Cinnamon Bread

Happy Mardi Gras! I don't know if it is because I now live in a state bordering Louisiana or if I am just paying more attention this year, but I have heard more about Mardi Gras celebrations this year than ever before. I also keep hearing about King Cake. King Cake is a cinnamon type of cake that usually has a small trinket baked inside and is often served during Mardi Gras celebrations. It is usually baked in a ring and has multicolored icing on top. All of the recipes I have seen and cakes I have heard of sound extremely rich and delicious, but not points+ friendly. I came across this cinnamon bread recipe that reminded me of King Cake (cinnamon, sugar, and circular) and decided to change it a bit and lighten it up! So here is my version of King Cake for a lightened up Mardi Gras celebration. Even though it doesn't have a trinket baked inside or colorful icing on top, Craig and I think it is delicious and hope you do too! Happy Mardi Gras!

Cinnamon Bread

Ingredients

1 can refrigerated Pillsbury Thin Crust Pizza Crust dough

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

3 tablespoons Land O Lakes Whipped Light Butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray 9 inch cake pan with cooking spray.

2. Tear off pieces of dough and roll into 1 inch balls.

3. Melt butter in a shallow bowl. In another shallow bowl, combine cinnamon, brown sugar, and sugar. Dip each dough ball in butter then roll in cinnamon sugar mixture and place around edge of pan (the dough will grow to fill in the whole pan so be sure to put the dough balls around the edge). After all dough balls have been dipped and placed in pan, drizzle remaining butter and cinnamon sugar mixture over dough balls.

4. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven, let cool for 5 minutes and then transfer to a plate. Enjoy!

Servings: 10 Sections of Bread • Serving Size: 1/10 of Bread • Weight Watchers Points+: 4

Slow Cooker Cinnamon Applesauce

I had no idea that homemade applesauce is so easy to make. The hardest part about this recipe is peeling the apples. My hand started cramping a little near the last apple... I guess I need to build up the apple peeling muscles in my hand! But in the end it was well worth it. This applesauce is amazing. It is delicious by itself and it would make a fantastic addition to many other foods, such as a topping to ice cream or cake. Oh and did I mention that it is a zero points+ treat? I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Slow Cooker Cinnamon Applesauce

Ingredients

3 lbs of apples

1/8 cup splenda

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon vanilla

Juice of 1 lemon, strained

Instructions

1. Peel and chop apples into small pieces and place in slow cooker.

2. Add splenda, cinnamon, ground coriander ground cloves, vanilla, and lemon juice to apples. Stir until the apples are well coated.

3. Cook on high for 2 hours 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Enjoy!

Servings: 8 • Serving Size: 1/8 of Applesauce Batch • Weight Watchers Points+: 0