butter into the flour. Add water and mix in and continue making crumbs until you are able to form your crumbs into a ball, it is okay to have some bigger pieces of butter in the dough. Once you have your ball, roll out just as you would if you made it with a food processor.

Either way you make it, this pie crust has never failed me and has made many delicious pies. So whether you have a family recipe you are wanting to try out or just want to make a nice pie now you know how to make all butter pie crust!

TIPS & TRICKS

• I can’t stress enough how important it is for a good crust to keep your butter cold, use your hands as little as possible and leave the pie dough in the fridge for any moments of rest to keep it chilled

• Use plenty of flour when rolling it out, the last thing you want is for your crust to stick to the counter after you’ve rolled it out

• If you are preparing for a holiday, like Thanksgiving or Christmas this pie crust is one of those things that can be made a few days ahead of time

• Practice makes perfect with pie crust, just like everything in life, the more often you make it the better you’ll become at it

Yield: 1 single pie crust

All Butter Pie Crust Recipe

5 simple ingredients to make an all-butter pie crust

Prep Time 15 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed into marble sized pieces
4 tablespoons ice cold water*

Instructions

Add flour, salt, and sugar to the food processor. Pulse to combine.
Add chilled butter, pulse 5-6 times until you get mixed sized crumbs.
Add water to the food processor and pulse another 5-6 times until everything is combined into small crumbs. Flip contents of the food processor out onto a clean and floured work area, scraping any dough out of the processor with a spoon or spatula. Quickly and gently form the dough into a ball with your hands. If you are not using immediately cover with plastic and store in the fridge.
On a well floured surface roll out the dough into a crust ensuring to add flour where the dough is sticky (on both the top and bottom). Carefully transfer rolled out crust to pie plate. If at any point the dough becomes hard to work with or too sticky it has become too warm, transfer to the fridge to rest and cool back down. Use with your favorite pie filling, recipe doubles well.

Notes

*While gathering ingredients get a large glass of cold water and add ice cubes to ensure you are ready to measure out ice cold water in step 3.

Nutritional data is automated, final nutritional information will depend on ingredients used and any changes made.

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Food Processor with Compact Storage

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 132Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gCholesterol: 23mgSodium: 147mgCarbohydrates: 11gFiber: 1gSugar: 0gProtein: 2g

Peace & Love

Lauren, The Schmidty Wife

P.S. Now you know How To Make All Butter Pie Crust, do you need a pie to make? Check out my Sunflower Seed Pie!

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Pumpkin Bran Muffins

October 9, 2018 by Lauren Schmidt 17 Comments

I had no intention of sharing two pumpkin muffins with you this fall but here I am sharing two with you anyways. I already shared my Healthy Pumpkin Mug Muffin with you and now you get my Pumpkin Bran Muffins.

I had picked up some bran flakes during a sale the other day and was excited to turn them into muffins. (If teenage me had known that adult me would be so excited by bran flakes on sale I would totally have made fun of myself.) So it being fall I happened to have a can of pumpkin sitting on the counter and some pumpkin spice so obviously Pumpkin Bran Muffins.

So with the added pumpkin and spices these aren’t your grandmas bran muffins, these are super moist and very flavorful. The pumpkin, like in many other baked goods keeps the muffins from being too dry and give the muffins a great flavor boost. So let’s take a look at the ingredients that sets these Pumpkin Bran Muffins apart from other muffins.

The Ingredients

Bran Flakes, so first and foremost, wheat bran. This recipe uses wheat bran flakes (Bob’s Red Mill Wheat Bran) opposed to cereal (like Raisin Bran). Wheat bran is the outer layer of the wheat berry and is very high in fiber. Fiber happens to be one of my favorite nutrients, it keeps you full, satisfied, and helps regulate your digestive system.

Speaking of fiber, Pumpkin. Another fiber rich food but also contains the antioxidant beta-carotene and has plenty of potassium!

These Pumpkin Bran Muffins also contain whole wheat flour which holds a lot more nutritional value than white flour, for example whole wheat flour naturally contains dietary fiber and is packed with vitamins that have been taken out of white all-purpose flour.

So basically these muffins are very high in fiber, which is great for a breakfast or snack on the go. They are full of whole grains and vegetables which is great AND they taste amazing.

Molasses, molasses is a byproduct of sugar production, and while sweet it also has that beautiful smoky note to it. A little molasses goes a long way, just a tablespoon gives these muffins the perfect complimentary flavor to pumpkin. Also by adding molasses I was able to reduce the amount of sugar in these muffins to only 1/4 cup, which in my opinion is pretty awesome.

And of course Pumpkin Pie Spice, or Pumpkin Spice as it is often referred to. This mixture of warm spices, brings the smokiness of the molasses out and the subtle richness of the pumpkin to this muffin. Who knew you could get so much flavor in a high fiber muffin?!?

And then down to the baking basics. This recipe uses both baking powder and baking soda to get maximum lift, otherwise all the whole grains might make it dense. I also use yogurt as an additional liquid here to help offset the dense whole grains with more moisture. (Not to mention oil and eggs).

Lastly the “optional” Raisins, I felt like these muffins needed just a little pizzaz to them and a handful of raisins did the trick. An occasional little burst of sweetness against the spice is just what these muffins need, so I suppose yes the raisins could be optional if you don’t have them or ~~you are crazy and~~ don’t like raisins.

Baking the Muffins

Can I get a what what for one bowl recipes?!

*What!* *What!*

You’ll mix together all of the wet ingredients in a bowl. You’ll add the dry ingredients and then mix it all together. Add the raisins, plop the batter into a greased muffin tin. Boom. 18 minutes in the oven. It is that easy! 🙂

TIPS & TRICKS:

• These muffins keep for a few days on the counter, but I think they keep best refrigerated

• You can use muffin liners or a greased muffin tin for this recipe, I’ve done it both ways and they both turned out

• Pro Tip: When measuring out the molasses, grease your tablespoon with a little oil first, the molasses should then slide right out of the spoon.

Yield: 12 muffins

Pumpkin Bran Muffins

moist and flavorful pumpkin bran muffins

Prep Time 7 minutes

Cook Time 18 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Ingredients

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon molasses
1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 cup wheat bran
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup raisins

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400º F. Grease a muffin tin.
In a large bowl add oil, yogurt, eggs, pumpkin, sugar, and molasses. Mix to combine.
Add pumpkin spice, wheat bran, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to the bowl. Mix to combine. Fold in the raisins.
Divide batter between 12 muffins. Bake 17-19 minutes or until a toothpick comes clean out of the center of a muffin.

Notes

Nutritional data is automated, final nutritional information will depend on ingredients used and any changes made.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

1 muffin
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 150Total Fat: 6gCholesterol: 32mgSodium: 227mgCarbohydrates: 21gFiber: 4gSugar: 9gProtein: 4g

Peace & Love

Lauren, The Schmidty Wife

P.S. Love healthy muffins? Check out my Healthy Pumpkin Mug Muffin or my Healthy Sweet Potato Oatmeal Muffins.

Healthy Pumpkin Mug Muffin (Single Serve)

September 25, 2018 by Lauren Schmidt 2 Comments

Being a food blogger I am usually thinking about the next season way before it actually happens. So I will proudly say that we have been inhaling these Healthy Pumpkin Mug Muffin (Single Serve) at our house since July. That’s right, pumpkin muffins in July. My toddler spent a good two weeks waking up and the first thing out of his mouth would be asking for a ‘Stud Muffin’! Let me translate that for you, my toddler loves these mug muffins so much they were his first thought when he woke up in the morning, me too kid me too.

So in usual Schmidty Wife fashion, I set out to make these single serve pumpkin mug muffins a little healthier for my family.

The Ingredients

Let’s start with pumpkin, the star ingredient, the star of fall for that matter! I tried to make this as pumpkin heavy as I could without weighing the muffin down. Besides having the perfect texture for baked goods did you know that pumpkin contains the antioxidant beta-carotene, plenty of potassium, and are high in fiber! Talk about some great health benefits!

Next whole wheat flour. To keep this healthy I choose to skip the white flour that is stripped of a lot of healthy goodness and use whole wheat four. Whole wheat flour holds a lot more nutritional value than white flour, for example whole wheat flour naturally contains dietary fiber. According to studies getting your daily dose of fiber can help lower cholesterol and help you lose weight! Plus whole wheat flour is packed with vitamins that have been taken out of white all-purpose flour.

