Syndicated column from week of June 2, 2013.

I have a weakness when it comes to cinnamon rolls. I have an even bigger weakness where cinnamon nut rolls are concerned. There used to be a restaurant in town that we frequented (often). The owner’s wife made some amazing cinnamon nut rolls. They would warm the roll on the grill and serve it with a pat of butter. Those rolls were one of my favorite breakfast foods.

I haven’t had a good cinnamon nut roll in awhile, since that restaurant closed. Then last month, my cousin, Jeannie, made some rolls. These were so good; I could have eaten a dozen all by myself. When I asked about the recipe, I got some general directions and was able to recreate these delicious rolls myself.

Jeannie’s Cinnamon Rolls

1 loaf (8 oz.) frozen Bread Dough
1 stick (8 T) Butter, softened
1.5 c. Brown Sugar
1.5 c. Granulated Sugar
6 T. ground Cinnamon
1 c. chopped Nuts (pecan or walnut)

Thaw bread dough in refrigerator overnight or for 8 hours. Allow to rise on counter at room temperature for 3 hours.

Place on oiled baking sheet and press to 9 x 13 inches. Allow to rise for another hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a 9 x 13 baking dish, spread butter until thick enough for a bird to leave tracks in. In a small bowl, mix ½ cup brown sugar, ½ cup white sugar and 2 tablespoons cinnamon. Sprinkle this mixture over the butter on baking sheet.

Mix remaining brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon and chopped nuts in small bowl. Spread remaining butter over dough, evenly covering entire surface. Sprinkle the sugar and nut mixture over the butter, leaving ½ inch border on all sides.

Roll the dough lengthwise. Slice into sections. (I was able to get 12 sections.)

Place each section with a cut side down in the butter prepared baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes or until golden.

I forgot to preheat the oven until I had the rolls on the baking sheet above. So I had to preheat at this point in the process and let my rolls rise while the oven was preheating. You can see they puffed up a bit more! I would suggest you try both ways.

Make it a meal:  This is a great breakfast with coffee and a bowl of fruit. Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top for a dessert.

Approximate Nutritional Value per serving: Servings per Recipe: 10, Calories: 236, Fat: 18g, Cholesterol: 10mg, Sodium: 157mg, Total Carbs: 96g, Protein: 6g.

Variations: add some raisins or chopped dates, exchange the cinnamon for nutmeg or ginger spices, use your favorite recipe for dough instead of the frozen variety.

Jeannie’s instructions didn’t include amounts, so I measured the sugars and kept track of how much butter I was using. This recipe is my interpretation of hers. However, the end results sure tasted the same!

The best thing about this recipe is using the frozen bread dough. It takes a lot of time to thaw and rise, but is a fool proof way of getting the proper texture of dough. You will find the time involved isn’t a show stopper, since you would spend several hours making homemade dough. Besides, thawing in the fridge can happen while you are doing other things!

Do you prefer nuts in your cinnamon rolls or do you like the rolls plain? 

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