It all started when I offered to make a baked treat to send to Patrick's early Sunday meetings this week. I make a lot of delicious breakfast-type things, but one thing I've never tackled is the cinnamon roll.
What am I looking for in a cinnamon roll? One that is bakery soft, but lacking the chemical taste of many commercial products. One that is gooey, sweet, and spicy, with a thick coating of frosting on top. And ideally, one that wouldn't require me to get up at o'dark-thirty in order to have them fresh and warm on the breakfast table.
A search of recipe sites I trust yielded the following options:
Our Best Bites Everyday Cinnamon Rolls
Our Best Bites Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls 101
The Picky Cook's Cinnamon Rolls with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
Martha Stewart's Truck Stop Cinnamon Rolls
Tyler Perry's Vanilla Pudding Cinnamon Rolls
Cook's Illustrated Cinnamon Swirl Rolls
King Arthur Flour's Gooey Cinnamon Rolls
Bon Appetit's Yukon Gold Cinnamon Rolls
Sweetapolita's Cinnabon-Style Gourmet Cinnamon Rolls
Then I put the word out on Facebook and got suggestions for Fannie Farmer's recipe, Mel's Kitchen Cafe's Vanilla Pudding Cinnamon Rolls, and an offer from Patrick's Aunt Karen to dig up Grandma Ida's special recipe.
Which one to make? Well, in the name of science, over the next several weeks, I plan to try them ALL. I am just that self-sacrificing. And if you have a recipe you feel is superior to any of those listed above, send it along!
I must tell you that I am skeptical of the versions requiring instant pudding. In fact, if it hadn't been Jenna who recommended the Mel's Kitchen Cafe recipe, I might have ignored it. I also must tell you that I will follow the recipes exactly EXCEPT for the fact that I refuse to bake with vegetable oil or shortening. I will substitute butter.
Which will be the winner? Or, once I've tried them all (almost) as written, will I end up cobbling and monkeying until I come up with my own version? (I've already contemplated substituting The Magnolia Bakery's Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting on some batch at some point in the future.) I'll post about each recipe as I go, so stay tuned to find out!