Brunch is Served!

I've been wanting to try making cinnamon rolls for quite some time now. I went to a class last year that a lady in my ward taught on how to make cinnamon rolls. She wasn't a good teacher, although her rolls were good and her frosting was divine. She was one of those "Oh I just put in as much flour as it takes" kind of bakers. Her directions weren't very exact. And breads are daunting. Working with dough makes me nervous. And the thought of using yeast practically gives me hives; so much can go wrong! But I've had a craving for homemade cinnamon rolls for a couple of days, so I decided to bite the bullet today and try it. And....

It went well! They turned out quite yummy, if I do say so myself. I learned a few things and would probably make a few changes the next time I do it:

1) If you want homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast, you have to wake up at 5am to make them. It took me about 3 hours from start to finish, so having started at 7:30, mine came out around 10:30 instead of at breakfast time. Maybe next time I'll try pre-making them and storing them in a pan overnight so all I have to do is take them out and let them rise in the morning. Anyone have any feedback on whether this works?

2) Cutting the rolls with dental floss, a trick I learned from watching my mother but had never actually tried, really does an excellent job.

3) The filling recipe my sister gave me was pretty good, but not nearly gooey enough. I might have to increase the butter or maybe try margarine, which she said works better.

4) The dough recipe I used from the lady in my ward worked well, but it might need a bit more sugar. I think it's a roll recipe and wasn't quite sweet enough for cinnamon rolls.

5) A lot of flour gets all over the kitchen when you bake cinnamon rolls. I think that's why men were traditionally banned from kitchens--no woman wants to see the look of shock and hear the oaths of her husband upon viewing the kitchen mid-cinnamon roll.

6) Your kids will claim to like cinnamon rolls, but they will mostly eat the frosting and throw the cinnamon roll part on the floor. At least one of them will.

7) Adding Cool Whip to your classic cream cheese frosting makes it fluffy and light. MMMMMmmmmmm!

Here are some pictures of my cinnamon roll adventure:

The pan on the left has to be baked still; the pan on the right is done.


They look kind of sloppy when they're frosted because the icing is fluffy, not flat and runny. But it tastes so good!