Cheap Bastids "As the Cinnamon Roll Turns" redux

Sunday dawns. My day off. I always do laundry on Sunday starting at about 6 a.m., read the paper, watch CBS Sunday Morning and drink coffee. Carolyn sleeps late and I’ve got the world kind of to myself except for the squabbling of the early morning hummingbirds at our feeder.

So, this will be the morning of the great cinnamon roll experiment, part 2. What could be better than fresh laundry, Sunday morning and freshly baked cinnamon rolls. (Remember a couple of weeks ago when I baked some up using recipes for biscuit dough—well today I’m going to try again with slightly different technique and see how well I can do).

So I get out my ingredients—noticing that I need to add lard to the shopping list and start whipping up a batch of dough. I pay attention to how I roll out the dough, and rather than use brown sugar I use plain old cinnamon sugar.

What am I going to do different? Well, roll out the dough a bit thinner and then roll the “log” tighter. Also I’m going to bake these at 375 rather than the 425 I used last time and I’m going to do them for about 15 minutes using a cookie sheet rather than glass 13x13 pan. So let’s see how they come out.

Plus, I did an egg yolk wash on half of them to see what difference it would make.

The results? Well, they weren’t as photogenic. But they were definitely better tasting. I noticed that the bottoms were just about a perfect golden brown but starting to get a bit crisp (presumably from the melting margarine and sugar).

The upshot is that these were good. Better than last time. But, no matter what all the recipes say these aren’t as good as using yeast dough. They’re still biscuits rolled up with cinnamon sugar and margarine. They’re not the “real deal”—you know, gooey, soft goodness so sweet it’ll give you a sugar high for half the day.

OK, so I give. These aren’t worth the effort so my next Sunday off (or maybe this Thursday if I go and get some lard) I’m going to try a rising yeast dough and do it the old fashioned way. Who knows maybe Cheap Bastid will even go out and get a beat up old bundt pan at the thrift store for a buck and try Monkey Bread.

As the Cheap Bastid, I’ve already gritted my teeth and invested in yeast for my next experiment. They packets cost $.50 each which just about doubles the price of the rolls. I hope the “investment” is worth it. Stay tuned for the next installment of your favorite soap opera, “As the Cinnamon Roll Turns”.

But here’s the bottom line—there’s nothing better than sharing a cup of coffee and a couple of cinnamon rolls with your best girl on Sunday morning which is what Carolyn and I did when they came out of the oven. Even if they aren’t the world’s best cinnamon rolls. But I’m working on it.

That’s the Cheap Bastid Way: Eat Good. Eat Cheap. Be Grateful!