For the sweetener I chose maple syrup, I think the flavor of maple syrup is the perfect accompaniment to pumpkin, plus it makes these muffins refined sugar free. How sweet is that? 😉

Of course any pumpkin baked good isn’t complete without pumpkin pie spice or pumpkin spice, whichever way you prefer to call it. Traditionally made with cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, ginger, and allspice there can be all sorts of variations so choose your favorite! Or if you don’t happen to have pumpkin spice handy you can use cinnamon with a dash of nutmeg.

Mix these delicious ingredients with coconut oil, milk, an egg, and baking powder and you get a perfect muffin.

The Microwave

Now on to the best part of this muffin, THE MICROWAVE! What’s better than a healthy pumpkin muffin? One you can make in the microwave in less than 2 minutes.

So call it overkill but I used all different shapes of mugs to test this muffin out. The result? It didn’t really matter but due to the size of this muffin (it’s a little on the bigger side) a larger/oversized mug works best.

Different microwaves = slightly different cooking times. Microwaves can be so finicky as far as they can all have different amounts of power so each cook times might differ slightly. You’ll want to start with 60 seconds and then if the muffin is still wet/soggy microwave anther 15-30 seconds until it is no longer wet.

As you remove the mug from the microwave the mug will be very hot, as well as the muffin so make sure you give it a chance to cool before digging in!

TIPS & TRICKS:

• This Healthy Pumpkin Mug Muffin (Single Serve) can of course be baked in the oven if you wish! I tested it in an oven safe ramekin at 350º F for 18-20 minutes. If you choose this method ensure that you are using an oven safe container. (Also when I made this in the oven I noticed that it tastes more like cake so… a good late night, the kids are in bed treat)

• I can imagine adding a few chocolate chips would make this extra delicious!

• If your coconut oil starts to harden because of cold milk or eggs don’t fret, continue to mix it well, your muffin will still turn out delicious

Yield: 1 muffin

Healthy Pumpkin Mug Muffin (Single Serve)

a single serve healthy pumpkin muffin ready to eat in 5 minutes

Prep Time 4 minutes

Cook Time 1 minute

Total Time 5 minutes

Ingredients

1 teaspoon coconut oil (melted)
1 tablespoon milk
1 egg
2 tablespoons pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon maple syrup
3 tablespoons whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice*

Instructions

Add coconut oil, milk, egg, pumpkin, and maple syrup to a mug. Using a fork mix to combine.
Add whole wheat flour, baking powder, and pumpkin spice to the mug. Mix to combine with the wet ingredients until smooth.
Microwave for 60-90 seconds until batter is fully cooked and muffin has risen in mug. NOTE: Microwave times may differ, start with 60 seconds, check it, if it is still doughy and wet microwave for an additional 30 seconds or until fully cooked.
Caution taking out of the microwave for the mug will be hot, let cool slightly and enjoy either straight from the mug or tip it over onto a plate.

Notes

*you can sub pumpkin pie spice for 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg

I have not tried this with all purpose flour (yet), so I cannot say what the substitution for it would be.

Nutritional data is automated, final nutritional information will depend on ingredients used and any changes made.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

1 muffin
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 260Total Fat: 10.4gCarbohydrates: 33.6gProtein: 10.3g

Peace & Love

Lauren, The Schmidty Wife

P.S. Love Pumpkin like my Healthy Pumpkin Mug Muffin (Single Serve)? Check out my Crockpot Creamy Pumpkin Chili or my Pumpkin Bread.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Black Bean Muffins

March 27, 2018 by Lauren Schmidt 1 Comment

YES! CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER BLACK BEAN MUFFINS!

This is such a fun exciting recipe I promise, but before we get to the recipe I am going to get a little personal real quick, so if you are just looking for a delicious healthy chocolate muffins recipe go ahead and just scroll down to the recipe card 😉

So this is my first recipe back after my ‘maternity leave’. Well my self created maternity leave that is. I have actually been really excited to get back to my recipes and blog posts, and that makes me soo excited. Why!?! Because you guys I think I finally found my true passion!

After Archie was born, I hated that I had to go back to work at my office job. I spent my whole maternity leave thinking about how much I didn’t want to go back, how I just wanted to stay with my baby. And then when I got back I didn’t feel supported and I felt out of place. Well somehow in this beautiful world after only 3 months back at work when Archie turned 6 months I was able to quit my job, I was overjoyed.

Sure that meant moving across country (again) so my husband could start a new job but I was so excited to not be stuck at a desk anymore and I had the opportunity to make something for myself while staying with my son.

So fast forward 2 years I have a happy husband, a smart toddler, a healthy newborn, and I am self employed with my own blog I created. Talk about living the dream.

So why am I bringing this up? Because finding your passion is so exciting and I just needed to share how much I deeply appreciate every single one of you reading this right now. It has been such a difference this time around with Fred. He is healthy and I am enjoying every second of his presence and being at home with my boys, while at the same time I am excited to ‘get back to work’. I have been itching to get my camera back out and let my recipes I have been working on be shared.

So basically what I am saying if you aren’t happy with what you are doing, try to find a way that you can be! It will make such a difference in your life 🙂

I could literally gush on and on about this but I do realize you want to learn more about this AMAZING Chocolate Peanut Butter Black Bean Muffins.

So these are actually super easy to make, my 2 year old even loves to help, and because these are ‘healthier’ I don’t feel super guilty when he tries to eat them all. Everything is loaded into the food processor (or high power blender) and mixed into a chocolatey batter, easy peasy! You can then have fun with them by adding extra peanut butter and chocolate on top!

So besides being easy let’s talk why.

So black beans are a weird but excellent substitute to flour, so whether you are just trying to watch your refined flour intake, are gluten free, or looking for a healthier option black beans are great. Plus it’s super fun trying to make people guess what the secret ingredient. I personally love how black beans are high in fiber so we can eat these for breakfast (yes chocolate for breakfast, no judgment please) and they keep us feeling fuller than a traditional muffin.

I honestly have been making these weekly the past 2 months and I don’t see myself stopping anytime soon. So chocolatey and healthy, you better grab a can of black beans and get baking 😉

TIPS & TRICKS:

• You’ll need a food processor or high powdered blender to make these muffins

• Plain greek yogurt or just plain yogurt both work in this recipe, a yogurt with a higher fat content works best (whole milk)

• To keep sugar and chemicals in check use 100% natural peanut butter, check out my post on How To Make 100% Peanut Butter if you don’t already have some at home

• I love love love my silicone muffin liners that you see in the pictures, I mentioned I wanted some to my husband and he pulled through on my last birthday and spent big money (like $6 hahaha) and got some for me. Mine are actually the AmazonBasics Reusable Silicone Baking Cups and I would highly recommend them!

Yield: 12 muffins

Chocolate Peanut Butter Black Bean Muffins Recipe

delicious chocolate and peanut butter muffins made with black beans instead of flour

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Ingredients

1 15 ounces can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup old fashioned or quick oats
2 eggs
1/4 cup plain greek yogurt
1/4 cup 100% natural peanut butter (plus more for topping)
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (plus more for topping)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350º F. Line muffin tin with muffin liners*.
Add oats to food processor (or high powdered blender). Blend for 20-30 seconds to break up oats.
Add black beans, eggs, yogurt, peanut butter, sugar, vanilla, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder to food processor. Blend together for 45-60 seconds (will depend on the power of your machine you are using) until you have a nice and smooth batter, ensuring the beans are blended smooth into the rest of the ingredients.
Stir in your chocolate chips to the batter.
Evenly distribute the batter into 12 muffins filling each muffin about 3/4 of the way full.
If you want to top your muffins with extra peanut butter and/or chocolate chips now is the time. To make peanut butter swirls, and a few drops across the top of the muffin and swirl together with a tooth pick. And add a few chocolate chips on top of each muffin as desired.
Place in the middle rack of the oven and bake 13-15 minutes. A toothpick should come out of the center with a few moist crumbs. Allow muffins to cool completely before eating. Store muffins in the refrigerator.

Notes

*I highly recommend using liners for these muffins, even if you generously grease the pan they still can be hard to get out of the pan. I love my silicone muffin liners, for a few dollars they are so useful.

Nutritional data is automated, final nutritional information will depend on ingredients used and any changes made.

Chocolate Peppermint Crinkle Cookies

November 17, 2017 by Lauren Schmidt 8 Comments

A peppermint twist on this classic holiday cookie, this recipe for Chocolate Peppermint Crinkle Cookies results in a spectacular cookie. With a beautiful crinkle and sugary shell on the outside makes way for a moist and chocolate packed middle. Friends, family, and you won’t be able to stop eating them!

