That day can be spent doing something fun (hanging out with my niece and nephew) or by doing something lame (laundry, again?!)
Secretly, my favorite days off are rainy days.
Rainy Days are perfect because they give us the excuse to cancel all of our plans, stay in our PJs, and feel zero guilt about it.
Our day off this week was gloomy, rainy, and had an all around Fall Mood.
I wanted to amplify the already cozy vibes, so I threw an apron on over my stripped J's, turned up some soulful jazz, and got to work making homemade cinnamon rolls...but of course, I wanted to give them a special Fall Twist.
*lil' saucy cuties!!*
This past summer we canned about 50 jars of peach sauce filled with warm, autumnal spices (hello cinnamon, hello nutmeg, helllooo ginger!).
Our Kitchen Manager, April, and I have been recipe testing with what we are now calling Harvest Peach Sauce, and it has been glorious.
April tried brushing the Harvest Peach Sauce on a rack of ribs, and she said it was "phenomenal."
I added it to Peach French Toast and realized I loved it AND that I might have a sugar addiction.
But I wanted to give it one more go..and this time, between the raindrops tapping on my kitchen window and the steaming cup of coffee I had just poured, I was inspired to make:
Homemade Cinnamon Rolls with Harvest Peach Cream Cheese Icing.
I found a quick 1-hour recipe online (I used this one!) and got to work.
I mixed and rolled a homemade dough, sprinkled it with a blend of cinnamon and sugar, and then set my sweet little cinnamon rolls inside of a cast-iron skillet to rise and rest.
Once I popped them into the oven, I got to work on the icing.
I followed the Cinnamon Roll recipe exactly, but I changed up the recipe provided (again, here is the recipe I used!) for the icing by doing the following instead:
4 oz cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1/4 cup Pie Bar Harvest Peach Sauce
Splash of milk
Sprinkle of salt
The house was filled with the sweet scent of cinnamon, and when I pulled the rolls from the oven, I could not have been more proud. I slathered the Harvest Peach Cream Cheese Icing over the tops of the rolls, and poured Cody and myself a tall glass of milk each.
We took our spoils to the living room for the culmination of Rainy Day Feel Goods..watching TV, in the middle of the day, in your pajamas, while eating a homemade baked good.
The Cinnamon Rolls with Harvest Peach Cream Cheese Icing were perfection.
They were fluffy on the outside and gooey on the inside. The edges were a bit crunchy from the cast iron skillet, but of course, the star of the show was the Harvest Peach Cream Cheese Icing.
With the blend of ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon the icing felt warm and comforting. My concern that the Peach would feel too "summery" was immediately alleviated. The spices paired with the peach made the perfect Fall-Inspired baked good..and I didn't even have to make anything pumpkin.
Now it is your turn -- If you make your version of a Fall-inspired baked good, let me know!