The Best Cinnamon Rolls. Really.

At least my husband and I think that the cinnamon rolls from the Bread Baker’s Apprentice are incredible.

No, my husband said that THESE WERE BETTER THAN CINNABON.  Pause for a moment, and let that sink in.  If my husband, the Honorable Master Chow, weren’t so disciplined, Cinnabon would be a major food group.

I’m lagging a bit behind in my baking/cooking/challenges because of an illness in the family, so I’m coming up for some air.  The good news:  it isn’t cancer that a close relative is suffering from, but it is still pretty serious, and when you’re almost 80, you just don’t bounce back like you used to do.  And baking seems to be my stress reliever.  My brain is happy, the scale . . . not so much.

The Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge (BBA) is the idea of Nicole at Pinch My Salt.  You can see what we’re baking this week at our Flickr group, on Twitter (#BBA), or check out the challenge page.  For those of you who don’t know about it, we are baking everything in Peter Reinhart’s book, The Bread Baker’s Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread. I must say that when Peter Reinhart claimed that these were BETTER than Cinnabon, I was skeptical.  Peter, I should not have doubted you – they are better.  No commercial aftertaste, and delighfully fluffy.

What changes did I make?  Not many.  I used buttermilk, and Kirkland brand cinnamon (Costco).  Because that is not as strong as Penzey’s Vietnamese cinnamon, I increased the amount to 2 Tbsp, and added a dash of allspice for good measure.  Unlike a lot of other cinnamon bun recipes, Reinhart does not call for extra butter as a foundation for the cinnamon mixture, making for a decidedly less greasy bun.  The recipe for the White Fondant Glaze makes way too much glaze, so next time I will cut that in half, which will provide a generous amount for the rolls.  I used 1/2 tsp. orange oil (not extract) for the glaze, and it worked out really well.  Really, really well, since we polished off all of the buns between the two of us.

Be sure to check out Susan’s weekly YeastSpotting roundup, to see what bread bakers all over the world are making!  This week, Nick at Macheesmo will be hosting for Susan, so head on over there.