Pillsbury Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls- Apples & Bannans~

Last fall I was blessed to receive some sample product from Pillsbury! Check out some of the recipes I already posted HERE.



We had gobs of great stuff and wanted to each create something different with the packages of Pillsbury Cinnabon Grands Cinnamon Rolls. Nate chose to make a cinnamon roll apple pie pocket, and I made mini-cinnamon roll bananas foster bites.



To get an idea of the taste and texture of the rolls, I baked up one regular size and two mini rolls before we got started.



Ironically, Nate and I BOTH happen to be people who do not like cinnamon rolls and have never actually had Cinnabon, (GASP!) but we still enjoyed these ooey-gooey rolls and the fun creations that we made! Just to be sure, we had some friends taste-test as well and they gave the thumbs-up. I think for a super-easy, hot, sticky cinnamon roll these are a great time saving dessert or component to a dessert.



BANANAS FOSTER CINNABON CINNAMON ROLLS
By Beth G

1 package Mini Pillsbury Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls

Bananas Foster Filling
1/4 c unsalted butter
2/3 c packed brown sugar
3 T dark rum
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp fine vanilla extract
3-4 bananas sliced (lengthwise, in slices, in bits)- depends on how you are serving it...for this recipe I cut the banana in to little bits
A big hand full of coarsely chopped pecans

Combine the butter, brown sugar, rum, cinnamon and vanilla in a skillet and heat to boiling. Add bananas and cook stirring constantly for about 2-3 minutes.
Grease a mini muffin tin and start peeling the mini cinnamon rolls apart, pretty much un-wrapping them. Rip strips off and layer them in the mini-muffin tin and press down to create a little cinnamon roll dough cup.
Then spoon the bananas foster into the cinnamon roll cup & bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes until cinnamon rolls are golden.
This makes 12 mini-rolls, I actually set aside two of the mini rolls that I pushed the center out toward the outside creating a hole in the middle, like a doughnut. Then I spooned the bananas foster into the center, and baked on a greased cookie sheet at the same temp and time above. We liked both styles, the second method- creating the hole in the middle was even easier than taking them apart and would make a great party dessert!



APPLE PIE POCKETS with PILLSBURY CINNABON CINNAMON ROLL CRUST
By Nate G

Nate used the large/regular sized cinnamon rolls, he got super messy and creative and used the cinnamon roll dough as a personal pie pocket crust.



1 package Pillsbury Cinnabon Grands Cinnamon Rolls
(6 rolls, makes 4 pies)
3 apples, cored and chopped into little pieces
2 T water
2 T flour
2 T sugar
2 T brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 T butter



Unroll the cinnamon rolls on a covered work surface (lay out some wax paper) and kneed into 4 flat ovals.
In a saucepan over medium heat combine the water, flour, butter, sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon, bring to a boil and reduce heat, add apples and cook stirring often for about 5 minutes.
Spoon apple pie filling onto the cinnamon roll dough discs and fold over to create a pie pocket. Press the edges firmly to seal. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until dough is golden brown.

Pillsbury Recipe Creations~ Taco Bites

As part of the PILLSBURY PACKAGE we received I had the good fortune of trying the NEW Pillsbury Recipe Creations, that is basically sheets of the Crescent Roll dough, but with out the triangle perforations.

This is a variation of one of my favorite recipes using the Pillsbury Crescent Rolls, Nate's mom's TACO RING, which if you've not tried it- put this on the menu ASAP because it rocks the heezie.

1 package Pillsbury Recipe Creations
about 1/2 a pound taco seasoned browned ground beef
refried beans
shredded cheddar or pepper jack cheese
hot sauce or salsa
chopped onion

Grease a mini muffin tin and pre heat the oven to 350.
Cut the Recipe Creations dough into squares and lightly press into the muffin tin. Add about 1 T of beans then 1 T of taco meat, then a pinch of onions, dollop of salsa or hot sauce, and top with shredded cheese.
Cook for about 20 minutes or until dough is golden brown and cheese is melted.

Grown-Up-Pigs-In-A-Blanket (Pillsbury Recipe Creations)

It is football season again, and we headed down to the Coliseum on a cloudy drizzly Saturday determined to get in some pre-game tailgating, a few Saturdays ago. I am sure some of you living in other areas, outside of Southern California may not realize what the big deal about a little drizzle would be, but here people can get a little freaky over some mist. Thankfully, it turned out to be a great day- the air got a little damp in the third quarter, but it was all good.
I made these with the Pillsbury Recipe creations~ super, super easy and a great tailgating snack!



