I love baking, especially yeast doughs. But with all the cold weather we've been having, my kitchen is not a warm place. So getting the dough raised has become a bit more of a challenge.

I used to set dough by our gas powered fireplace -- the pilot light would be enough to warm the dough. But that hasn't worked too well lately. And if I turned on the fireplace, it quickly became too hot.

But I just discovered a great trick courtesy of a new cooking blog I've just discovered called Iowa Girl Eats Here it is: place the pan of dough to be raised on a heating pad set to low.

So simple, so logical. How come I never thought of it?

By the way, her most recent recipe sounds yummy: Shortcut Caramel Cinnamon Rolls. She makes these with frozen bread dough, so there's no mixing or measuring the dough -- and she gets her caramel from little round caramel bits which don't have to be unwrapped, like caramel candies do. I'd never head of them before... Check out the recipe if that sounds good to you!
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