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A bunch of chocolate peppermint crinkle cookies spread out over powdered sugar covered parchment paper with bits of crushed candy canes as garnish.

This post was originally published 11/17/2017 and updated 12/08/2021 with new photos and more information in the post, recipe remains the same.

Homemade Chocolate Peppermint Crinkle Cookies

When brainstorming what sort of Christmas cookies I wanted to develop this year chocolate was a no brainer. In the past I haven’t always necessarily been a chocolate person… I know I know… but this second pregnancy has me wanting chocolate nonstop. I haven’t had a ton of cravings this time around, besides wanting things a little spicier the only thing I have been craving is chocolate. So I decided to use this craving to my advantage and work on developing these delicious Chocolate Peppermint Crinkle Cookies.

I wanted to give these classic cookies a fun holiday time twist so I decided what better then peppermint!

So for these crinkle cookies I wanted to make them the very best so I took a step from the America’s Test Kitchen Book. To get an amazing crinkle and outside texture I roll the batter in granulated sugar first and then the classic powdered sugar. I find this little tip to make the crinkle cookies ten times better, the granulated sugar gives the cookies almost a crunchy shell on the outside avoiding the whole cookie from being to soft and falling apart.

So aside from my sugar rolling trick to make these cookies really stand out I did a few other things. You will notice I use double chocolate because well why not!? I start with the classic unsweetened cocoa powder and then add more dark chocolate! I choose to use a darker chocolate baking bar (Ghirardelli 70% Cacao Baking Bar to be exact) because I like the dark chocolate flavor mixed with peppermint.

Speaking of peppermint I choose to give these crinkle cookies a twist and go with a peppermint flavor. And they do not disappoint! I only use 1 teaspoon so you can definitely taste and smell the peppermint but it is not over powering as you are eating your cookie.

Lastly I use all brown sugar in this recipe for moisture content. Brown sugar keeps these cookies moist and soft. I would almost compare these cookies to little brownies in the sense that they hold on to their softness really well!

So now that I have given you about 100 reasons (100 right??) on why these Chocolate Peppermint Crinkle Cookies are amazing it is time to get making them yourself. I do have a video for this recipe that you can see below to help you make them! So happy baking and even happier taste testing!

Ingredients

All Purpose Flour
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
Baking Powder
Baking Soda
Salt
Brown Sugar
Eggs
Peppermint Extract
Dark Chocolate (70% baking bar)
Cold Butter, unsalted
Granulated Sugar
Powdered Sugar (Confectioners)

For a complete detailed list of the ingredients continue towards the bottom of the page.

Ingredients needed to make chocolate peppermint crinkle cookies laid out on a table top.

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 325º F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium mixing bowl stir together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Before and after of the dry ingredients in a bowl and then all mixed together.

Add brown sugar, eggs, and peppermint extract to a large mixing bowl. Whisk until light and frothy.

Before and after of the wet ingredients in a bowl and then mixed together to make chocolate peppermint crinkle cookies.

Cut the butter into tablespoons and add to a microwave safe bowl. Add the chocolate bar broken into small pieces in with the butter. Microwave for 30 seconds, and stir well. Microwave an additional 15 seconds and stir again. Continue microwaving in 15 second increments stirring in between microwaving until fully melted. Be careful to not over heat your chocolate, giving a good stir at each break helps it melt faster and easier. (In TOTAL it usually only takes me between 1 minute to 1 minute and 15 seconds for my chocolate to be melted.)

Collage showing the chocolate and butter before being melted and after being melted together before adding it to the cookies.

Add the melted chocolate to the wet ingredients. Stir together.

Collage showing the melted chocolate being mixed in with the wet ingredients to make chocolate peppermint crinkle cookies.

Stir the dry flour mixture into the wet ingredients. Once fully combined let the batter rest for 15 minutes. Before resting the batter will almost seem like brownie batter, allowing it to rest will thicken it allowing it to be rolled.

Collage showing adding the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients to make the dough for chocolate peppermint crinkle cookies.

While batter is resting add the granulated sugar to a plate and the powdered sugar to another plate.

Once the batter has set use a tablespoon to scoop the batter. Drop a tablespoon of the batter onto the plate of granulated sugar (use a spoon or small spatula to help plop it into the sugar). Roll the batter in the granulated sugar, forming a ball.

Transfer the batter ball onto the powdered sugar plate and roll to cover. Transfer to the parchment paper. Repeat until the batter is gone, making about 24 cookies, 12 per cookie sheet.

Collage showing the chocolate peppermint crinkle cookies being hand formed by scooping the batter into granulated sugar, making a ball and then rolling in powdered sugar.

In two batches bake for 12 minutes, the cookies will look raw in the cracks when done. Leave on cookie sheet to cool. Enjoy.

Before and after collage of chocolate peppermint crinkle cookies being baked on a sheet pan.

Overhead view of a black and white chocolate peppermint crinkle cookie on a piece of parchment paper garnished with bits of red and white candy canes.

TIPS, TRICKS, & QUESTIONS

DO NOT skip the resting period, it will make it near impossible to roll out your cookies if you don’t give it time to thicken and set
Getting the batter out onto the sugar can be a little difficult (especially the first few), by scooping a slightly heaping tablespoon I find using a spoon or mini spatula to plop it out of the tablespoon onto the granulated sugar works best. And as you cover the batter in the granulated sugar it will become extremely easy to roll into a ball.
For my chocolates I use Hershey’s 100% unsweetened cocoa powder and Ghirardelli 70% Cacao Baking Bar, I find using good quality chocolates like these in the cookies really makes for a superior cookie

Sheet pan covered in parchment paper with black and white chocolate peppermint crinkle cookies spread out garnished with bits of candy canes.

You might also like:

Yield: 24 cookies

Chocolate Peppermint Crinkle Cookies

One of the BEST classic holiday cookies to make! Chocolate Crinkle Cookies with a Peppermint twist! Moist and soft on the inside with a perfect sugary shell on the outside, keep this recipe bookmarked because everyone will want it!

Prep Time 25 minutes

Cook Time 12 minutes

Additional Time 13 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
4 ounces dark chocolate (70% baking bar)
4 tablespoons cold butter, unsalted
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup powdered sugar (confectioners)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325º F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium mixing bowl stir together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Add brown sugar, eggs, and peppermint extract to a large mixing bowl. Whisk until light and frothy.
In a microwave safe bowl add the butter, cut into tablespoons and the chocolate bar broken into small pieces. Microwave for 30 seconds, and stir. Microwave an additional 15 seconds and stir again. Continue microwaving in 15 second increments stirring in between microwaving until fully melted. Be careful to not over heat your chocolate, giving a good stir at each break helps it melt faster and easier. (In TOTAL it usually only takes me between 1 minute to 1 minute and 15 seconds for my chocolate to be melted.)
Add the melted chocolate to the wet ingredients. Stir together.
Stir the flour mixture into the wet ingredients. Once fully combined let the batter rest for 15 minutes. Before resting the batter will almost seem like brownie batter, allowing it to rest will thicken it allowing it to be rolled.
While batter is resting add the granulated sugar to a plate and the powdered sugar to another plate.
Once batter has set use a tablespoon to scoop the batter, drop the tablespoon of batter onto the plate of granulated sugar (use a spoon or small spatula to help plop it into the sugar). Roll the batter in the granulated sugar, forming a ball.
Transfer the batter ball onto the powdered sugar plate and roll to cover. Transfer to the parchment paper. Repeat until the batter is gone, making about 24 cookies, 12 per cookie sheet.
In two batches bake for 12 minutes, the cookies will look raw in the cracks when done. Leave on cookie sheet to cool. Enjoy.

Notes

adapted from America's Test Kitchen Cookbook

Do NOT skip the resting period, it is important for the consistency of the cookies!

Getting the batter out onto the sugar can be a little difficult (especially the first few), by scooping a slightly heaping tablespoon I find using a spoon or mini spatula to plop it out of the tablespoon onto the granulated sugar works best. And as you cover the batter in the granulated sugar it will become extremely easy to roll into a ball.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

1 cookie
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 146Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 29mgSodium: 91mgCarbohydrates: 26gFiber: 1gSugar: 20gProtein: 2g

Nutritional data is automated, final nutritional information will depend on ingredients used and any changes made.

And make sure you are following me on TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook for all the latest recipes!

