Cinnamon Rolls: Take Two

You may have read the story about my first attempt at making cinnamon rolls. My husband had asked me if I could try to learn how, as they are a favorite treat that he enjoys. So we found a recipe online, I bought the things I needed, and last weekend, I made my first attempt.

I did a few things wrong the first time, and I resolved to do better on my second attempt. I still had yeast and cream from the first round, but I had to pick up more flour and cream cheese, so I did just that during my weekly grocery shopping trip.

We were out backpacking during the warmer weather on Friday and Saturday, but Sunday's weather was expected to be less desirable: overcast, quite a bit cooler, with rain arriving at some point. A perfect day for baking!

So I made the cinnamon rolls again, and this time I resolved to do all things right that I'd done wrong before. I did a better job on working with the yeast in the beginning to get the dough to rise; in fact, I ended up with quite a bit more dough than last time. Yay, me: still, we rise!

I also added more flour to it, so the consistency of the dough just felt right for working with. It wasn't sticky and goopy like last time. It didn't cling to things, which was a definite improvement.

Instead of trying to mix the dough using my (inadequate) hand-held mixer, I just slapped it around the old-fashioned way, like Grandma Colyer would have done. Hooray for old-fashioned elbow grease!

The more dough at the right consistency made it easier to roll the rolls up once I had all the cinnamon-brown-sugar-butter mixture on top of it (yes, I also put down wax paper instead of parchment paper over my working surface), and I excitedly took pictures. This is how you do things right, people! Oh, everything was going so much better!

When I put my bigger-than-last-time cinnamon rolls in the 13 by 9 pan and let them rise, they really filled the pan. Yee-haw, this is how cinnamon rolls are supposed to look!

And when I put them in the oven, I checked them and turned the oven off a few minutes earlier than before. So the edges didn't get crispy-brown at all. Still, I thought that next time, I might even carve another minute or two off the baking time; they could have been even softer.

And for the icing this time, I added two teaspoons of vanilla. I had added a half-teaspoon last time, and I couldn't really taste it enough. So I decided more would be better. In all other ways, the icing was beautiful and perfect and the same as before - an easy mix of one stick softened butter, one 8-oz package softened cream cheese, 2 cups powdered sugar, and 3 tablespoons of cream.

You may see a photo of the completed product above. When the cinnamon rolls were done, we allowed them to cool, and the first one we shared was just delicious, all hot and cinnamony, and dripping with cream cheese icing. But when we had our second one, hours later, and our third one, the next day, we both agreed . . . *drumroll, please* . . .

THE FIRST ROUND OF IMPERFECT CINNAMON ROLLS, WHERE I DID SO MANY THINGS WRONG, ACTUALLY TASTED BETTER! And we both preferred the icing with less vanilla. My husband, by the way, says he is delighted to serve as the taste tester for this and any further attempts! :-)

Now, I have a few theories about the why's and wherefore's of what happened, but I think the biggest difference was the extra dough. It actually rose enough to make MUCH more dough than before, and with only one cup of sugar in it (the dough-to-sugar ratio having been increased greatly this time), the rolls themselves seemed not quite sweet enough, actually more like bread!

I will say this for them, though: they were some of the prettiest cinnamon rolls I've ever seen. I am sure there is a lesson in this somewhere, somehow. About how I did things textbook-right this time, but somehow the cinnamon rolls turned out better when I did them wrong. Hmmph. Maybe this is a question I ask too often in life: Is there a thing I should be learning, here?

And um, yes, I'll be sure to capture all these valuable insights and experiences in that cookbook I've joked about writing: Oven Mitts of Fury: Further Tales from a Methodist Kitchen.  ;-)

I wanted the song to accompany this posting to be about the trials and tribulations of baking. I think the Pink song, Beautiful Trauma, captures some of that feeling. Here are several versions: a live performance on Good Morning America, that crawling-on-the-building version from the AMAs, and the original music video. Enjoy!