Cereal is really expensive in Asia. My husband is the only one in our family that eats eggs. We can't buy things like Pop Tarts or Eggo Waffles. Even sliced bread for toast can get expensive for a family of 7 around here. Between what's available and the pickiness of my crew, I just don't have a lot going for easy, inexpensive breakfasts around here! Don't get me wrong, we still do cereal some. We eat a lot of toast. And we eat pancakes pretty often too. Sometimes I'm on the ball enough to have some sort of quick bread or muffin made. But a breakfast you're guaranteed to have around here a couple times a week is biscuits. They are super easy, quick, and cheap. Sometimes I change it up and we make cinnamon biscuits. Due to the amount of biscuits we were eating a few months ago, my kids were starting to get a little tired of them. I needed a change. Enter Gooey Cinnamon Biscuits. Win for the family since they think they are getting something special and different. Win for me since they aren't any harder than regular biscuits!
Gooey Cinnamon Biscuits
2 cups all purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup milk
1/4 cup oil
----
1 Tbs melted butter (opt)
2-3 Tbs brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Icing
1/2 cup powdered sugar
a couple teaspoons of milk
dash of vanilla
Mix together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in milk and oil together. Mix just until moistened. In an 8x8 pan (or similar), press about half of the biscuit dough. You'll need flour to keep it from sticking to your hands. (If you want to use the melted butter, brush it over the dough now. I rarely do this and its still good!) Sprinkle 2-3 Tbs of brown sugar and remaining cinnamon over top of the biscuit layer. Take remaining dough and place over top. I usually do this by taking pieces and kind of flattening them in my hands and then placing like puzzle pieces over top. It doesn't have to perfectly or completely cover the cinnamon sugar. If you want to sprinkle a little more brown sugar over the top layer you can (I usually don't though if I've put closer to 3 tablespoons in the middle). Bake at 425F (220C) for about 12-15 minutes. Meanwhile mix together icing. When biscuits are finished, remove from oven and drizzle with icing.
Gooey Cinnamon Biscuits
2 cups all purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup milk
1/4 cup oil
----
1 Tbs melted butter (opt)
2-3 Tbs brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Icing
1/2 cup powdered sugar
a couple teaspoons of milk
dash of vanilla
Mix together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in milk and oil together. Mix just until moistened. In an 8x8 pan (or similar), press about half of the biscuit dough. You'll need flour to keep it from sticking to your hands. (If you want to use the melted butter, brush it over the dough now. I rarely do this and its still good!) Sprinkle 2-3 Tbs of brown sugar and remaining cinnamon over top of the biscuit layer. Take remaining dough and place over top. I usually do this by taking pieces and kind of flattening them in my hands and then placing like puzzle pieces over top. It doesn't have to perfectly or completely cover the cinnamon sugar. If you want to sprinkle a little more brown sugar over the top layer you can (I usually don't though if I've put closer to 3 tablespoons in the middle). Bake at 425F (220C) for about 12-15 minutes. Meanwhile mix together icing. When biscuits are finished, remove from oven and drizzle with icing.
amazon.cn has some "good" deals on cereal.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.cn/%E9%9B%80%E5%B7%A2%E8%84%86%E8%B0%B7%E4%B9%90%E8%B0%B7%E7%89%A9%E6%97%A9%E9%A4%90300g/dp/B004CCQAVA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1355096193&sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.cn/HAHNE%E4%BA%A8%E5%88%A9%E4%BB%80%E9%94%A6%E6%9E%9C%E4%BB%81%E5%8E%9F%E5%91%B3%E9%BA%A6375g/dp/B003NNUHIQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1355096193&sr=8-2
not as cheap as America, but much cheaper than buying it at our import store in XNN.
i am sure you know this, but buying things through an amazon certified dealer you get free shipping in china and they bring it to your door where you can pay them cash. not charging an account like taobao.
these biscuits looking AMAZING btw!
We sometimes find great cereal deals on Taobao that we get. And I also keep an eye on our import store that we have online in CD for their sales and expired cereals. I don't think I realized that the Amazon dealers do free shipping or COD. That's great! I'll have to look more at amazon.cn. I recently got some flannel sheets from one of their dealers and it was a great experience.
ReplyDeleteI will have to try this!
ReplyDeleteA friend passed on your blog link, who got it from a friend of hers, and she sent me your Aishang shopping list. In time for Christmas baking! This is amazing!!! I called in & received my second order from them today. Thanks for the tip!
I found some whole wheat flour at Metro, 5kg for 30 kuai. At least, it says whole wheat. It's very finely ground and darker than white flour. I've been using it in various recipes and it works pretty well. It was good mixed with the whole wheat flour from Aishang in my whole wheat bread recipe.
Hope to meet you someday!
Katylin
i made these for breakfast today! well, actually i baked them last night and then warmed them up and glazed them this morning. they were great. reminded me a bit of those bo'berry biscuits at bojangles. :) thanks a lot! :) i wonder how i'd adapt these to be "orange biscuits," you know, a little like the pillsbury orange rolls...since i'm too lazy to mess with yeast it seems like there'd be a way to make these orangey. i might try to experiment. going to make your coconut curry soup for dinner tonight. thanks for all the inspiration!
ReplyDeleteAt very long last I finally looked up your blog that I've heard so much about over my seven years in China! As the mother of 10 kids...WHY did it take me so long? Such treasures you've posted here for all of us to benefit from! Thanks for all your hard work and devotion to this! We made these for breakfast this morning. The family thought they were delicious, and I cranked them out in time to enjoy them before running out the door to school! Wow! Did I feel clever, and accomplished! High praise to you... :)
ReplyDeleteMy wife and kids were asking for cinnamon rolls, and I was out of yeast. So I tried these instead..very impressed. These are amazing! I love your blog and use it a lot!
ReplyDeleteAw thanks, Brittany. That really means a lot. I've had a definite lack of motivation in recent months, but I'm hoping I can continue to share some gems here and there. Plus, I'm with you--I get on here all the time for recipes--this is just my Digital recipe file! :)
ReplyDelete