Peace & Love

Lauren, The Schmidty Wife

Cinnamon Apple Topped Dutch Baby

October 12, 2017 by Lauren Schmidt Leave a Comment

A perfect fall breakfast this Cinnamon Apple Topped Dutch Baby is very easy to make. The batter for the dutch baby pancake is made in the blender and the cinnamon apples are made easy on the stove while the pancake bakes.

I wanted to make a really fun fall flavored breakfast and ladies and gentleman I found myself a winner, need proof? My 2 year old spent all last weekend asking me for “apple pamcakes”, it was so adorable I made this delicious Cinnamon Apple Topped Dutch Baby Pancake for him without reservation.

So in case you haven’t made a dutch baby pancake before I need to let you know, they are so so so much easier then they look. I was intimidated by them for forever until I actually caved in and made one and guess what, now I actually prefer making these to regular pancakes because yes they are that simple.

Your skillet is preheated in the oven and all of the pancake ingredients are mixed in a blender and then the batter is simply poured into the skillet and baked. So much easier then flipping a bunch of pancakes right!?

So to spice this dutch baby pancake up I wanted to make something fun with apples to top it off. So I made simple cinnamon apples on the stove top while the dutch baby is cooking, and the result is mouth watering!

So have some delicious fun this weekend and make your family a Cinnamon Apple Topped Dutch Baby.

TIPS & TRICKS:

• I use a Lodge Cast Iron Skillet, 12-inch and while this pan is the lifeblood of my kitchen and couldn’t give it anymore praise this dish can be made with any oven safe skillet

• For the apples make sure you use a harder textured variety, if you use a soft apple the slices will start to fall apart as you cook them

• I think that this taste delicious without any extra whipped topping but if you want to indulge yourself go for it and add that whipped topping!

Yield: 4 servings

Cinnamon Apple Topped Dutch Baby

an easy blender dutch baby pancake topped with simple warm cinnamon apples

Prep Time 8 minutes

Cook Time 22 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

for the Dutch Baby:

4 eggs
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons melted butter + 2 tablespoons butter, divided
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

for the Cinnamon Apples:

2 apples, hard variety (I use honeycrisp)
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

Instructions

Place a cast iron skillet into the cold oven, preheat oven to 425º F.
To make the dutch baby add eggs, flour, milk, sugar, 3 tablespoons of butter, cinnamon, vanilla, salt, and nutmeg to a blender.
Blend on high until fully blended.
Once oven is to temperature carefully take out the skillet, add 2 tablespoons of butter. Swirl the butter around the skillet until it is fully coated.
Pour the batter into the skillet, place the skillet back into the oven.
Bake for 22-24 minutes until the dutch baby has risen and is golden brown.
While the dutch baby is baking make your cinnamon apples. Slice your apples.
Heat a pan over medium heat, add butter and warm until butter starts to bubble.
Add the apple slices and toss in the butter.
Sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon over the apple slices. Toss to coat.
Cook the apples 7-10 minutes until the apples are soft stirring occasionally. Remove from heat once the apples are soft.
When dutch baby is done baking remove from oven and top with the cinnamon apples, add whipped topping if using. Slice and serve immediately.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 529Total Fat: 29gSaturated Fat: 17gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 252mgSodium: 553mgCarbohydrates: 55gFiber: 3gSugar: 25gProtein: 12g

Nutritional data is automated, final nutritional information will depend on ingredients used and any changes made.

If you enjoyed this recipe or any of my others let me know by using #theschmidtywife on social media!

And make sure you are following me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook for all the latest recipes!

Peace & Love

Lauren, The Schmidty Wife

P.S. Looking for more breakfast recipes? Check out my Pancakes From Scratch or my Lemon Dutch Baby with Berry Compote and Whipped Cream.

Pumpkin Bread

September 6, 2017 by Lauren Schmidt Leave a Comment

This Pumpkin Bread is super moist and full of pumpkin flavor, and couldn’t be easier to make, all you need It is one bowl. If you are wanting to fill your house with the smell of fall, make this bread!

I am an autumn junkie, anything fall is my favorite. I love flannels, apple picking, crunchy leaves, football, and lets not forget anything and everything pumpkin. There is something so comforting about colder weather, sweaters, and everything pumpkin spiced flavored. Including today’s recipe, which is basically fall wrapped up in carbs, Pumpkin Bread.

This pumpkin bread, is super moist and full of pumpkin flavor, and couldn’t be easier to make. It is a simple one bowl recipe. All of the wet ingredients are mixed together pumpkin puree, eggs, butter, vanilla, and brown sugar. And then the dry ingredients are added flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves, a voila your pumpkin bread is ready for the oven.

The bread bakes for 45 minutes, and fills your whole house with a delicious smell. After it is cooled you are then ready to dig in. I love to grab a mug full of chai tea, a piece of this Pumpkin Bread, and sneak away to where my son isn’t to have a minute in peace.

TIPS & TRICKS:

I line my bread pan with parchment paper so the bread can easily come in and out, I also lightly grease the parchment paper, If you don’t have parchment paper you could also use greased tin foil or just make sure your pan is really well greased.
This recipe only uses 1 cup of pumpkin puree, so if you are looking for more ways to use up a can of pumpkin try my Pumpkin Spice Chai Latte, Healthy Pumpkin Mug Muffin or my Pumpkin Bran Muffins

Yield: 1 loaf

Pumpkin Bread

moist and aromatic pumpkin bread perfect for a fall day

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Ingredients

1 cup pumpkin puree
2 eggs
1/2 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350º F and line a bread pan with parchment paper and lightly grease.
In a large mixing bowl combine pumpkin puree, eggs, butter, vanilla, and sugar. Stir together until combined.
Add flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves to the bowl. Mix together until fully combined.
Transfer to the bread pan and spread the batter out evenly.
Bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes until a toothpick comes out of the center clean.
Transfer the bread from the pan to a wire rack to cool. Once cooled, slice and serve.

Notes

adapted from Grandma's Famous Pumpkin Bread

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

1 slice
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 185Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 51mgSodium: 248mgCarbohydrates: 25gFiber: 1gSugar: 16gProtein: 2g

Nutritional data is automated, final nutritional information will depend on ingredients used and any changes made.

If you enjoyed this recipe or any of my others let me know by using #theschmidtywife on social media!

And make sure you are following me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebookfor all the latest recipes!

Peace & Love

Lauren, The Schmidty Wife

P.S. Looking for other great pumpkin recipes? Check out my favorite fall drink Pumpkin Spice Chai Latte or my Crockpot Creamy Pumpkin Chili

Orange Spiced Carrot Cake

March 24, 2017 by Lauren Schmidt 4 Comments

Carrot Cake holds a special place in my heart, it was Matt and I’s wedding cake. Not only was it our wedding cake but its my favorite cake. It is always so moist and full of flavor. So I thought it was about time to share a fun little twist on this classic, Orange Spiced Carrot Cake! A subtle twist on the classic and topped with silky cream cheese frosting this is a flavorful cake no one can resist.

So I mentioned how carrot cake was the cutting cake Matt and I had at our wedding, but we didn’t really get a chance to eat it, why? Take a look at this picture…

We had more fun smearing it in each others faces rather then eating it, ironically this picture probably is my favorite from that whole day! It was also super memorable because shortly after when it was time to clean our faces we stepped out of the hall and helped get the frosting off each other and these were the only 2 minutes the whole wedding day we had to ourselves! No joke isn’t it funny how the day is all about you as a couple and you don’t even get two minutes to yourselves?! So even though it has been a few years it is such a stand out memory in my mind, so if you happen to be reading this and planning a wedding, first do the cake face smashing, it is a blast. Second take two minutes out of your wedding day to be alone with your partner and tell them how much you love them!

