Cinnamon Rolls 101. Hey!
I have a great idea. Why not start a holiday tradition of delivering these delicious cinnamon rolls to your friends and cohorts? Growing up, my mom always made them for her good friends at Christmastime, and you could literally hear the primal groans of pure joy rising from the rooftops of our town. I’ve carried on the tradition through the years and have won friends and influenced people just by delivering these rolls. They really are that good. A warning. Let’s start by making the dough. Mix 1 quart of whole milk, 1 cup of vegetable oil, and 1 cup of sugar in a pan. When the mixture is lukewarm to warm, but NOT hot, sprinkle in 2 packages Active Dry Yeast. Let this sit for a minute so the yeast gets all warm and moist and happy.
Then add 8 cups of all-purpose flour. Stir mixture together. After an hour, the dough will look like this. Now add 1 more cup of flour… 1 heaping teaspoon baking powder… And 1 "scant" (less than a full) teaspoon baking soda and 1 heaping tablespoon of salt. Cinnamon Toast Rolls.
The USDA released its new food pyramid the other day (which is actually a plate now instead of a pyramid), and I am sorely disappointed to report that cinnamon rolls did not appear anywhere on that plate.
I think by now most of us know what should be on our dinner plate in terms of healthy, well-rounded nutrient-laden meals, but it is my considered opinion that our breakfast plate should include cinnamon rolls now and then. And not just any cinnamon roll, mind you, but how ‘bout a homemade cinnamon roll hybrid that is a cross between a cinnamon roll and cinnamon toast, is super easy to make and gosh darn delicious. In honor of their ancestry, I call these little gems cinnamon toast rolls, and here’s all you need to make them… Yep. That’s it… some soft white bread, some butter and some cinnamon sugar. Trim the crusts off of the bread Roll the bread really flat Brush both sides of the bread with butter. Cinnamon Toast the Right Way. Oooooh.
You’re getting ready to get a taste of Me, Opinionated. Be sure to take a photo! You won’t see it very often. Lucky for you, I won’t be revealing my expert views on the environment, the stimulus, the new health care legislation, or whether Standard Poodles ever should have been cross-bred with Golden Retrievers. Instead, I’ll be tearing apart the all-important subject of…cinnamon toast. Did you know there’s a right way and a wrong way to make cinnamon toast? It’s sure a good thing I came into the picture. Before I show you THE right way to make cinnamon toast, I’m going to review a few different approaches so that we can do a compare/contrast at the end of this post. Butter a slice of bread. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a bowl… Stir it to combine.
Sprinkle the cinnamon/sugar mixture on top of the butter, then pop it in the oven: 10 minutes at 350, then finish it off under the broiler (I’ll give you my reasons for this method later.) Then as soon as you remove it from the oven… Now. Cinnamon Roll Pancakes. Updated 9/22/11 to Add: If you’re coming here to sample these delicious Cinnamon Roll Pancakes, you just might like the latest recipe that I’ve posted for Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Pancakes too.
And Gingerbread- Cinnamon Roll Pancakes too. Enjoy! Here’s a short video sharing how to make these delicious pancakes: If you’ve ever thought you needed a reason to eat pancakes, today is the day: National Pancake Day! Eat a short stack for breakfast, enjoy them for lunch, or make a dinner out a manhole-sized pancake… guilt free… because you’re merely celebrating their existence. How do you like your pancakes? But recently I started dreaming about mixing cinnamon rolls and pancakes together… and this is what I came up with- my new favorite pancake: Cinnamon Roll Pancakes.