And The Winner Is... Cinnamon!

Yummy Cinnamon Ricotta Roll Ups!

Yep, those are the Pillsbury refrigerated bread sticks that I couldn't decide what to do with. Thanks to all of your ideas, I finally made up my mind and decided to make these cute little roll-ups.

The inspiration for these roll ups came from a recipe on the Pillsbury website, in the Bake-Off Recipe Collection, called Apple Ricotta Brunch Biscuits. Other than the fact that it used Pillsbury Grands Buttermilk Biscuits, it called for most all of the other ingredients that I wanted to use for my roll-ups. So I modified the recipe a bit and the finished result was fantastic!

Cinnamon Ricotta Roll-Ups

1/4 cup sugar, plus 1/2 tsp. for topping (I cut the sugar in half, so if you like your cinnamon rolls sweet, use 1/2 cup)
1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1/8 cup raisins
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 can Pillsbury Low-Fat Bread Sticks

Icing

Mix 2 heaping tablespoons of powdered sugar, 1/2 teaspoon water or milk and a couple of drops of almond extract; adding more liquid if needed, until the sugar is smooth enough to drizzle on top of the roll ups.

Directions

Heat oven to 375°F. Spray glass baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. In small bowl, combine 1/4 cup sugar, cheese, egg and almond extract; beat at high speed for 1 minute.

In small bowl, combine almonds, teaspoon sugar and cinnamon; mix well. Separate dough into 12 separate strips and flatten with a rolling pin. Spread about 2 teaspoons of the ricotta mixture and sprinkle about 5 or 6 raisins onto each dough strip. (You will have extra ricotta mixture, see note below for a great way to use it).

Roll up each strip and carefully place them into the prepared baking pan. (The mixture will be a little thin and some will leak out). Once all of the roll-ups are arranged in the pan, sprinkle the top with the almond, cinnamon and sugar mixture.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 19-20 minutes or until roll-ups are deep golden brown. Drizzle with icing if desired. Serve warm. Store in refrigerator.

I was pleasantly surprised with the final product. Because the cheese was so liquidy, it sort of melted into the dough as the roll-ups baked. This was not a bad thing. It gave the dough a nice rich and sweet taste. Although they were not too sweet, as I don't usually like very sweet things in the morning. I could have used cream cheese for a firmer and slightly tangy result, but I really wanted to use up my leftover ricotta.

Note: I actually had enough of the ricotta mixture left from this recipe to make a...
Mini Ricotta Cheese Cake!

I made a quick graham cracker crust with 3 graham crackers (crushed), 1 tablespoon of margarine/spread (softened) and 2 teaspoons sugar. I pressed it into the bottom of a mini spring pan and poured in the remaining ricotta mixture.

It baked at the same temperature as the roll-ups (375 for about 25-27 minutes, or until it was firm in the center.)

Melted seedless raspberry jam and toasted almond slices seemed like the perfect way to dress it up! I was in heaven.

I hope you try this recipe because I think you will love it.

Do you eat breakfast every morning? If so, is it something sweet or savory?