Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Look What I Did

I got home super late the night of the Murder at the Disco show (which went well; as in $9,000 well!) so I was tired the next day. A tired Sunday is a recipe for severe grumpiness around here so I decided I needed a project. I'd been meaning to cook food as a thank-you for the family who drives Brady to school, so I ran to the store and got the fixin's for lasagna. A 3-pans-of-lasagna cooking frenzy ensued. But that was too easy, so I needed something else to do.

I'd recently asked Rob to buy several pounds of bread flour for our bread-making machine, but he'd mistakenly bought all-purpose flour. I sat and looked at the surplus.

I'm not much of a pastry chef. I've had bad experiences with yeast foods several times. I've made pizza crusts that resembled shortcake biscuits when they were done. I've had several batches of bread fail to rise. And I won't even scare you with details of a misguided dalliance with empanadas I once had.

But on Sunday, deliriously tired, something overcame me and I decided I was going to make cinnamon rolls. I almost changed my mind when the first step said to scald the milk. Say huh?! But it's times like these when I remember why I keep my computer in the kitchen and my homepage set to google.

And I made cinnamon rolls. I made cinnamon rolls! As I placed the first 2 pans into the oven, Rob rubbed his hands together in anticipation. I told him not to get excited - they might come out like little cinnamon-flavored bricks.

But they didn't! And the recipe made 7 pans. Seven pans! Here are the first two pans, straight out of the oven, freshly drizzled with glaze.....

Oh holy sweetness, is that not a beautiful sight? Soon two more came ready...
Lighter on the glaze that time, for those of us who like hints of sweetness rather than total tastebud sugar-overload.... And two more came ready....And the house smelled like a bakery and the dog began to howl and the neighbors started clawing at the back window and the kids' eyes rolled into the backs of their heads.... And pan #7 was ready...


Hey! Where'd the rest of them go? I live among sneaky little cinnamon roll stealers!



---> Follow-up post: "Look What I Did - The Aftermath"

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

You are my hero! You have truly arrived when you can whip up a good old yeast cinnamon roll. Cinn-A-Bun ain't got nuthin' on you. I live in fear of any recipe that calls for yeast and kneading. I am a worshipper of my bread machine...it does all the hard stuff. I dump in the ingredients and 2-3 hours later...voila! And my family is in awe of me. The house smells great too!

EC said...

DANG!

Them thar rolls look gud! :)

No, really. They look absolutely scrumptious!! I'm thinking about making those as Christmas gifts for my neighbors this year.

I swear I can smell them from here.

Evie

Silvia said...

Wow! We've been on a Pillsbury cinnamon roll binge recently, but these look so much better! Gonna enter them in the fair next year? :)

Silvia said...

And hey, you should enter this post in the Make if from scratch! carnival!http://blogcarnival.com/bc/submit_1123.html

Stephanie said...

Hey!!!
I have cinnamon rolls on my List! I forget which number!
I haven't made them for a long time.
Did you roll them and pad with the cinn mixture, then cut them with the thread??

Wonderful!
a Very Envious Steph

EC said...

Hey Laura,

I tagged you. Check my blog for details and don't be mad!

Evie

piscesgrrl said...

The cinnamon/sugar/butter avalanche is spread on the dough and then rolled. I actually cut them with a knife, but a thread sounds like a better idea!

And hey, maybe I will enter that carnival - good idea! I never thought I had anything to enter for that one.

Silvia said...

I'd love to have the recipe you used, btw.

piscesgrrl said...

Good morning! I actually used the recipe of the Pioneer Woman (link in my sidebar). But just as I was about to whip up the maple topping in her recipe, I paused... my kids had never had rolls with maple topping and I knew they'd be disappointed in a huge way if they didn't like it, so I went with the standard butter/powdered sugar/vanilla/water glaze recipe.

These rolls don't rise as much as my mom's recipe (and mine seem to look the same as hers, don't they?) Might have to bake mom's to see what accounts for the diff! However, I might need to wait awhile, give the ol' heart muscle (and thighs, and love handles, and double chin) a rest first. :)

Anonymous said...

Wow - what a wonderful way to use up regular flour. I love cinnamon rolls! I bet your home smelled heavenly for days. Thanks for sharing this!

Silvia said...

Yeah--you entered the carnival! See, wasn't that easy? I bet you've got a ton of other great recipes to share. :)

Stephanie Appleton said...

Seven pans of cinnamon roll?! That is one huge recipe. Wouldn't last long around here though. They look wonderful!