Okay back to this Orange Spiced Carrot Cake. Fresh orange zest and juice give this cake that extra flavorful kick along with cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Then filled with carrots and raisins and topped off with a silky cream cheese frosting… are you drooling yet? This cake in made in a 9 x 13 inch pan so it is perfect for crowd. I personally think Orange Spiced Carrot Cake is the most perfect cake for Easter but please feel free to make it whenever 😉

TIPS & TRICKS:

You can make this without a stand mixer by using a hand electric mixer or with your powerful arms, it might just need a minute or two more of whisking
This is a great make a head cake for sharing so I like to use this pan/lid combo, it makes it easy peasy:

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I am not a nuts in my cake person so I don’t include them in the recipe but feel free to add a 1/2 cup or so of walnuts

Yield: 15 servings

Orange Spiced Carrot Cake

classic carrot cake with an orange twist, made for a crowd in sheet cake form

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 55 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
4 large eggs
1 cup packed brown sugar*
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup coconut oil, melted**
juice from 1 orange (1/4 cup)
zest from 1 orange (1 tablespoon)
3 cups shredded carrots (about 5 carrots)
3/4 cup raisins

for the Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 8oz package cream cheese, room temperature
8 tablespoons butter (1 stick), room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
optional nutmeg for dusting

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350º F. Lightly grease a 13" x 9" baking pan and dust with flour.
In a medium bowl add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and cloves. Stir to combine.
In a large bowl with a mixer at medium high speed beat eggs, brown sugar, and granulated sugars until smooth and creamy, about 1-2 minutes. Beat in oil, orange juice, and orange peel.
Reduce to a low speed and slowly add the flour mixture, scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Beat until smooth about 1 minute.
Fold in the carrots and raisins.
Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, spread out evenly.
Bake for 50-55 minutes until toothpick comes out of the center of the cake clean, and the center of the cake springs back up.
Once the cake has cooled completely, frost, dust with freshly ground nutmeg, and enjoy!

for the Cream Cheese Frosting:

Combine cream cheese and butter into a large mixing bowl and beat on high for 2-3 minutes, until light in color.
With the mixer on low add the vanilla and slowly add the powdered sugar.
Beat on high 5-7 minutes until smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides with a spatula as necessary.

Notes

*I use dark brown sugar but light brown sugar works too

**although I haven't tried it vegetable oil should work in this recipe too

recipe inspired by 'Carrot Cake' Good Housekeeping Cookbook

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 555Total Fat: 27gSaturated Fat: 19gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 81mgSodium: 487mgCarbohydrates: 74gFiber: 2gSugar: 53gProtein: 5g

Nutritional data is automated, final nutritional information will depend on ingredients used and any changes made.

If you enjoyed this Recipe or any of my others let me know by using #theschmidtywife on social media!

And make sure you are following me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook for all the latest recipes!

Peace & Love

Lauren, The Schmidty Wife

P.S. Looking for more recipes? Check out my Banana Foster Filled Banana Muffins or my Pumpkin Bread.

Healthier Date Caramel Rolls

February 17, 2017 by Lauren Schmidt Leave a Comment

‘Healthy-ish’ Date Caramel Rolls, yeast risen whole wheat rolls rolled in cinnamon and homemade date caramel, a perfect breakfast or dessert with no refined sugars or butter.

It has been a really tough week at the Schmidt house. There has been about 4 winter storms/blizzards in the past week keeping us snowed in. My son spent all Tuesday night throwing up. My husband spent all Wednesday night throwing up. I fell down the stairs with my son in my arms, leaving me with huge bruises all over my body (my son was unharmed). So between cabin fever, zero sleep, and an achey body I needed to bake. Baking is definitely my outlet, it relaxes me and there is always a tasty treat at the end! So today I am sharing the result, Healthier Date Caramel Rolls.

I dreamed of these caramel rolls while I was falling asleep a few weeks ago. That is how I spend most nights falling asleep, dreaming up food creations. I usually even keep a notepad next to my bed so I can write my ideas down. So I was dreaming about caramel rolls and I thought can I get them healthier? So when I say healthier I mean not entirely full of so much sugar its guaranteed sugar buzz. So I go back to my precious dates, just like with my Cranberry Date Oatmeal or Grandma’s Oatmeal Triblys I am going to use dates to make awesome sugar free caramel rolls! So I started with the base of my Overnight Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls and went from there. The result Healthier Date Caramel Rolls.

These rolls start with a light and airy dough made from milk, yeast, all purpose & whole wheat flours, cinnamon, nutmeg, and an egg. The dough is then left to rise for about an hour until it doubles in size. While the dough is rising the date caramel is made. The dates are left to soak in boiling water for a few minutes so they get plump and juicy. The dates along with milk, coconut oil, cinnamon, and nutmeg are then made silky smooth in a food processor. When the dough is ready it will be rolled out and filled with half of the date caramel. The dough will be rolled up into a log and cut into 6 parts to create the rolls. The rolls have to sit another 45 minutes to an hour for their second rise. Alternatively at this step the rolls can also be put into the fridge for a slow overnight rise (see note in recipe). Once the rolls have risen they are ready for the oven. These Healthier Date Caramel Rolls bake for 50 minutes, they are then topped with the remaining date caramel and served warm.

While these rolls do take a little time to make boy they are worth it. Digging into these when you have a sweet tooth knowing you aren’t eating any refined sugar (or butter) is just the icing on the cake (or date caramel on the sweet roll 😉 )

Yield: 6 rolls

Date Caramel Rolls

yeast risen whole wheat rolls rolled in cinnamon and homemade date caramel

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes

Rest Time 2 hours

Total Time 3 hours 20 minutes

Ingredients

for the rolls:

1 cup warm whole milk
1 packet (2 1/4 teaspoons) rapid rise yeast
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 egg

for the filling and topping:

2 cups chopped dates
1/4 cup milk
4 teaspoons coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Instructions

for the rolls:

In the bowl of a stand mixer add milk and yeast. Let sit for about 5 minutes for yeast to proof.
Meanwhile in a small bowl mix all of the dry ingredients, the flours, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Once yeast has proofed with the mixer on medium speed slowly add the flour mixture until fully incorporated. The dough might seem a little dry at this point.
Add the egg to the dough. Continue kneading the dough on medium speed for 4-5 minutes. The dough will be in a nice smooth ball at this point.
Place in a large greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place in a warm non drafty area for 45 to 60 minutes until dough has doubled in size.

filling and topping:

Boil about 2 cups water.
In a food processor add dates with the boiling water, cover and let sit for 10 minutes.
Once dates are plump and softened drain the water from the dates leaving a small amount at the bottom.
Start the food processor, with the processor running add in the milk, 2 teaspoons of the coconut oil, the cinnamon, and nutmeg. Let processor run for about a minute, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides. The date caramel should be smooth and creamy.
Divide date caramel in half. Half will be used as filling and half will be used as the topping.

filling the rolls:

Use part of the remaining coconut oil to grease a 8x8 glass dish.
On a floured surface roll the dough out into a 14x14 inch square.
Gently brush half of the date caramel onto the dough, you want a nice thin layer spread evenly across all of the dough.
Start on one side and tightly roll the dough into a log shape.
With seam side down score dough into 6 even spaces and then use a serrated knife to cut the 6 rolls.
Place the rolls into the greased dish. Brush the remaining coconut oil onto the top of the rolls.
Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm non drafty area for 45 to 60 minutes until rolls are full and have risen to the top of the dish.*
Preheat oven to 350º F.
Place rolls into oven. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes gently place tin foil over the rolls to prevent burning. Bake another 20 minutes.
The rolls will be done when a butter knife goes in between rolls and comes out clean.
Top with remaining date caramel. Serve immediately.

Notes

*alternatively you can place the rolls in the fridge overnight, just let them sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before placing in the oven

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 432Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 36mgSodium: 37mgCarbohydrates: 86gFiber: 8gSugar: 33gProtein: 11g

Nutritional data is automated, final nutritional information will depend on ingredients used and any changes made.

If you enjoyed this Recipe or any of my others let me know by using #theschmidtywife on social media!

And make sure you are following me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook for all the latest recipes!

Peace & Love

Lauren, The Schmidty Wife

P.S. Looking for more baking recipes? Check out my All-Butter Pie Crust or my Lemon Squares.

How to make Perfect Baked Potatoes

February 3, 2017 by Lauren Schmidt 4 Comments

Learn step by step the best way to make Baked Potatoes at home in the oven! Tender on the inside and crispy on the outside, plus super easy to prep these baked potatoes are perfect on their own or topped with your favorite toppings!

This post may contain Affiliate Links.

Perfect Baked Potatoes on a white tables with one cut open

I never considered myself much of a meat and potatoes type girl until I started writing this post. I just realized I absolutely love potatoes and nothing pairs better with potatoes then a good piece of meat, whether it be a perfectly grilled chicken breast, a t-bone steak, or juicy burger. So in honor of my new found identity I present to you How to make Perfect Baked Potatoes.

You’ll start with your potatoes, however many you plan on serving it doesn’t matter (remember leftover potatoes are a wonderful thing).

For the best baked potato you will want a large russet baking potato, most grocery stores have potatoes in bulk for specifically making baked potatoes, get those if you can, if not any russet will work. It is also important to note that the potatoes will bake best when they are all around the same size so keep that in mind when picking your potatoes.

