Attempted Baking Projects

I’m sure I’m not the only one who started this quarantine and thought the Zombie Apocalypse was imminent. I did what all normal apocalyptic-preparers would do - I filled our extra 60 gallon water containers, I checked the date on my bucket of freeze-dried food, and I stocked up on canned goods and baking essentials. Clearly the stores would be completely shuttered and I was going to have to make my own bread and can my own vegetables by the time we emerged from quarantine. Well, we all know things didn’t turn out quite that bad, but an Ayres is always prepared! 

I’ve had a fully stocked pantry of baking ingredients so I’ve worked hard to keep something on the counter to eat at all times. Today I attempted cinnamon squares. 

The yeast didn’t rise as much as I thought it should’ve, and I didn’t include the pecans that the recipe called for since I have some nut-haters in the family. 

So you roll out the dough and the spread some of the filling, which was easier said than done. 

Then you fold it in half...

Then you spread the rest of the filling on it. Didn’t work out so well... either not enough filling or I just suck at spreading.

Food it in half again. Then cut it into 24 squares. Except my daughter was helping to cut them and we didn’t quite count correctly before we cut so we ended up with a mix of 36 rectangles and squares. 🤷‍♀️

You brush it with egg wash and then bake. 

I did not have high hopes. The dough seemed weird. But I had several taste-testers...

And they LOVED it! That’s really all that counts since I only make this stuff for the kids and their friends to eat. 😂

It looks weird but it was a success. 

Realistically I’m not sure how often I will actually make these. It was pretty labor-intensive between making the dough, letting it rise, making the filling, dealing with all the layers...  But if I have a day off (like today) or a snow day or holiday meal I think these will make a nice addition.

Now on to my next experiment... I’m making Fatayar tonight for dinner! 🤞