Amish Cinnamon Bread Alternative: Pinterest Recipe Review

Scrolling through my "Carbs=Happy Food" Pinterest board, I noticed I pinned one specific recipe three times.

"Wow, I really wanted to make this" I thought.

"This" is an Amish Cinnamon Bread Alternative. I don't know about you, but when I was growing up, those gallon-sized bags of Amish Friendship Bread starter appeared on my mom's kitchen countertop almost weekly. 

The problem is that they require constant attention. You have to add a little bit to the bag each morning, then shake it up or something (it's been a while), then when you finally bake the bread you have more starters to bestow upon your unsuspecting friends. At our house, most of the starter got thrown away after the good ol' college try.

But I have awesome memories of that bread. Sweet, dense, and perfectly spiced, it was an amazing breakfast. 

Since I have zero desire to see all those starter bags again (it gives me a little anxiety just thinking about it, not going to lie), I'm giving this a good shot. 

The Original Recipe:

The original recipe is here, via Redfly Creations.

The Process:

Okay, to be honest, there was barely any "process" for this bread. I threw it all together in about five minutes. Maybe six minutes, but there wasn't any hoopla or talent that had to take place to get this in the oven. Small caveat: because I'm reviewing the loaf pan as well (link to come), I only did one loaf and halved the recipe. 

The only thing that required a modicum of skill was layering in the cinnamon/sugar mix. And if you can halve your recipe, you're golden. So I shook some of the cinnamon/sugar mix into the bottom of the loaf pan, then poured in half the batter, and added 5/6 of the rest of the cinnamon/sugar mix. I swirled it around, as instructed, finished off the batter, and dumped the rest of the mix on. Seriously easy.

See the swirls under the batter?

Update 40 minutes later: my first fail! Haha. Well, this is going in the review of my new loaf pan. Apparently there is way too much batter in this recipe for a silicone loaf pan. Just beware! I scraped the edges and dumped the excess, so hopefully it won't look so much like a fail when it comes out. This is the problem with resolving to be honest in this blog! =)

Big big fail. I blame the loaf pan.

The Result:

Mmmmmm. I'm not the biggest fan of cinnamon, but this stuff is good. I have company right now, and am fully prepared for the loaf to be gone in the next five minutes. Totally worth it. I highly recommend it - just make sure to use a normal-sized loaf pan!

Billionaire Bars: Pinterest Recipe Review

I have to confess: I have been wondering all night why these are called "billionaire" bars. Not only have I been wondering, I've been thinking up different reasons in my head.

"Maybe it's because you have to be a billionaire to afford all this butter!" Snicker snicker snicker.

Then later on:

"Maybe it's because only a billionaire has time to let these layers cool before adding the other one!" Chortle chortle chortle. 

I've been smiling at my (supposed) cleverness all night, guys. I need help.

Then, as I was washing the pan a few minutes ago, I grabbed a finger full of the middle "billionaire" mixture. 

"Dang, that's rich." I thought.

That "ding" sound you heard was the lightbulb coming on in my head.

So, yep, these are billionaire bars because they're really stinkin' rich. D'oh.

The Recipe:
The original recipe can be found here, at ChelSweets.

The Process:

These were both easier and harder than I thought they'd be. Easier because truly, they come together really quickly. The dough is a snap and it's really not that hard to stir together the ingredients for the filling. The main reason it was at all harder is because of the time to wait between layers.

Shortbread in the making

I will be super super honest here and say that I did not wait until each layer was cool before I added the next. Part of that is impatience, and part of that is the fact that it was after midnight and I just wanted to go to bed. 

Aaaaanyways. The recipe is really straightforward, but if you're like me, you may do a double (or triple) take when you realize there's a full 1.5 cups of butter in this recipe. You could also call them "Double Bypass" bars I guess, but that wouldn't be nearly as catchy as "Billionaire."

BUTTER

The "Billionaire" middle

The middle won't get super hard, but slightly firm

The original recipe (found here) said to drop spoonfuls of the chocolate and swirl, but instead I covered the whole thing in milk chocolate first, then marbled in a little white chocolate. My first marbling! Awww. The end result was so pretty, I barely wanted to cut it!

Marbling - my first attempt!

The Result:
Sweet goodness, these are awesome. I took them to a tailgate (go Air Force Falcons!) and they were snapped up in seconds. I had women crowding around me to get the recipe. I ended up freezing them instead of just putting them in the refrigerator, and dipped a sharp knife in near-boiling water to cut through the hardened chocolate on top. All in the name of good pictures!

Size is only for pictures - cut in 1x1 chunks

These were slightly more time-intensive than I thought, but they're certainly worth it. Plus, they're best in 1-inch by 1-inch chunks. Anything more is a little much. Enjoy!

Billionaire Bars