Cinnamon rolls for the yummy goodness!

 I have been wanting to make cinnamon rolls for awhile.  I really craved Cinnabons version but resisted them for their total overload of sugar.  You can't avoid completely if you want to have tasty blending of ingredients with cinnamon-y filling and some icing on top.  

But I did resist for awhile when I found this cinnamon star recipe on KA . . .Cinnamon-star-bread-recipe , , ,  Mine might not look as pretty as theirs but I am sure they made it many times to perfect that look.  Not bad for a first try.

My quibble is that it didn't taste the way I wanted it to taste.  lol . . not enough butter!!  The recipe calls for egg to be brushed on dough before sprinkling the cinnamon filling.  If I make this again, I will use butter.   It is surprisingly easy to get this look considering how complicated it appears . . . but reading recipe directions in advance helps.  The braiding/twisting of the dough is what makes it look so good.

I decided to take the plunge for real cinnamon rolls with another recipe found on the internet.  The results were fine but I felt like there might be something more.

I took a break from Cinnamon Rolls to try other things.   I thought that I would work on this recipe to tweak it until I found another one which happened to be KA's recipe of the year,  Soft-cinnamon-rolls-recipe .   These rolls might just be the ones!!

Using a different type of starter, Tangzhou, which doesn't have yeast in it although yeast is added to the dough.  This recipe uses bread flour and not all purpose flour which gives it a more pillowy look and softer chew.    The filling uses brown sugar and cinnamon which is sprinkled on the dough.  I know I doubled amounts.  but now I am drawing a total blank on whether I brushed the dough with butter or added it to the filling mixture.  That isn't how the recipe is written but I have been changing things based on what I have done/tried in prior recipes.  Like I had mixed melted butter with the sugar-cinnamon mixture in the recipe above this one then I spread it on the dough.

I think the results were very good.  This one is a keeper.

Pandemic Baking - Bread, Pizza, Cookies, Biscuits and Rolls!!

I have done a bit of everything while spending more time at home.   I think I have increased my skills a lot in working with yeast but I still have some to work on.   I have had my share of failures that have been tossed into the garbage . .  the rye bread was a big disappointment but I plan to try it again.  

I am happy to have found a decent pizza crust  to make which has saved me a lot of money . . .  take-out pizza can get expensive!!   

A lot of tasty treats too . . . quick breads are some of the best . .   banana bread, sweet potato bread, squash bread, pumpkin bread.   

Cookies!!  I like spiced cookies but oatmeal and shortbread are nice too.  I made lemoncello cookies too but not my favorite.

I tried galettes a few times . .  savoury and sweet versions.  Galettes are an easy pie replacement.

Breads and Rolls and  Brioche and Biscuits!!

I wish I could perfect a baguette or rustic bread . . . more things to try.   I did manage some nice whole wheat rolls and a brioche.

These are simit which is a Turkish bread.  I might try these again.

Wheat rolls!

Foccacia!

Brioche!

Rye bread was sort of a bust but I really want to make a good rye bread of some sort.

Two different baguette attempts.   I will do this again as I like this type of bread.  But I like a more rustic version which, for some reason, I can't find a good recipe for making a rustic bread.

One version of a rustic peasant bread I made.  The search continues!!!! 

Biscuits are more of a success story.  

I found a decent recipe for Parmesan and Black Pepper biscuits.  Once I figured out the right thickness for rolling out, they looked good and tasted good.   I have some in the freezer because recipes always have you make more than I can eat in one day.

Cheddar cheese biscuits are a good alternate.  Now if I could remember to use the right amount of butter in the dough and reserve that right amount for pouring over while baking.  They come out rather greasy and flat otherwise, lol.

First attempt at Parmesan Biscuits.

Latest attempt with a different recipe using a square cookie cutter.

Cheddar cheese biscuits!