"Talkeetna" Cinnamon Rolls

Mark and I visited the sweet little town of Talkeetna, Alaska on our big Alaskan babymoon back in September 2011, and while there we had these incredible cinnamon rolls the size of our heads! And oh.my.goodness, you guys! They were SO GOOD! A couple years later, I still wasn't able to get them out of my head, so I went on the hunt to find a similar recipe (since they regretted that they would be unable to ship them - boo!)

I took to the web and just started looking through recipes, finally settling on this one with a cream cheese frosting as opposed to the glaze. These are about as close as it gets to the ones we had in Talkeetna, so I lovingly call them my "Talkeetna Rolls".

Talkeetna Rolls

Roll Ingredients

• 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
• 2 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F)
• 1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
• 6 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Frosting Ingredients

• 1 stick (1/2 C) butter, softened
• 1 (8oz) brick cream cheese, softened
• 4 C powdered sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla

Directions

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water, and let stand for 3 minutes. Add cake mix, 1 cup flour, eggs, oil, and salt; beat well. Stir in remaining flour until a soft dough forms.

Knead on well floured surface for about 5 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, and turn to coat the dough surface. Let rise until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Punch down, and divide into two equal parts. Roll out each section on a lightly floured surface. Spread each with softened butter and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.

Roll up like jelly rolls and cut buns 1 1/2 inches thick with a piece of dental floss or a dull knife. Place in greased baking pans, and allow to rise until doubled.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 25 to 35 minutes or until golden brown.

Meanwhile, combine frosting ingredients, then set aside.

Remove baked buns from oven and let cool for 20 minutes before frosting.

Banana Coconut Mini Chip Muffins

Oh.My.Word. These are my absolute favorite muffins right now, and they are SO GOOD!

Our second born, Kendrick, has a nut allergy, so I went through a couple years now where I just didn't like making banana bread or muffins because, well, I LOVE walnuts in my muffins. And when you're a Mama of a kid with a nut allergy who has had two accidental exposures, you pretty much don't keep nuts in your house anymore. We got really into making Banana pancakes last winter. Mark slipped into a banana bread depression (just kidding lol But he LOVES banana bread.)

Enter coconut.

I happened to see it as a suggestion at the bottom of a recipe Mark's Grandma wrote out in the recipe book she gave us for my bridal shower 10 years ago. I usually make my Mom's recipe, but was out of shortening, so I was on the hunt for a recipe I could make without going to the store. I honestly don't think I will EVER make banana bread the normal way ever, ever again.

These are good any way, but I always throw in about 1/4C of chia seed and 1/4C of flax seed simply to add a slight nutritional benefit, and aside from eating the batter, you wouldn't even hardly notice the difference - especially when you add in the crispy coconut and mini chocolate chips.

Banana Coconut Mini Chip Muffins

Makes 12 large muffins plus two mini loaves

Ingredients:

• 1 bag mini chocolate chips
• 1 bag coconut
• 6 very ripe bananas
• 4 C flour
• 4 tsp baking soda
• 4 eggs
• 2 C sugar
• 1 stick (1/2 C) shortening