1 package Pillsbury Recipe Creations
1 package fully cooked chicken apple sausage (should be at the regular grocery store or Trader Joes)
Herb'd goat cheese, at room temp
toothpicks (wooden)

Pre heat the oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with foil.
Chop the sausage into bite-sized bits. Roll out the recipe creations and cut into 4-5 strips long-ways, then cut across to make about 30 + little squares. Using a butter knife, add a bit of goat cheese to a piece of sausage and wrap the dough around it using the toothpick to hold it sealed in place.
place the wrapped sausages on the baking sheet and bake 25-25 minutes or until crescent dough is golden.
Cool and serve~

Pillsbury Recipe Creations~ Prosciutto & Brie Bites

These were super easy, just a wee few ingredients~

1 container of Pillsbury Recipe Creations
1 triangle of Brie cheese
about 1/4 lb thin cut prosciutto



Grease a mini muffin tin and pre-heat the oven to 350.
Cut the Recipe Creations into 1 1/2 inch x 1 1/2 inch squares.
Cut the brie into little squares also, and wrap a bit of prosciutto around each piece of cheese.
Gently press the squares of recipe creations into the muffin tin, place a prosciutto wrapped brie into the center and bake about 20 minutes until the dough is golden brown. UBER EASY APPS! YAY!!

Pillsbury Pizza Crust Pizza Bites

We were both on a sugar high after a big morning of cinnamon rolls (which oddly turned out to be my FAVORITE experiment so you'll see that LAST...)so we went for the pizza dough...I am super appreciative to receive these products to play around with and create some new ideas and with out turning the next few posts into a long commercial, I am just going to give my review/opinion once (and it's can just be applied to ALL my Pillsbury posts.) While about 90% of the recipes you'll find on this blog are "made from scratch", I very much appreciate yummy time-savers to be used in a pinch. I am fully aware it's not the same as homemade, and that is because it's EASIER and saves a GRIP of time. Nate was not head over heels about the way the dough tasted because we usually make our own and this was a little different... but I feel like for the awesome results you get (especially the calzone) it's a good dough that can save you a TON of time and help to create fabulous, inventive, delicious goodness. We were pleasantly surprised that we really liked the crescent rolls, because we both do not like cinnamon rolls. Our only complaint there was that we ate too many and I don't know if I'll ever look at another cinnamon roll as long as I live. It was full-blown pre-noon sugar shock. The Recipe Creations were fabulous and a little more familiar than the other two...I've worked with the Pillsbury Crescent Rolls many times, and this was something I will totally buy in the store! I made a few different apps with it, but have some dinner ideas I still want to try with this stuff! We both work between 40-60 hours a week and LOVE to entertain, so I will say that I would purchase and use these products (the recipe creations mostly), they really give you more time to relax and enjoy eachother's company vs. having to prep a dough for something for hours....ok, so that's my opinion and now, onward to the FOOD!!



This was fun to work with because it rolls out into a square and is pretty easy cut, reshape and get creative! It has a buttery flavor and these little snacky bites were not really Nate's fave. I thought they were all right, but in the nature of good experimenting, I think I know what I'd change (noted in ITALICS)next time to improve these a bit. The other recipe we attempted with these were some GIANT calzones that Nate created that are out of this world, but more on that later...



NEW! Pillsbury Pizza Crust (1 tube makes about 12-15 pizza bites)

Filling FOR THE PEPPERONI POPPERS
1 container marinara sauce (from the refrigerator section), or about 1 cup of home made sauce if you have it.
Shredded Mozzarella
Pepperoni
Shredded Parmesan cheese

Filling FOR THE PESTO POPPERS
(mix the following together in a bowl)
1 cup Ricotta cheese
1/2 cup garlic pesto
about 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
1 tsp crushed chili pepper flakes
2 T shredded Parmesan
(keep extra shredded Parmesan on the side for topping)

Pre-heat the oven to 350 & grease a mini muffin tin.
Roll the dough out onto a flour or wax paper covered surface. Cut the dough into 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 inch squares.
For Pepperoni Poppers~
Place the dough into the muffin cups and press down very lightly. Spoon in about 1 T marinara sauce, add a big pinch of Parmesan cheese, top with a pepperoni and top generously with shredded Parmesan. Bake 25 minutes, until crust is golden brown.

For Pesto Poppers-
Place dough into the muffin cups and press down very lightly. Spoon in about 2 T of the pesto cheese mix and top with shredded Parmesan cheese.
Bake 25 minutes, until crust is golden brown.

If the squares are big enough and you want to fold the outside corners inward- or pinch them closed to make little pockets, that is cool too!

Pillsbury Products for...Our Sweet Life!

I was so excited to receive an email asking if we had any interest in testing out and reviewing some new Pillsbury products! I emailed right back with an all-caps-YES! I was going to be sent a package with the new Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls (a package of the mini-size, and a package of the regular size), a new Pizza Crust, and the new Crescent Creations (which I was most excited about) which are sheets of the Crescent dough with out the perforations! This was a super big deal to me because I love food and I love free stuff and this was the first time those two things had come together because of Our Sweet Life~





The boxes arrived at my office and I began plotting what I was going to make with products. It's funny because Nate and I don't like cinnamon rolls, it's one of those weird things that everyone loves, but not our fave.
Ironically we both knew what we wanted to create with the cinnamon roll.
We waited until Saturday because we wanted to come up with some fun stuff to make and didn't want to be rushed on a work-night.



So, the next few posts will be the fun we had enjoying the Pillsbury products that were sent our way! WOO HOO!! Much more on it's way soon....stay tuned!