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Save Your Sanity; Make Cinnamon Buns At Home

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By GREG and MICHELLE BAKER

Tribune correspondents

Published: December 9, 2008

The other day, we braved the shopping mall.

OK, let's back up for a minute. Michelle is an avid shopper. She'll run with the best of them, anytime of day or night. Leisurely strolling through stores just to window shop is her favorite pastime. Perhaps she'll find a hidden sale or tremendous discount, or maybe a must-have she didn't know she needed.

Greg is the exact opposite. He enters the store list in hand, finds exactly what he is looking for, does not stop for any distraction and leaves as quickly as possible. Greg loathes shopping of any kind.

We do agree on one thing regarding the art of shopping: No one enters the mall during the holiday season unless absolutely necessary.

Have you ever noticed the types of people who roam the mall halls during the holidays? You've got the stroller moms in full mall fury; your overwhelmed holiday-shopping dads with raging forehead veins carrying toddlers and enormous shopping bags; seniors who seem lost and could be the source of a Silver Alert; and, finally, the holiday-shopper-gawkers.

Oh, the gawkers. These are the people who walk in front of you and, for no reason whatsoever, just stop. They look around as if they have no idea why or how they even got into the mall. That causes you to almost trample them, along with the four children they have in tow.

Perhaps if you are not tall, the impact isn't that bad. The Sherpas, though, are both over 6 feet. A collision at full walking speed could easily warrant a bloody, knee-scraping tumble — and no one likes to make kids cry.

In the past, we always left the mall with our blood pressure boiling and a feverish line of sweat on our brows, but we decided to try this year. We had to go, so we decided to have a good time.

We failed, horribly. It was awful except for one glimmering moment: the cinnamon bun hut!

We were so caught up in the fury of the mall, we'd forgotten about the glorious bigger-than-your-head cinnamon buns dripping with sweet cream-cheese frosting and overflowing with warm buttery cinnamon. So, so good but absolutely NOT worth a trip to the mall during the holidays. Hence the recipe below.

BETTER-THAN-THE-MALL CINNAMON BUNS

For the buns:

1 package active dry yeast (1/4-ounce size or 2 1/4 teaspoons)

1 cup warm milk (105 degrees to 110 degrees)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup butter, melted

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

4 cups all-purpose flour

For the filling:

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon

1/3 cup butter, softened

For the icing:

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 tablespoon whole milk

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1/8 teaspoon lemon extract

For the buns, dissolve the yeast in the warm milk in a large bowl. Mix together the sugar, butter, salt and eggs. Add flour and mix well. Knead the dough into a large ball, using your hands lightly dusted with flour. Put in a bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place about an hour or until the dough has doubled in size. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough flat until it is approximately 21 inches long and 16 inches wide. It should be about ¼-inch thick.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

For the filling, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Spread the softened butter evenly over the surface of the dough, and then sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar evenly over the surface.

Working carefully from the top (a 21-inch side), roll the dough down to the bottom edge.

Cut the rolled dough into 1 3/4 inch slices and place six at a time, evenly spaced, in a lightly greased baking pan. Let the rolls rise again until doubled in size (about 30 minutes). Bake for 10 minutes, or until golden on top.

While the rolls bake, make the icing by mixing the butter and cream cheese in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed. Add the powdered sugar and mix on low speed until the sugar is incorporated, then add the milk, vanilla, and lemon extract. Mix on high speed again until the icing is smooth and fluffy.

When the rolls come out of the oven, let them cool for about 10 minutes, then coat generously with the icing.

Yields 9 buns.

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