Cinnamon Rolls

While at the Used Book Superstore the other day in New Hampshire, I happened upon a cookbook from a local church in Winterset, Iowa that has tons of southern style recipes and stories collected from their older members over the years. After reading through its vast array of breads, desserts, and family traditions, I decided to try my hand at making the Cinnamon rolls since the recipe and description both sound amazing.

Ingredients: 2 1/2 Cups Water (lukewarm)

2 Packages Yeast

1 Box Yellow Cake Mix

6 1/4 Cups Flour

3 Eggs

1/3 Cup Oil

1 tsp. Salt

Butter (softened)

Sugar

Cinnamon

In a large bowl, mix together the Yeast

And Water (let sit three minutes)

Stir in the Cake mix

One Cup Flour

The Eggs

Oil

And Salt, beat until bubbles form

Start adding the remaining Flour a Cup at a time until a soft Dough forms

Turn the Dough out onto a lightly Floured surface and knead until smooth (about 8-10 minutes)

Return the Dough to the bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in size (40-60 minutes)

Once risen, uncover and punch down the Dough

On a lightly Floured surface, roll out the Dough into a 1/4 in. thick rectangle

Cover with the softened Butter

Then sprinkle well with Sugar

And Cinnamon

Roll the Dough from one side to the next jelly roll style

Tuck the ends under and pinch the seam shut

Mark the size of Rolls you want with a knife before cutting, then slice and place on a lightly oiled sheet pan

Once finished, place the unbaked Rolls into a preheated oven at 350F

Bake 25-35 minutes (depending on Roll size) or until golden brown on top

Remove from the oven, cover with icing or powdered sugar

Serve and Enjoy

The Cinnamon Rolls turned out good, but not great. The consistency and chew are both excellent, but I feared overdoing the Cinnamon and Sugar flavor so I went light on both and paid the price, they have a mild flavor and are more bready tasting than anything. My suggestion if you give this recipe a go is to double, maybe even triple the amount of Cinnamon and Sugar that I did in the pictures.

Chess Pie

Out of all the different Pies I have tried in life, Chess Pie has to be my all time favorite (so far). Its a simple mix that doesn't take a lot of ingredients and has a wonderful custard flavor to it, almost like a really sweet Flan. The recipe below was given to me by a friends mom (Grandma Betty) who used to bake one for my birthday and holidays. Over the years I have tried on several occasions to recreate the exact result of Betty's technique, but have never succeeded in the same flavor or consistency. This time however I'm changing around the way the ingredients are added and hand mixing instead of using a electric mixer to see what the different outcome would be.

Ingredients: 4 Eggs

2 Cups Sugar

1 1/2 Tbls. Vinegar

1 Tbls. Vanilla 

2 Tbls. Corn Meal

5 Tbls. Milk

1 Stick Butter

In a large bowl, cream together the Butter

And Sugar until smooth

Whisk in the Eggs one at a time incorporating well

Add the Vanilla

Corn Meal

Milk

And Vinegar mixing thoroughly

Pour the Batter into a prebaked pie crust and place into a preheated oven at 325F

Bake until golden brown and the middle has almost set. Let cool overnight for best flavor

After letting the Pie sit overnight (securely wrapped in plastic wrap) chilling in the refrigerator, I cut a slice and let it sit out a few minutes to warm a little, then dug in. The flavor was wonderful, just the right amount of balance between the egg flavor and sugar, and a perfectly set middle that was firm but moist. Hand mixing is definitely the way to go when preparing this pie.