Sunday, September 7, 2008

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!

15 comments:

Jen said...

YUMMMMM!!! I love cinnamon rolls. Like Cinnabon, they are my favorite. but homemade are right next in line. Those look so good!!!

Chelsea said...

Those look SO yummy!

Jen said...

Mason will eat just the frosting, lke you foretold. You have Jen craving it, too, now so we might make a midnight Cinnabon run. You didn't use mint dental floss, right? - Andre

Megan said...

Yum Yum... I'm salivating!

kami @ nobiggie.net said...

Yum! Those look delish! good work...the cool whip addition is a great tip. Thanks!

Devri said...

Wowzers, you are one prime evil lady, now I am going to have to make them for fhe tommorow, and now I am going to have to eat one, cuz the smell will kill me with love. I am on the Biggest loser, now if I lose it will be all your fault.. ;)

Omgirl said...

hahaha....yes, I DID use mint floss! But I had no choice, it was all I could find! But fortunately you couldn't taste it.

CaraDee said...

Those look great Arianne.

tiburon said...

Oooooo yummy! Those would kill my BL competition!

Jeanette said...

They look delicious Arianne. I might just have to make some now!

Judi said...

I have always wanted to learn to make good cinnamon rolls, those look delic!

Koreena said...

Mmmmmm! You're making my mouth water.

Misty said...

Seriously, if I had to say I had one favorite pastry, donut, etc. - cinnamon rolls would be IT! I seriously want to jump through the screen and steal about five. It doesn't help that I haven't eaten yet, but thanks for making me crave cinnamon rolls all day. PS - Lehi Bakery has some of the best cinnamon rolls, long johns, apple fritters, maple bars, alligators ever! Okay, I bet they aren't as good as yours, but you should give them a try sometime. Open Tuesday - Saturday!

Christie said...

Those look divine. I love fresh cinnamon rolls, but then anything other than the type you pop out of the can require more effort than I'm willing to give. Maybe we should have a girls weekend, and you make make breakfast! :)

Mia said...

Oh man 5 am, can you just make them for me?!?!?