So once you have you potatoes the first step is to wash them clean, really make sure any of the dirt that might have been on them comes off.

Once your potatoes are all clean you will want to poke them with a fork, 5-6 times all over the potato.

Next you will massage them with olive oil, yes massage 😉 Give them each a little drizzle and a good rub. You want them covered in oil but not dripping. Also this step is a good place to point out it is best to have a cutting board or plate under the potatoes to catch all the drippings!

Next you are ready to salt. For this step go big or go home. Start with high quality salt, it makes all the difference. Try course sea salt or fresh ground pink himalayan salt (my favorite). Really go to town on the salt, this is the step I think makes the biggest and best impressions and flavors. Salt all sides of the potatoes so there is almost a coating of salt. Finish off with some freshly ground pepper to your liking.

And just like that you are ready for the oven. You will want to place the potatoes spread out on the middle rack and bake at 400º F for 1 hour. (I like to place a piece of tin foil on the bottom rack to catch any drippings).

Once the potatoes are done baking you will want to let them cool for a few minutes before indulging. Top with your favorite toppings! Enjoy your Perfect Baked Potatoes 🙂

Lastly if you are looking for some delicious Baked Potatoes for dinner check out my Reuben Stuffed Baked Potatoes, Broccoli Cheese Baked Potatoes, or my Spinach Mushroom Stuffed Baked Potatoes with Cheddar.

Yield: 4 servings

How to make Perfect Baked Potatoes

all you need to know how to make the perfect baked potatoes in the oven

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes

Ingredients

4 large russet potatoes
olive oil
high quality salt (sea salt or pink himalayan)
fresh ground pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400º F with oven racks in middle and bottom positions. Place a piece of tin foil large enough to catch any dripings on the bottom rack.
Clean and dry potatoes so no dirt remains.
Once your potatoes are all clean you will want to poke them with a fork, 5-6 times all over the potato.
Over a plate or cutting board drizzle olive oil over each potato. One by one massage oil evenly onto each potato, you do not want olive oil dripping off the potato at this point.
Generously sprinkle potatoes with salt, so that the salt is almost breading each potato. Sprinkle potato with pepper to your liking.
Place potatoes directly onto middle oven rack, ensuring that the potatoes are not touching each other. Bake for 1 hour.
Let cool for at least 5 minutes before serving, enjoy!

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 321Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 333mgCarbohydrates: 64gFiber: 7gSugar: 3gProtein: 8g

Nutritional data is automated, final nutritional information will depend on ingredients used and any changes made.

If you enjoyed this recipe or any of my others let me know by using #theschmidtywife on social media!

And make sure you are following me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook for all the latest recipes!

Peace & Love

Lauren, The Schmidty Wife

Healthy Sweet Potato Oatmeal Muffins

January 31, 2017 by Lauren Schmidt 5 Comments

I am in such an incredibly awful winter funk right now. And the worst part of it is it is only the end of January, that means we still have all of February and most of March to deal with… blah! I love living in the north but this time of year it always gets to me. So whenever I am in a funk I usually turn to my favorite comfort, baking. While I love to bake I also love to keep it healthy, like my Zucchini Chocolate Chip Baked Donuts. So in the spirit of healthy baking today I am sharing with you my Healthy Sweet Potato Oatmeal Muffins.

I really love sweet potatoes, so I often have a leftover baked sweet potato or two sitting around. For a while now I had been thinking that I really wanted to make cookies with some of my leftover sweet potatoes, I tried, and it didn’t work out that well. So my hopes of sweet potato cookies morphed into sweet potato muffins and guess what they are awesome. I wanted to keep these muffins as healthy as possible so I wouldn’t feel bad if my son or husband grabbed them for breakfast or a snack. So along with mashed sweet potato these muffins are loaded with oats, whole wheat flour, coconut oil, and a little maple syrup as a sweetener. To top off these delicious Healthy Sweet Potato Oatmeal Muffins I added dark chocolate, I used a bar of Lindt 70% Dark Chocolate. I like to use Lindt Chocolate not only because it is amazing chocolate but because Lindt Chocolate (USA division) is a local company for me, the chocolate factory is only 5 miles from my house and yes there is a factory store 🙂

I just totally got side tracked by chocolate… anyways these healthy muffins are delicious and full of vegetables (awesome) and other healthy stuff making them the perfect addition to your breakfast (or snack) table. I hope you give these muffins a try and I hope you enjoy them as much as my son does 😉

Yield: 12 muffins

Healthy Sweet Potato Oatmeal Muffins

Muffins full of veggies, oats, whole wheat flour, and no refined sugar makes for a quick and healthy breakfast or snack.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

1 cup mashed sweet potatoes (around 2 medium or 1 large sweet potato)
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup coconut oil (melted)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cup oats
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
3.5 ounces dark chocolate

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350º F. Oil a muffin tin and dust with flour.
In a large bowl mix together the wet ingredients mashed sweet potatoes, eggs, milk, maple syrup, and coconut oil.
In a second large bowl mix together dry ingredients baking powder, salt, cinnamon, oats, and whole wheat flour.
Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
Chop the chocolate into chip size pieces and stir into the muffin batter.
Scoop batter into the muffin tin, fill the batter to the top of each muffin.
Bake 18-20 minutes until toothpick comes clean out of the center. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Keep in an airtight container.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

1 muffin
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 260Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 37mgSodium: 167mgCarbohydrates: 33gFiber: 4gSugar: 11gProtein: 6g

Nutritional data is automated, final nutritional information will depend on ingredients used and any changes made.

If you enjoyed this recipe or any of my others let me know by using #theschmidtywife on social media!

And make sure you are following me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook for all the latest recipes!

Peace & Love

Lauren, The Schmidty Wife

P.S. Looking for more baking recipes? Check out my Chocolate Peanut Butter Black Bean Muffins or my Pumpkin Mug Muffin.

Grandma’s Oatmeal Triblys

December 9, 2016 by Lauren Schmidt 10 Comments

Grandma’s Oatmeal Triblys are an old fashioned oatmeal cookie filled with delicious date filling and complete with a brown butter icing. Perfect to make for a unique Christmas cookie!

I tried my hardest to come up with a different story to write with this recipe but the heart knows what it wants so I hope that it does not bum you out too much because these cookies, Grandma’s Oatmeal Triblys, that I am sharing today are so delicious! So with that being said, my grandmother passed away almost 2 months ago now. It has been very hard for me to process for a number of reasons, she is my first grandparent to pass away (how blessed am I), seeing my grandpa by himself after 60+ years of marriage is heartbreaking, and living 1,428 miles away is extremely difficult. Although it has been rough for many reasons I was so lucky. I was able to visit with my son just a few days before she left us to say goodbye, she was surrounded by family up until the end, still able to recognize and talk to everyone, and she passed away do to old age in her sleep, I don’t know about you but that is a pretty beautiful life. She is greatly missed everyday but I know she is looking down on us all from heaven.

So ever since she passed I have found myself carrying around and reading our family cookbook like its my job. I feel like she is still here when I read the different recipes that I know she made for her family, it brings peace to my heart, like a little part of her is still here. Some of the recipes are simple, some are classics, some are old fashioned. I have made quite a few of them and I plan on making more but today I wanted to share with you one of her favorite cookie recipes that is in that cook book. Grandma’s Oatmeal Triblys are totally an old fashioned grandma cookie and that is the beauty in them, the only update I made was adding brown butter icing to keep them relevant. I remember making these during Christmas time growing up and so much to my surprise when I did some research to see what other Tribly recipes were out there, they are pretty nonexistent. It looks like they probably originated as a Swedish sandwich cookie but otherwise just a few recipes from other grandmothers are the only other Triblys I could find. It honestly surprises me that these cookies are not more popular because I have a feeling they were probably in most of our grandmothers recipe cards. So with that being said I hope you give these cookies a try and I hope they bring you a little bit of my grandmothers love.

Grandma’s Oatmeal Triblys are not hard to make but they do take a few extra steps most cookies don’t have (mostly because of the filling). The cookie part is a super simple oatmeal dough, the filling is simply dates, sugar, & water, and the icing is just as easy as butter, powdered sugar, and milk. I made these cookies large, because personally I think they are more fun that way and easier to fill.

Hey guys these cookies are part of The Sweetest Season Cookie Exchange go and check out all of the other amazing cookies!

