Sunday, April 24, 2011

Chocolate Chip-Cinnamon Easter Bread - 7 points

I finally did it! After bemoaning my lack of planning and time, I did sit down on Saturday morning to make my weekly menu and managed to find some easy recipes for today. But...when to shop? Well, I have the best husband in the world. Between the Happy First Birthday party and the quinceneara yesterday, Stone ran to store for me while I took a quick bath and got all dolled up. What a great guy!

As our day yesterday was rather a blur, it is appropriate that my first picture for you is a rather blurry shot of myself attempting to keep my nephew from getting a head start on the Easter egg hunt that was our first event of the day. 


I decided that I may as well make something ridiculously indulgent for Easter. Easters is supposed to be a joyous celebration, so it is a good day to share to special occasion food. Thus, I decided to go back to a pre-Weight Watchers treat that I haven't in a very long time. It is full of prepackaged food (which I do not shun on special occasions or busy days - growing up with absolutely no convenience foods makes you quite thankful for the woman who first put spaghetti sauce in a jar and the man who decided to box up some cake mix).

Second photo break...look at this little cake covered hand at the Happy First Birthday Party!



You will have to excuse me for using a little bit of slang in my description of this breakfast treat. My students  - and thus I, by exposure to them - often describe something that is extreme as being "on crack". So, for example, fried green tomatoes from Miller's Grocery are like tomatoes on crack.  Chocolate Chip-Cinnamon Easter Bread is like the middle of a cinnamon roll on crack. You know...the part of the cinnamon roll that you eat the whole rest of the roll just to get to? The gooey, sweet, cinnamon center. That is what this is, except it is even better.



Chocolate Chip-Cinnamon Easter Bread - from Pillsbury Annual Recipes 2008
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cans refrigerated cinnamon rolls with icing
1 box vanilla pudding and pie filling mix (not instant according to the recipe - I used instant and it was fine)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

1. Use 1 tbsp butter to grease a bundt pan. Melt remaining butter in microwave (or over the stove if you are trying not to wake your sleeping spouse).
2. Separate roll dough into 16 rolls. Cut each roll in half crosswise. Place half of the roll pieces in the pan. (If you are like me, this will not look like enough to constitute a bottom layer. Trust me, it is.)
3. Over the rolls in the pan pour half of the pudding mix, half of the brown sugar, and half of the melted butter. Repeat layers; top with chocolate chips.
4. Bake 25 minutes at 375F. Cool for 2 minutes before inverting the pan to remove the ring to a plate. Top immediately with icing. (The recipe says to wait 15 minutes. The recipe is wrong). Serve immediately.
5. Yields 16, 7 point servings

With that much sugar and that much fat, how could it not taste delicious?

I would love to end with a picture from the event that ended our blur of a Saturday - the quinceneara. Alas, I have no pictures that do not show multiple faces of other peoples' children. As I did not ask their permission to post those pictures, I will leave it up to you to imagine a girl in a beautiful pink dress celebrating young womanhood...tier upon tier of chocolate cake...smiling faces...and me, in a pale blue dress, dancing with my handsome husband.

24 comments:

  1. fun easter cake and adore the snap of your nephew tucking in

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  2. Happy Easter !! The Easter bread is looking very yummy :)

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  3. I love the start of the Easter Egg Hunt. Although, this year seemed to turn into a "grown up" Easter in my home, I delighted at the toddlers and young 'uns on the lawns on our block searching for eggs. I think this is the day to break out of the points plus and just double the resolve for tomorrow. Happy Easter! Your blog brought smiles!

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  4. Hope you had a wonderful Easter!
    Chocolate chip cinnamon easter bread looks awesome.

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  5. He sounds like such a sweetheart!
    And the Easter bread looks delicious. Hope you had a lovely holiday :)

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  6. Very delicious bread! So tempting! Happy Easter!

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  7. I'm loving the look of the food and definitely the photo of the cake covered hand. What better way to enjoy eating desert.

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  8. Beautiful bread- baked to perfection!
    US Masala

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  9. oh that bread looks great! perfect for the holidays!

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  10. happy easter. i love easter breads!!

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  11. Beautiful Easter bread!Congrats!

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  12. Holidays are definitely the time to indulge a little and this bread sounds perfect for that!

    Happy birthday to the birthday girl!

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  13. Great idea to use the cinnamon buns...what a perfect way to celebrate Easter...hope you had a great one. Enjoy the rest of your week Angela :-)

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  14. Sounds like you had a fun-filled weekend! The Easter bread looks AMAZING!

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  15. This is a bittersweet kind of joy for us, because we can't taste that wonderful bread right now! Haha, I'm glad you had a joyful Easter!

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  16. What a perfect Easter treat! I am so impressed that I am keeping this recipe for my grandchildren's next vistit.
    I did use my imagination and you were adorable in that pale blue dress.
    Rita

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  17. I hope you had a great Easter!

    That bread must have been so delicious! What a fabulous treat.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  18. happy belated easter! hope it was great!

    that cinnamon chocolate bread looks fabulous! i make cinnamon bread too but never added chocolate chips... next time, i will add those :)

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  19. I am so behind on my blog commenting, how did I miss this! Love this bread it is perfect for the holidays or just an everyday treat.

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  20. I can't believe I miss this too! What a sweet treat for your kids. I sometimes use pre-packed food when I don't have to cook/bake.

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  21. Don't know how i missed this! Looks so good!

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  22. Love the cute little hand in the cake. Cinnamon bun looks awesome dleicious. Hope you had a wonderful Easter.

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  23. That looks amazing!! I am wanting some right now!!

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Thanks for your comments!