TEENY MCMUNN: MY RECIPE BOX

One of my many downfalls is cinnamon anything, but cinnamon rolls are on the top of that list. I prefer mine to be a sweet roll with plenty of cinnamon and no frosting, please. When I saw this recipe I thought, if it has buttermilk as an ingredient then it has to be a light, not heavy, dough, and I was right. It also used brown sugar which I had not used before. I thought I'd give it a try.

And thankfully, I have a handy taster, Joe. When he went for his third roll, I knew they were a success.

If cinnamon rolls sounds good but you don't want to take the time to make them, then head to our local bakeries, Carolyn's Café and Moose Creek Bakery.

Mostly, I retype recipes and try to watch for errors. Sometimes, if I feel the directions are obvious, I may shorten them. If anyone has any questions about how it is written, please call. Who wants a recipe not to turn out after the time, effort, and cost to make it?

INGREDIENTS:

2 (.25 oz) packages of active dry yeast** 1 tsp salt

¼ c. warm water (110 degrees) ½ tsp baking soda

1 ½ c. buttermilk ½ c. butter, melted

½ c. vegetable oil 1 ¼ c. brown sugar

4 ½ c. flour 1 ½ tsp cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water (I add about ½ teaspoon of sugar). Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. In a small saucepan, heat the buttermilk until warm to the touch.

Pour the buttermilk and oil into the yeast mixture, mix well. Combine the flour, salt and baking soda. Stir the flour mixture into the liquid 1 cup at a time, until a soft dough forms. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead 10 times. Cover and let rest for 15 minutes. In a small bowl, stir together the butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon.

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out into a large rectangle. Spread the brown sugar and butter mixture over the dough, roll up into a log and pinch the seam to seal. Slice into 1 inch pieces and place cut side up in a lightly greased 10 x 15 baking pan. Cover and let rise 30 minutes or cover and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown. Let stand for 2 to 3 minutes before serving.

MY NOTES:

**I buy the yeast in bulk, so the conversion is 2 or 2 ¼ tsp yeast to a package of yeast. I have mentioned before, I buy the powdered buttermilk which seems to work fine. In home economics classes in high school, we learned to 'scald' milk so that it killed the milk enzymes. I believe that is the reason to warm the buttermilk, but make sure it has cooled enough not to kill the yeast.

I noticed as I was making it, that this dough does not have sugar or eggs. Before I forget, next time I am going to increase the cinnamon to 2 teaspoons. I also added raisins.

If this is anyone's first time rolling up the dough to make a log, the starting is a bit tricky, but before long, you can start actually rolling it.

I chose to refrigerate overnight and if you do also, heads up. I put the pan in without much care if it was level or not. The next morning, some of the brown sugar mixture turned liquid and mostly gathered into one corner. Since the rolls had gotten larger and tightly together, I had to cut in between them to make channels to even out the liquid.

When I removed them from the pan, I turned them upside down, with the gooey bottom on top. They resemble more of a caramel roll, I think.

The dough is not heavy at all, and it was really easy to work with.

ENJOY----- and share with someone who would appreciate homemade cinnamon rolls.