Yield: 10-12 large cookies

Grandma’s Oatmeal Triblys

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 12 minutes

Total Time 27 minutes

Ingredients

For Cookies:

1 cup sugar
1 cup shortening
1/2 cup sour milk
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups oatmeal

For Filling:

2 cups chopped dates
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup water

For Brown Butter Icing:

1/2 cup butter
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2-3 tablespoons milk

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375º F. Lightly grease 2 cookie sheets.
To make date filling add dates, sugar, and water to a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat. Cook over medium heat until dates thicken into a paste, this will take 10-15 minutes.
Meanwhile in a large bowl add sugar, shortening, and sour milk*. Mix until combined. Mix in flour, salt, and baking soda. Slowly mix in oatmeal until fully combined. Dough will be sticky and that is okay, just be sure to add plenty of flour when rolling it out.
On a clean floured surface roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick. Using a circle cutter (I used a 4 inch martini glass, no judgement I wanted something large) cut out 12 circles, transfer half of the circles to the cookie sheet. Using a spoon heap a large amount of the date filling onto the center of each of the cookies. Cover all the cookies with the other half of the circle cutouts. For each cookie use your fingers to carefully press the outsides of the cookies together so there are no gaps for the filling to come out. Bake in oven for 11-13 minutes until edges are golden brown.
With the remaining dough repeat the last step for a second batch of cookies.
When finished baking let cookies rest on cookie sheet for 2 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack. Let cookies cool completely before icing.
To make brown butter icing. Add butter to a saucepan over medium-low heat. Slowly heat the butter 8-10 minutes stirring occasionally until butter starts to brown. Keep an eye over the butter closely because once it starts to brown it can get overcooked fast. Once you start to see the brown flecks in the butter give the butter about 30 more seconds of cooking and then start adding the powdered sugar. Whisk in the first cup of powdered sugar then add 2 tablespoons of milk. Whisk in the remaining powdered sugar. Icing should be thick and spreadable, if the icing seems too thick add one more tablespoon of milk if it seems too thin add a little bit more powdered sugar.
With icing still hot spread over the cookies. Let icing cool to harden. Enjoy.

Notes

*add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice to a measuring cup then fill the rest of the 1/2 cup with milk

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 601Total Fat: 26gSaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 31mgSodium: 354mgCarbohydrates: 90gFiber: 4gSugar: 63gProtein: 5g

Nutritional data is automated, final nutritional information will depend on ingredients used and any changes made.

And make sure you are following me on TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook for all the latest recipes!

Peace & Love

Lauren, The Schmidty Wife

Overnight Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls

November 8, 2016 by Lauren Schmidt Leave a Comment

Nothing is better than fresh baked cinnamon rolls, that is unless they are Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls made easy to rise overnight for ease and convenience in the morning! Topped with sweet cream cheese frosting, this is a must make holiday morning treat!

This post may contain Affiliate Links.

This post was originally published November 8, 2016 and updated December 11, 2020 with new photos and clarified instructions.

Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls

These cinnamon rolls are perhaps the longest running holiday tradition that my family has started. I always make these for Christmas Eve morning. There is seriously no better way to kick start the holiday celebrations.

With ease in mind these were developed so that all the hard work is done the night before leaving you to just let them rise in the fridge overnight and pop in the oven in the morning!

A fresh gingerbread cinnamon roll on a small white plate topped with cream cheese frosting.

So let’s take a look at what you need:

Supplies

If you bake frequently you most likely already have what you need. Some special tools are needed to make these:

First you will need traditional kitchen tools like measuring cups & spoons, spatulas, bowls
You will want a Stand Mixer for the dough and frosting
A Baking Dish, I use a 2.5 quart Corningware dish, an 8×8 dish will work as well, in a pinch a 9×13 dish will work but be cautious of the cooking time because they will be further spaced out
You will need a Rolling Pin for the dough as well as a Ruler to make sure your dough is rolled out enough
A Serrated Knife works awesome for cutting the dough
And a Pastry Brush is needed for brushing on the butter

A gingerbread cinnamon roll on a small white plate with the outside ripped off showing of the flavorful inside of the cinnamon roll.

Ingredients

Whole Milk
Molasses
Active Dry Yeast
Ground Ginger
Ground Cinnamon
Ground Nutmeg
All Purpose Flour
Egg
Salted Butter
Granulated Sugar
Cream Cheese
Powdered Sugar
Vanilla

For a complete detailed list of the ingredients continue towards the bottom of the page.

All the ingredients needed to make the dough of gingerbread cinnamon rolls. — For the dough.

All the ingredients needed for the filling of the gingerbread cinnamon rolls. — For the filling.

The ingredients and final recipe for the cream cheese frosting. — For the Cream Cheese Frosting.

How to Make Overnight Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls

First up making the Dough!

In the bowl of a stand mixer add the milk and molasses, stir together to combine. Dust the top of the mixture with the yeast. Let rest for about 5 minutes until the yeast has bloomed.

Add ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg to the bowl and stir together.

Collage showing yeast blooming, adding spices, and flour to a mixing bowl.

With the dough hook attachment running on low add 2 1/2 cups of the flour until dough forms, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. The dough should be pretty sticky at this point.

With the mixer running on medium very slowly add the egg. Once egg is mixed into the dough slowly add the melted butter.

Collage showing adding eggs and more flour to the bowl of a stand mixer.

This next step depends on the humidity of your area on whether or not you will add the last full cup of flour. Continue to keep the mixer running on low. Add the remaining flour about 1/4 cup at a time, letting the flour get totally mixed in before adding more flour. We are looking for the dough to be sticky but not so sticky to be confused with cookie dough. It will stick slightly to your finger but as the mixer continues to run it should no longer be sticking to the sides (although it still might be sticking to the bottom). So start with 1/4 cup, most likely you will want to add another 1/4 cup. Check where your dough is at this point, still a little too sticky, add a little more.

Once the dough is to the proper consistency, knead on medium speed for 5 minutes.

Collage of the dough of the Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls being kneaded and transferred to a bowl to rise.

Lightly Grease a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, cover with cling wrap. Place in a warm no draft area for 1-2 hours.

Once the dough has doubled in size it will be time to fill and roll up the cinnamon rolls.

Mix the sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg in a small bowl. Melt the butter and have a pastry brush ready. You will also want to have a ruler ready.

Grease your baking dish generously with the melted butter, using up 1-2 tablespoons.

Dust your clean workspace with flour, gently release dough from the bowl onto the work area. Dust the dough and rolling pin with flour. We want to roll out the dough into a 9×18 inch rectangle (no need to be exact but you will want to be close). Dust with flour as needed.

Collage of buttering a baking dish. And the risen dough on a clean floured surface, and the dough rolled out into a rectangle.

Once the dough is rolled out, brush melted butter evenly across the dough, you will use about 1/2 of the remaining butter.

Sprinkle the sugar/spice mixture evenly over the butter until the whole rectangle is covered, it is okay if you have a little of the mixture left.

Starting at one of the short ends tightly and evenly roll the dough up into a log shape.

Collage of buttering the rolled out dough, adding the filling, and rolling up the dough.

With the seam side down, use a serrated knife to score 6 evenly sized rolls on the log. With the serrated knife cut where you made the scores making sure to hold on to your log so it doesn’t come undone.

Gently place each roll into the baking dish. The space will be tight and the cinnamon rolls will be stuffed in there next to each other.

Collage showing the dough for cinnamon rolls rolled into a log, scored into 6 pieces, and cutting the rolls.

Collage of the rolls being placed in a dish, being buttered, and ready to rise in the fridge.

Once all rolls are cut and in the dish brush the tops and sides of the rolls with the remaining butter.

Cover tightly with cling wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight or up to 24 hours. (If you do want to bake this right away do not place in the fridge and let rise for one hour.)

Once the cinnamon rolls are done rising in the refrigerator, take out and let rest at room temperature for 30-60 minutes while the oven warms up.

Risen cinnamon rolls in a white baking dish ready to be baked in the oven.

Preheat the oven to 350º.

Bake for 35-40 minutes until a butter knife can separate the rolls without getting doughy. (Check rolls around the 30 minute mark, if the top is starting to look to brown, cover very loosely with aluminum foil.)

Unfrosted freshly baking gingerbread cinnamon rolls in a baking dish set on a blue kitchen towel.

While the cinnamon rolls are baking or the night before you will want to make the frosting. If making the night before you can just store the frosting in the fridge, just take it out while the cinnamon rolls are baking!

