Mwahahaha Success!
Would you look at this! This, ladies and gentlemen, would be what I call a rousing success. Cinnamon and caramel nut rolls 100% from scratch for the first time ever. Not too bad for a chick who swore she'd never leave home so she wouldn't have to cook for herself. Those of you who are snickering and pointing out that this is *baking* therefore a different thing entirely; I say that the principle of the matter is the same! I didn't want to do it. Nyah!
Of course, I still find myself looking back fondly upon my lack of ambition in this arena since it literally took me hours to make these. Dough is just a bitch to do for the first time. It takes trust in the instructions and years of being a foodie in disguise. Okay, I'm not really a foodie, but I did watch my mom and all the same cooking shows for years. Something had to rub off, right? Actually it does, or it did for me and that's a good thing given that my family is genetically predisposed toward food experimentation. Why no, I didn't do the recipe exactly as it was in the book, however did you guess?!
1) I decided to use bread flour instead of all-purpose
2) I found out *after* I start putting it in that it's *wheat* bread flour and wasn't that a surprise
3) The mixing process was an absolute mess since I read the instructions too late in many cases. Oops?
4) What do you mean I forgot to put the butter on the dough? Oh well, you can kinda pour it on top, right?
Go ahead, laugh. I know I deserve it, and for the uninitiated let me tell you why it might not have worked. Bread flour and all-purpose flour are very different and are generally not, I repeat *not* interchangeable if you want certain results ie; looks just like the picture. Throw the fact that it was wheat flour into the mix and you have very uncertain prospects for results. They all react to the ingredients differently. Bread flour tends to rise more easily that the others and the reason I used it was the fact that mom-in-law had some flour in the fridge that had been there for years and needed to be used, plus the recipe call for 6-7 cups of the stuff.
Baking 101 says that older flour will have... less impressive results than just bought it flour. I switched it relying on that exact reasoning and the fact that I didn't want to go through her Back Room of Doom to maybe find the exact (we have several) flour when the other was calling me. Hey, the baby got me up at 0330 and by 0500 I was going to *do* this dammit! I was at the 4th cup in before I saw the specks that said that said it was wheat. I was over half way invested at that point. I wasn't going back.
Mixing, mixing! Good God! I have baked before but nothing like a dough from scratch and the laws of good baking require that those instructions be followed in order. Um, oops? I've got a Kitchenaid, it'll work anyway? *sigh* Luckily, it did work, but I'm just saying. Oh, and the school of thought that says "kneading dough it therapeutic and zen-like"? Tell the newbie that your arms are going to feel numb and ready to fall off you big liars. The zen stuff comes after you build the right muscles, you big meanies.
The butter thing wasn't so bad. I mean granted, you're supposed to put it on the dough before the dry mix of cinnamon and sugar, but if you pour melted stuff in a crosshatch pattern after it comes out fine too. Oh, and be aware of the weather! Sound ridiculous? Moisture and ambient temperature can really affect the rise of your bread so beware.
Anyway, they turned out edible and picture worth so I'm sharing. You may drool now and be conscious of the fact that I'd give you one if you were here. I've got far too many! LOL