Cinnamon Sticky Buns

Dear Mom,

Before you feel sad that I didn't use The Famous Family Heirloom Cinnamon Roll Recipe, let me just say that I am WAITING to do it with YOU for a Family Bonding Project. Plus, my husband had been talking for months about how, when he finally finished his diet, he wanted me to make these specific rolls to celebrate. So just sit back, relax, and enjoy this blog post while you fantasize about handing down the time-honored tradition of The Family Cinnamon Rolls.

Actually, these aren't really cinnamon rolls at all; they're cinnamon sticky buns. The dough is light and flaky, almost like a croissant, and I was surprised that it was so easy to make and handle. Even though they aren't really cinnamon rolls, they still made my house smell like the mall, in a good way.

Cinnamon Sticky Buns (adapted from The Bread Bible):

Dough:
In a big bowl, combine
1/3 c sourdough starter (optional)
1 stick butter, soft
3 eggs
2 T sugar
1 T yeast
1 t salt
1 2/3 c flour

Knead with your hands until a ball forms and the butter is almost totally incorporated. Cover and rise in a warm place 30-60 minutes.

On a piece of wax paper, with plenty of flour on both sides of the dough, roll out into a rectangle, about the size of a big magazine. Then, pour one stick of melted butter over the rectangle. Sprinkle 6-8 T of sugar and 3-4 T of cinnamon over the butter. Roll the whole thing up into a log and chill it for at least 10 minutes (it was really that easy; plus, I learned my lesson about not skimping on the flour like I did last time).

  Then slice the log and place the slices in a buttered baking dish. Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes.

In order to counterbalance the cinnamon sticky buns, we had a nice healthy dinner. We started with these tasty squash nuggets from Peas and Thank You.

These are a really fun and different way to eat squash. The serving suggestions on her recipe all sounded good, too.

Then we had wraps:

with big tortillas, spinach, arugula, cuke, red pepper, provolone, and Brianna's Poppyseed dressing -- a really good combo invented by my husband.

In conclusion, Mom, I am still looking forward to making The Famous Cinnamon Rolls with you, because you can see that they are, really, totally different (except for the butter, salt, sugar, and flour). You can pass on the timeworn traditions to me, after an invigorating bout of the timeworn traditions of shopping and lunch.

Sincerely,
Tofu