Cinnamon Rolls

Carmen Dacoma Elementary School, 1982-83

I went to a consolidated school from Kindergarten to my senior year. The high school/junior high was in Carmen, where I lived, and the elementary school was in Dacoma, 11 miles away--Carmen-Dacoma School.  

To say it was a small school is an understatement.  The photo above is the entire elementary school.  Yes, we could fit all the kids and teachers in one photo.  (I'm the goober in the second row, third from the left in the furry vest. I freaking loved that vest. My buddy Melissa Edmondson is next to me, and that's Austin Wallace on my left. I wonder whatever happened to him...)  On to my point...

Every kid complains about school lunch, but I was a particularly picky kid, and barely ate any of my lunch at school.  I thought I didn't like anything they served, and I still cringe at the smell of green peas.  Looking back, we had a wonderful lunchroom, and I didn't appreciate it at the time.  There were two sweet ladies that cooked delicious and nutritious food for us every day--Alice Shook and Cordelia Zahorski.  Although I was picky about A LOT, there's still a list of things I loved that Alice and Cordelia made:  taco salad, bierox, sauerkraut (I realize it's really weird that a picky kid like me liked sauerkraut), cooked carrots (don't make fun, they were delicious), Jello salad, and they spoiled us with homemade hot rolls at least once a week.  

Aside from those meals, we all got especially excited about soup and chili day.  You got to pick between soup or chili; I always chose chili.  But it wasn't the chili that we were so excited about, even though it was always really good.  It was the fact that along with our steaming bowl of deliciousness, we got a cinnamon roll.  Sometimes the cooks made them, and sometimes they would have Ruby Sharp make them.

Ruby was a very nice lady that lived in Dacoma that made the most delicious cinnamon rolls.  She made them for the school, and she would also make them to sell in the concession stand at the basketball games.  They were always really tall and pillowy-soft.  And on top of those cinnamony-sugary clouds of wonderful was an apricot glaze PLUS a powdered sugar glaze.  Oh, how we all loved Ruby's cinnamon rolls, and I have missed them so much over the years.  Until tonight.

Right before Christmas, Southern Living magazine inspired me to make cinnamon rolls to enjoy on Christmas morning.  I used the recipe that was published in the magazine, and all seemed to be going well until I tasted them.

Just look at that dough rolled out to perfection.  I had such high expectations, and they didn't pan out. 

I'm probably being a little hard on myself. How can bread rolled up with a pile of butter, cinnamon and sugar be all that bad?  They were okay.  But when you grow up getting cinnamon rolls from people that make breads as well as Ruby and my mom, you expect that your own rolls would be that good, especially on Christmas morning. 

I have since figured out that I didn't let them rise enough, I used a disposable aluminum pan, and I used a recipe from a magazine.  Not that magazine recipes are bad, but cinnamon rolls are one of those things that you need a recipe from someone who knows what they're doing. 

I told my mom about my failure.  My mom is a fantastic cook, and she's especially good at breads. She's another one that spoiled me with homemade goodies all the time.  She quickly equipped me with the Oklahoma Wheat Commission's bread contest winners cookbook and a few others.  And then, she she said, "Oh yeah, I have Ruby Sharp's recipe, do you want it?" "Heck yes I want it!"

So tonight, I mustered up the courage and made the cinnamon rolls for us to hopefully enjoy on our ski trip next weekend.  I was pretty nervous about it, but I took one bite and was taken back to sixth grade.  I posted a picture of them to Facebook and had at least three requests for the recipe. It was in one of Mom's cookbooks, so I don't have any super secret knowledge.  Here's the recipe for everyone to enjoy.  Note:  you don't have to do the apricot glaze.  These would be really good with the powdered sugar glaze or any other icing you like.

Ruby Sharp's Cinnamon Rolls

Rolls:

1 c. lukewarm water

2 pkg. active dry yeast

1 tsp. sugar

1 c. lukewarm milk

6 c. flower

1/2 c. butter or margarine, melted and cooled slightly

2 eggs, slightly beaten

2/3 c. sugar

1 tbsp. salt

Filling:

1/4 c. melted butter

2 tbsp. brown sugar

desired amount of sugar

desired amount of cinnamon

1.  Stir water, yeast and 1 tsp. sugar together and let stand until yeast is dissolved.  

2.  Place warm milk and 2 cups of flour in large stand mixer and beat one minute. 

3.  Add the eggs, 2/3 cup of sugar, salt and margarine.

4.  Add the yeast mixture, then the remaining flour, a little at a time.  Mix until smooth.

5.  Spread flour on countertop, place dough on top and knead until soft dough if formed. The dough hook on the stand mixer will work just fine.

6.  Place dough in buttered pan or bowl and let rise until doubled in bulk.

7.  Roll dough out into a rectangle that's about one inch thick. 

8.  Brush with melted butter, then sprinkle with brown sugar, white sugar, and cinnamon.

9.  Roll as for jelly roll and seal seam.  Cut slices about one inch thick and place into greased pan.  

10.  Let rise until doubled in size.

11.  Bake at 375 for 20 minutes (be careful with this.  My oven cooks hot and I nearly burned them)

12.  Cool and ice as desired.

Apricot Glaze:

1/2 c. Apricot Preserves

1/4 c. Honey

Mix well and top rolls while they're hot. Adjust the honey and preserves for your taste preference. Try not to let the honey overpower the preserves.

Powdered Sugar Glaze:

1 c. powdered sugar

2 tbsp. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

Dump it all into a mixing bowl and mix like the dickens with an electric mixer. Drizzle on top of the rolls.

  Take a look at the tall, pillowy, beautiful cinnamon rolls you will get!