While mingling, I heard a younger guy talking about how he had never eaten a sugar cookie made from scratch. This made me feel very sad as I do think our "modern and enlightened" way of life is slowly killing off the recipes of the past. I showed up at a potluck once with a homemade cake and had trouble convincing someone that I really did make it from scratch. The woman asked me what brand cake mix I used as she wanted to make it herself. I told her I didn't use a mix and she looked very confused at the concept of baking without mixes. *sighs*
This topic has inspired me to do some baking this week. Yesterday I made a batch of cinnamon rolls and will make another batch tomorrow. These are the old fashioned kind ( no whack-a-dough!!) with yeast, butter, cinnamon, nuts, coffee and maple flavoring. The recipe won a baking contest years ago before whack-a-dough and baking mixes became the default. It's *not* my recipe nor a family recipe but, it's the only cinnamon roll recipe I've made for the last 13-15 years.
Grandma's Cinnamon Rolls
5 ½ to 6 cups all-purpose flour, divided
½ cup sugar
1 cup milk
¼ cup. (1/2 stick) butter
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 (1/4 oz.) pkgs. Quick rising active dry yeast ( 2 1/2 tsps )
1 ½ tsp. salt
1 c. water
2 eggs
No-stick cooking spray
Maple Glaze, recipe follows
Nut Filling, recipe follows
In large mixing bowl, combine 2 cups flour, yeast, sugar and salt, mix well.
In small saucepan, heat milk, water and 1/3 cup butter until warm, butter does not need to melt entirely. Add milk mixture to flour mixture, add egg. Blend at low speed of electric mixer until moistened, beat 3 minutes at medium speed. By hand gradually stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough.
Knead on floured surface until smooth and elastic, 5-8 minutes. Place dough in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover; let rise in warm place until light and doubled, about 30 minutes. Spray 2 (13x9 inch) baking pans with non-stick cooking spray. Punch down dough, divide in half. On lightly floured surface, roll or pat each half into a 12x9 inch rectangle. Brush each part with half of the melted butter; sprinkle half of nut filling over dough. Starting with shorter side, roll up tightly and pinch edge to seal. Cut each into 12 slices; place in prepared baking pans.
Cover; let rise in warm place until almost doubled, about 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden. Drizzle Maple Glaze over hot rolls, cool slightly and remove from pans.
NUT FILLING:
¾ cup sugar
1 ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
½ cup chopped nuts
In a small bowl, combine all ingredients; mix well.
MAPLE GLAZE:
2 cups powdered sugar
½ tsp. maple flavored extract
3 T. butter, melted
3 to 4 T. hot coffee
In small bowl, combine all ingredients, blend until smooth.
(Yields 24 cinnamon rolls)