In the bowl of a stand mixer, with the whisk attachment beat together the cream cheese and butter on high for 1 minute. On low speed slowly add the powdered sugar until fully incorporated.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

On medium speed add the vanilla and milk. Mix until a smooth consistency forms.

Top your Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls with the cream cheese frosting and enjoy!

A hand with a spoon putting cream cheese frosting onto a freshly baked cinnamon roll.

Freshly made cinnamon rolls covered in cream cheese frosting sitting next to golden Christmas ornaments and sugared cranberries.

A white baking dish with half of the gingerbread cinnamon rolls removed and placed on small white plates.

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Yield: 6 cinnamon rolls

Overnight Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls

Fresh baked Cinnamon Rolls filled with gingerbread flavors all prepped the night before and baked easy in the morning.

Prep Time 40 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Inactive Time 12 hours 30 minutes

Total Time 13 hours 50 minutes

Ingredients

for dough:

1 cup warm whole milk
1/4 cup molasses
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (1 Fleischmann's packet)
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 1/2 cups flour, plus more for dusting
1 egg
3 tablespoons salted butter, melted

for filling:

5 tablespoons salted butter, melted
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

for cream cheese frosting:

4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup salted butter, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon whole milk

Instructions

For the Dough:

In the bowl of a stand mixer add the milk and molasses, stir together to combine. Dust the top of the mixture with the yeast. Let rest for about 5 minutes until the yeast has bloomed.
Add ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg to the bowl and stir together. With the dough hook attachment running on low add 2 ½ cups of the flour until a dough forms, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. The dough should be sticky at this point but still holding its shape.
With the mixer running on medium very slowly add the egg. Once the egg is fully mixed into the dough slowly add the melted butter, mix until fully incorporated.
With the mixer running on low add the flour ¼ cup at a time, let the flour get totally mixed in before adding more flour. This step depends on the humidity of your area on whether or not you will add the last full cup of flour. We are looking for the dough to be sticky but not so sticky to be confused with cookie dough. It will stick slightly to your finger but as the mixer continues to knead it should no longer be sticking to the sides (although it still might be sticking to the bottom). So start with 1/4 cup, most likely you will want to add another 1/4 cup. Check where your dough is at this point, if it is still a little to sticky, add a little more flour. (I usually need between 3/4 to 1 cup, the more humid it is the more likely it is you will need the whole cup of flour.)
Once the dough is to the proper consistency, knead on medium speed for 5 minutes until you have a nice soft dough..
Lightly Grease a large bowl with butter, place dough in the greased bowl and cover with cling wrap. Place in a warm non-drafty area for 1 to 2 hours, or until doubled in size.

Filling the Rolls:

Once dough has doubled in size it is time to roll it out and fill. Mix the sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg in a small bowl. Have the butter melted and a pastry brush ready. You with also want some sort of measuring device, so have a ruler near by.
Grease a 2 ½ quart or 8x8 inch glass baking dish generously with the melted butter.
Dust your clean work surface with flour, gently release dough from the bowl onto your work area. Lightly dust the dough and rolling pin with flour. We want to roll out the dough into a 9x18 inch rectangle. Dust with additional flour as needed.
Once the dough is rolled out, brush the melted butter evenly across the dough (you will only use about ½ of the remaining butter here).
Sprinkle the sugar/spice mixture evenly over the butter until the whole rectangle in covered, it is okay if you have a little of the mixture left.
Starting at one of the short ends tightly and evenly roll the dough up into a log shape.
With the seam side down, use a serrated knife score 6 evenly sized rolls on the log. With the serrated knife cut where you made the scores making sure to hold on to your log so it doesn't come undone.
Gently place each roll into the baking dish. The space might be tight and the cinnamon rolls might be stuffed next to each other, that's okay.
Once all the rolls are cut and in the dish brush the tops and sides of the rolls with the remaining butter.
Cover tightly with cling wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight or up to 24 hours. (If you do want to bake this right away do not place in fridge and let rise in a warm place for one hour.)
Once rolls are done rising in the refrigerator, take out and let rest at room temperature for 30-60 minutes while the oven warms up.
Preheat oven to 350º F.
Bake for 35-40 minutes until a butter knife can separate the rolls without getting doughy. (Check rolls around the 30 minute mark, if the top is starting to look to brown, cover very loosely with aluminum foil.)
Top your gingerbread cinnaon rolls with your cream cheese frosting (recipe below) and enjoy!

Cream Cheese Frosting:

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the cream cheese and butter on high for 1 minute with the whisk attachment. On low speed slowly add the powdered sugar until fully incorporated. Scrap down the sides of the bowl.
On medium speed add the vanilla and milk. Mix until a smooth consistency forms. You can make this ahead of time the night before or while the cinnamon rolls are baking. For storage keep covered in refrigerator.

Notes

This recipe can be doubled to make 12 rolls. I do suggest if doing so to use 1 whole egg and 1 egg yolk instead of 2 full eggs.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

1 cinnamon roll
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 742Total Fat: 33gSaturated Fat: 20gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 115mgSodium: 281mgCarbohydrates: 101gFiber: 3gSugar: 43gProtein: 12g

Nutritional data is automated, final nutritional information will depend on ingredients used and any changes made.

And make sure you are following me on TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook for all the latest recipes!

Peace & Love

Lauren, The Schmidty Wife

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Original Post:

Overnight Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls, I repeat Overnight Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls. Are we all ready for the holiday season yet?? This time of year I am giddy about the flavor options for food. With options like gingerbread, eggnog, and peppermint how can we think about anything else. Perhaps my favorite holiday flavor is gingerbread, I love how it is not overly sweet like so many other holiday flavors. The warmness of the spices mixed with the smokiness of molasses just make me smile just thinking about it. So I decided to make Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls. I was a little nervous to make them at first, wanting them to still be light and airy but I wanted to use molasses so I didn’t know how they would turn out… Oh My Goodness you guys I hit the jackpot. These Cinnamon Rolls are full of flavor from the molasses, cinnamon, ginger, & nutmeg and because they are slowly risen twice they become light and airy. I knew since the first time I made them that these will be my new Christmas morning go-to. They take a few minutes to put together the day before and are so minimal in the morning. So many reason why you need to try these!

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls are the serious way to go to get the best tasting Cinnamon Rolls on the face of the earth. By doing a majority of the work the day before, the Cinnamon Rolls really get a chance to develop a ton of flavor and they save you from having to wake up at 4 in the morning to get them rolled out so they are ready in time for a relaxing Saturday morning breakfast. This recipe looks intimidating but it really isn’t too hard, although it does take a little time to get them ready. They are easily thrown together in a stand mixer, they get a slow 2 hour rise to get a more flavorful dough, and then it is as simple as rolling out, sprinkling with butter, sugar, & spices, rolling up and placing in the fridge for the morning. While the rolls do need a little time to come to temperature and bake the next morning, the work is very minimal, and when you are not a morning person like me this is wonderful! These rolls are then covered with a Cream Cheese Frosting that nobody can resist (which can even be made ahead of time for convenience sake). So say hello to a perfect Saturday (or Christmas) Morning with these Overnight Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls.

Baked Pesto Chicken Recipe

What You Need

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Instructions

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Love Chicken Bakes? Me too! You might like these:

Ingredients

Instructions

Notes

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Yield:

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Did you make this recipe?

The Method

TIPS & TRICKS

Ingredients

Instructions

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Yield:

Did you make this recipe?

Peace & Love

Lauren, The Schmidty Wife

The Ingredients

Baking the Muffins

TIPS & TRICKS:

Ingredients

Instructions

Notes

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

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Did you make this recipe?

The Ingredients

The Microwave

TIPS & TRICKS:

Ingredients

Instructions

Notes

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

Did you make this recipe?

YES! CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER BLACK BEAN MUFFINS!

TIPS & TRICKS:

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Notes

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Peace & Love

Lauren, The Schmidty Wife

Homemade Chocolate Peppermint Crinkle Cookies

Ingredients

Instructions

TIPS, TRICKS, & QUESTIONS

Ingredients

Instructions

Notes

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

Did you make this recipe?

A perfect fall breakfast this Cinnamon Apple Topped Dutch Baby is very easy to make. The batter for the dutch baby pancake is made in the blender and the cinnamon apples are made easy on the stove while the pancake bakes.

TIPS & TRICKS:

Ingredients

for the Dutch Baby:

for the Cinnamon Apples:

Instructions

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

Did you make this recipe?

If you enjoyed this recipe or any of my others let me know by using #theschmidtywife on social media!

And make sure you are following me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook for all the latest recipes!