The very first time I made cinnamon rolls was for a McCracken family gathering when I was a teenager. Uncle Don loved them, but all Dad could say was, “Well, they are pretty good, but they aren’t like mom’s.” Despite the fact that I had no idea that I was supposed to be making them like Grandma’s, that batch of cinnamon rolls led to the quest to recreate Grandma McCracken’s cinnamon rolls.
The Quest
I was at a disadvantage when it came to recreating Grandma’s cinnamon rolls. She was quite elderly and unable to advise me and I had never eaten or even seen her cinnamon rolls. Dad, on the other hand, had eaten them for many years as Grandma had been the primary bread and cinnamon roll baker in the family. Ester and the other girls had taken over a lot of the cooking, but not the bread. This may have been a matter of practicality since bread making takes hours and the girls had school and other obligations while she was home most of the time.
Dad loved both her bread and cinnamon rolls. Hot out of the oven either could be a whole meal as far as he was concerned. Thus, Dad started advising me on how to change the cinnamon rolls to be more like his mom’s. He taught me some of the keys to Grandma’s cinnamon rolls. They should not be like Betty Crocker cinnamon rolls with only a thin layer of cinnamon, sugar, and butter between layers of the dough and then covered in a glaze or icing. Grandma’s were quite different. No rolling the dough. No glaze or icing. And lots more sugar, cinnamon, and butter.
I experimented getting the feedback of more of this, not quite right, needs to be . . . Time went on and I moved away, got married, and had kids. I continued to make cinnamon rolls from time to time, but due to distance I couldn’t get Dad’s feedback very often.
Then, Dad retired and had more time on his hands. So, he began experimenting with cinnamon rolls himself. He made one significant change. He used his sister O’Ella’s refrigerator rolls/bread dough recipe; whereas, I had been using my maternal grandmother’s dough recipe that she used for rolls and her pecan sticky buns. The two doughs were made using a different process and had very different textures. Bingo! The cinnamon rolls went up another notch!
Perfection
It is unclear whether Dad’s experimenting led to the exact replication of Grandma’s cinnamon rolls or not. However, what is clear is that they were a magnificent hit with everybody that tasted one. He began making them for his kids and grandkids, taking them to family gatherings, and giving them to people who did something for the family. No one turned them down. Matter of fact, they would volunteer to keep any leftovers.
Rehab
After Dad had a septuple bypass, he celebrated his 85th birthday in inpatient rehab. When the staff learned that he was “famous” for making cinnamon rolls, they decided that making a batch would be a great exercise for occupational therapy. Well, as you can imagine, the smell of cinnamon rolls baking was quite a contrast to the sterile hospital smell. Staff came from all directions to investigate and within a few minutes, all the cinnamon rolls were gone. Dad later loved to recall the story, adding “And, I didn’t even get one!”
The Video
The summer before Dad’s surgery, my younger son had made a request for a video of him making cinnamon rolls. He was interested in learning to make “Gramps’’ Cinnamon Rolls, but he was also busy with college classes. Thus, he didn’t have time to come and learn in person. So, when visiting Dad, my husband and I got him to make a batch while the camera was rolling. I remember my husband asking Dad questions as he worked on the cinnamon rolls so that we got each and every detail of the process captured.
We gave our son the video to study so that he could learn Dad’s techniques. When a potluck event came up at his apartment complex, my son decided that he would make a batch of cinnamon rolls. He really wanted his roommates to be able to try them. However, one of his roommates could not eat any milk products, even lactose free items. Thus, no butter! My son researched and found a way to make them sans butter. And, they were delicious. Everyone loved them. I doubt anyone knew they contained no butter except the people he told.
Today’s Cinnamon Rolls
Today, I am the primary cinnamon roll baker as my son is busy with business ventures. Still, he makes them with me if he is in town. My recipe evolved over the years to use my Dad’s basic recipe with my own twists. My sugar and cinnamon mix uses both white and brown sugar; whereas, Dad used only white sugar. Not exactly Grandma’s cinnamon rolls, but good enough that he would willingly eat them without complaint.