Cinnamon roll face-off

I'm goin' to brunch at the home of the brother of my current girl who happens to be a friend (she recoiled at the "gf" classification a few days ago but that's neither here nor there ) and volunteered to bring some cinnamon rolls. The recipes I'm considering are either the Good Eats or Cook's Illustrated versions.

Anyone have opinions of either or can offer another alternative ? I'd probably make a test batch on Saturday just to be sure I wouldn't totally screw the pooch on Sunday.

HI,

A very long time ago, I did the Cook's Illustrated version. They were time consuming, everyone loved them and I never made them again. No particular reason, just never did again.

No pictures, this was in my life before I ever dreamed of photographing my meals. Another definition of B.C. has been born!

Regards,

The recipe is out there for Ann Sathers' version....

I too made the Cook's Illustrated version a few years ago. Yes, it is a time consuming recipe, but very good. Everyone who tasted them loved them.

I'll give a third nod to the Cook's Illus recipe. One word of warning: Have a HUUUUGE area to roll them out, or get smart and roll them in two batches.

another vote for cook's illustrated - hubby made them a month ago and they were excellent.

I'm pretty sure either Best Recipe or Baking Illustrated (both made by the Cook's Illustrated peeps) has a "quick" recipe too.

I've not tried the quick one, but yes, the regular CI recipe is delicious.

I have an excellent recipe, that uses a brioche base for the dough. Producing light fluffy texture but rich with flavor. The dough is best when left to rise in the fridge overnight. So this allows you to make the dough the night before and bake them fresh the next morning. I can email if you are interested. It is a bakers formula so you need a good quality scale to weight out the ingredients.

CilantroChef,

Why PM a recipe, you don't think people here would like to know?

If you do post and the recipe is from another source, then please note ingredient lists are not copyrighted though instructions are copyrighted. Slightly edit the instructions to call them your own, then state the recipe is adapted from ...

Thanks!

Regards,

I sure wish I had my grandmother's recipe. I used to eat 4-5 of them everytime she made them. One of my fondest memories. I've never had any that compared. Of course, I'm sure that is true for many of us.

Looks like I'll go w/ the CI version. I'll have to make the dough on Sat night and leave it in the fridge as I ain't getting up at 7am on Saturday. Not-GF gets to make the topping but we'll have to keep that under wraps as her brother refuses to eat anything she touches

I'll post the obligatory pics on Sat/Sun.

The results are in and they were a rousing success. They really weren't that time consuming save for the rising and in the fridge overnight. My frosting drizzling needs a bit of work, however

rolled & sliced



2nd rise, day 2



just out of the oven



turned out



ready to eat

Well done! The photos are making my mouth water--literally. I'm sure the not-girlfriend's brother was quite happy.

Did you use the Quick Cinnamon Buns with Buttermilk Icing recipe? If not, would you kindly post the ingredients for the cinnamon mixture. Thanks,
Veloute

I had the urge to make cinnamon rolls and looked up this thread, but no luck tracking down the recipes mentioned above. However, I did find this:

The Pioneer Woman does cinnamon rolls

Meticulously documented step by step instructions, and a very good recipe as it turned out. The only problem is, it's an ENORMOUS recipe. I halved it and still had three good pans' worth. Two are going in the freezer. One went in our stomachs:

Mike G wrote:I had the urge to make cinnamon rolls and looked up this thread, but no luck tracking down the recipes mentioned above. However, I did find this:

The Pioneer Woman does cinnamon rolls

Meticulously documented step by step instructions, and a very good recipe as it turned out.

How did you like this recipe compared to others you've had? And did you also use the maple frosting . . . if so, did it overwhelm the cinnamon at all?

Texture was quite good. I would say I rolled them out a little too thin and might roll them thicker next time, and make bigger, doughier ones, but it wasn't far off. Family was pretty much ecstatic with them, and how the house smelled...

I mixed the frosting by my own judgement rather than follow the recipe divided by 1/7th or whatever, and I thought it was a little too maple-y. But I liked the maple in it, I just would cut it down proportionally. I've usually found pure sugar-butter frosting kind of insipid, this gave it the character I wanted.

Pioneer Woman - I was going to contribute this link, and there someone has found it.

Yes, the batch there is enormous, you'll have far more than you can humanly eat and your stomach will not thank you for it. Those buns are very good, though, and the recipe was quite straightforward. Certainly tasteworthy.

I haven't tried the Chef's Illustrated recipe. Anyone able to direct me to the right area?