Puff Pastry Week! You can do it!!

It's only Monday and I can already tell its going to be a long week at my day job. I'm sure a lot of people out there are super busy during the week  and by the time you get home, you're tired and you don't want to full on bake with the flour finger prints everywhere and try to figure out how convert one measurement into another. I wanted to share one of my favorite yet simple baking items that you can find in your local grocery store freezer and turn it into something yummy quickly during the week....puff pastry.

The first time I saw puff pastry used on one of my cooking shows was on Sam the Cooking Guy (http://www.samthecookingguy.com/). If you don't know who Sam the Cooking Guy is, he's a local guy (but now his show plays throughout the US) on Channel 4 San Diego and his show is about making "cooking" easy....and I mean REALLY easy. Sometimes his show borders on a guy who is making bachelor food but most of the time, it's pretty cool how he simplifies recipes for your everyday person who might not have the best culinary skills in the world. Another bonus of the show is that the things he makes can be done fairly quickly and with things you find at a regular grocery store. So anyways, one of the first episodes when I first started watching Sam the Cooking Guy, he was making bunuelos....well sorta. It was kinda of a cross between a buneuelo which can be covered with cinnamon and sugar and also similar to the New Mexican pastry, sopapillas, in texture. Unlike bunuelos and sopapillas, what he was making was not deep fried. So when you are super tired from a hard day at work, I present probably one of the easiest items you will EVER bake.

Cinnamon Sugar Puff Pastry Bites

Puffy Pastry (Ready made. You can make your own puff pastry but why when this is so accessible and fast)
Sugar or granulated sugar substitute
Cinnamon

-Thaw puff pastry according to directions on the box. Once thawed, dust your work surface lightly with flour (Yes, I know, I know...I said earlier that you wouldn't have to get flour everywhere but if you don't want the dough to stick to your table, take the time to throw down a little flour)
-Preheat oven to 400. Fold the dough in half so it is 2 layers. Cut into squares and place on a greased baking sheet. Put in oven for 15-20 minutes or until brown and puffy.
-Mix cinnamon and sugar in a large mixing bowl (Note: The amount does not have to be exact. Also, if you are not worried about the sugar content, there are premixed cinnamon/sugar shakers at the store). Drop the warm puff pastry into the mixture and roll around until it is completely coated.

That's it? Yup, that's it. Hey, I can do that! Yeah, I know!

Nothing too impressive but it's a quick and easy dessert in which you can control the amount of sugar on it. Plus, cinnamon is supposed to be good for diabetics since it helps regulate blood sugar. If you want to work on the presentation, I suggest maybe using a cookie cutter to make different shapes. For those of you who can eat full power sweets, treat yourself to some dulce de leche ice cream on top of it or you can have it with coffee or hot chocolate or you can have it like in New Mexico...with a little bit of honey.

I'm planning on sharing some ideas on how to use puff pastry for both sweet and savory recipes this week. Some of the recipes I've already tried. Some, I'm going to be trying for the first time...and I'll be honest with everyone on how things turn out...either good or bad because you're taking this journey with me too ;)