Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge – Cinnamon Rolls

August 25, 2009 in BBA, breakfast

Oh cinnamon rolls, one of my favorite things to make AND eat. Cinnamon rolls, in my mind, are the perfect breakfast. Do all the prep work at night and pop ‘em in the oven first thing in the morning. Or hell, bake them at night too and then warm them for just a couple minutes in the morning. Either way, there is nothing better to wake up to.

Needless to say, I’ve been looking for to trying Peter Reinhart’s version for awhile now. It was tough to not skip ahead and I wasn’t ashamed to admit that my ciabatta was made only because I was ready to make these guys.

Well ya’ll, if you follow me on Twitter you may have seen me complain about this dough. It was not fun to work with. I can’t explain it, but it just didn’t feel like cinnamon roll dough. I love working with dough that is completely made from white flour because of how soft and smooth they are but this one just didn’t do it for me.

The cinnamon roll recipe was odd too. I’m used to a nice layer of softened butter that helps the cinnamon sugar stick and also contributes to that gooeyness, but this recipe called for none! I swear I read the recipe 15 times and then checked the BBA Queen’s post about it to make sure I wasn’t overlooking it. Sure enough, no butter.

Can I tell you something though? This dough was THE BEST cinnamon roll dough I’ve ever tried. Normally cinnamon rolls get a little hard after a couple days in the fridge but these guys were just as soft 3 days in as they were the day they came out of the oven. I was shocked.

And the butter? Didn’t even miss it! Somehow they were just as gooey as other recipes I love.

I can’t say anything for the fondant icing he suggests as my husband starts begging for cream cheese frosting as soon as he even thinks I’m planning cinnamon rolls, but the rest of the recipe is a real winner.

I’m playing catch up this week as I have a lot of free time on my hand so expect at least one more BBA post, hopefully two.