Blueberry White Chocolate Chip Dumplings

Yep, that's a fresh, warm, gooey, ever-so-slightly-lemony (and really messy!) blueberry white chocolate swirl.

Cinnamon rolls [if you're wondering why I'm talking about cinnamon rolls when the post is clearly titled "Dumplings", and I just called them "swirls", well, we'll get to that... ] are one of those things on a list of about ten foods that I absolutely can't stand. I think it has to do with the fact that
1. usually, they're cloyingly sweet
2. there was a brief period in my childhood where I ate a lot of really unhealthy food, but we'll get to that's a story for another post.
I have this habit, though, for better or for worse, concerning cooking, eating, and really everything, of trying to find something to like about a given thing when I really dislike it. When I saw Ashley's unique take on cinnamon-less cinnamon rolls (which she received third place prize for the BC Blueberry contest! ), and being that everything else I've cooked verbatim or adapted ever-so-slightly from her blog was so wonderfully incredibly delicious- I thought I'd give it a shot.

Seriously, Ashley's blog has opened up a whole new world of baking joyfulness, and she has enlightened me about so many new good cookbooks, and the best way I can think to give back is to make this transitionary week from February 28th to March 7th an eat me, delicious tribute week. Thus, I decided to journey into the uncertain lands of cinnamon rolls sans cinnamon.

Now, the multiple names: my cinnamon rolls ended up more like sweet blueberry dumplings than cinnamon rolls, but I am certain that's probably my fault because I added too much liquid by virtue of mistaking my 1/3 measuring cup for a 1/4 measuring cup (whoops!). To try and compensate, I added a tablespoon of flour and asked someone around me if they thought that was alright. In retrospect, 1 tablespoon was definitely not enough flour to right my wet ingredient wrong, but hey, it was a learning experience! Additionally, one of the reasons I think these turned out more like dumplings than cinnamon rolls was that when I cut through the log to make the nine little rolls my knife wasn't sharp enough and ruptured some of the layers. Regardless, they were still demolished, and the flavor was perfect, but the rolls didn't have the consistency I was looking for.

I struggled with whether to post this recipe or not. I like the idea of posting only recipes that I think are really tasty (and that I've been successful in making), but I also like the idea of posting about how I messed a recipe up, for authenticity's sake. I think it's important if something doesn't turn out absolutely perfect not to get discouraged (and maybe even find something to like about it!). Most importantly, I like sharing good food. Despite my numerous errors, this recipe was good. For my eat me, delicious tribute week at least, I'll post every thing I bake from her blog. After this week I promise to find other amazing websites and blogs. Find something good and share it, right?! What are your favorite food blogs/cookbooks/websites?



Blueberry White Chocolate Swirls with Lemon Glaze

Adapted, accidentally, and very poorly from eat, me delicious (whose rolls look beautiful and mouth-wateringly good! Definitely deserved at least third place!)

Makes 9 rolls

Ingredients
2 cups and 1 tablespoon flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk
(I used 5/6 cup)
1/4 cup oil
(I used 1/3 cup)
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 heaping cup blueberries, washed and patted dry (or 1 cup frozen blueberries)
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
juice of one, really juicy lemon
2 tablespoons powdered sugar

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter an 8"x8" square pan.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl combine milk, oil and vanilla. Add the wet mixture to the dry, and stir just until the flour disappears and you have a nice dough.

Lightly flour a work surface. Roll out the dough to a 9"x14" rectangle. Sprinkle the white chocolate chips and blueberries, and gently press them into the dough. Starting from the long side, roll up the dough into a log. Cut it into 9 biscuits and place them in the prepared pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown.

Meanwhile, prepare the lemon glaze by mixing together the lemon juice and icing sugar.

Once the rolls are done, invert them onto a plate, and drizzle the glaze over top. Serve while warm, but also good at room temperature.


My little blueberry white chocolate dumpling :) intact this time!