A few weeks ago I ran across a recipe for cinnamon rolls as I was browsing around Pinterest. The headline caught my attention: “Better Than Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls” Now, I’ve eaten a Cinnabon roll or two in my time and they are pretty darn good. So when I found a recipe that claimed to be better, I just *had* to do some investigating.

So on Sunday, I put on my metaphorical apron, gathered all my ingredients and got to work. I haven’t made cinnamon rolls in a very long time. Like, maybe a couple of years. Or longer. And when I do make them I cheat. I buy frozen bread dough, unthaw it and make my rolls. Saves some time and makes less mess. Let me tell you – when baking, cheating is perfectly acceptable!

But for the “BTCCR” I felt I should follow the recipe as written step by step. I mean, how could I really judge the rolls if I cheated on the recipe?

An interesting ingredient in the bread dough was buttermilk. Buttermilk isn’t usually something I keep in the fridge, and I was iffy about using it, but again, I was determined to follow the recipe. It was a smart decision.

The buttermilk gives the rolls a bit of tanginess that offsets some of the sweetness of the cream cheese frosting. It was a perfect combination.

It also gives the dough a soft and chewy texture. I’ll admit I was a bit worried when I read ‘soft and chewy’. To me that translates as doughy. And I really don’t like doughy bread. Or wet bread. Like, dumplings are not my thing because I think they are waaay too doughy. But soft and chewy in this recipe means just that. Perfectly soft and perfectly chewy with all that yummy cinnamon and sugar.

So, let me give you a couple tips if you decide to make these rolls. Take them or leave them – but when I make these again (and I WILL make them again) these are a couple changes I will make.

• The recipe calls for unsalted butter. Next time I will either use salted butter or add salt to the bread dough. The dough needed some seasoning. For me, it was missing salt.
• Also, the recipe calls for one TABLESPOON of active dry yeast. I buy my yeast in pre-measured packets and there isn’t nearly a tablespoon in those packs. It confused me a little. But I went with my gut and used one packet of yeast instead of the tablespoon measurement and it worked beautifully.
• Saigon cinnamon is recommended, so I bought it. I just had generic cinnamon on hand. Next time I’ll use whatever cinnamon I have in the cabinet. I didn’t notice any big difference using Saigon cinnamon, so I don’t see the need the spend the extra $$. I also might add more cinnamon. I would have liked a stronger cinnamon taste.
• I doubled the recipe for the frosting, because I wanted to be sure there was plenty and it didn’t seem like there would be enough if I followed the recipe as written. So, I found that one batch wasn’t quite enough and two batches was a little too much. But, I’d rather have too much than not enough, so I’ll continue to make a double batch.

I’m not going to re-write the recipe here, after all, it’s not my original recipe. But here is the link so you can hop over, grab the recipe, and make your own yummy cinnamon rolls:

Better Than Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls

Since it’s been many years since I’ve had a Cinnabon roll I don’t think I can fairly say which cinnamon roll is better. I think I’m going to have to do a lot more testing before I can say for sure. 🙂 Won’t you join me?