Grandma Button's Cinnamon Rolls

When I asked my new brother-in-law Justin about his favorite traditional Christmas foods, he answered eggnog and cinnamon rolls. (A great answer in my opinion.) Since this was his first Christmas in our family, I wanted to welcome him by including these holiday favorites.

For the eggnog, I went with a recipe that I tried out a couple of years ago and loved (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Amazingly-Good-Eggnog/Detail.aspx). It's fairly easy with just a couple of important steps that shouldn't be messed up. (I'll confess here that I turned my back while heating the ingredients at one particularly critical moment and found the mixture boiling when the recipe specifically said DO NOT BOIL. Thus, I created some sort of egg custard concoction that later found itself down my kitchen drain. Oh well. There's always next year and there's always store-bought. And the "girls" out back don't need to know that I ruined 12 of their perfectly fine eggs.)

While I love Allrecipes.com and various cooking blogs to find the perfect recipes for the right occasions, I knew that when it came to cinnamon rolls, I had to consult with the expert and go straight to a reliable source... Grandma Button in Black Diamond, Washington, Toby's beloved maternal grandmother famous for her made-from-scratch, melt-in-your-mouth cinnamon rolls.

So, together Mom Long and I attempted to recreate - with careful attention to each step - the cinnamon rolls that Grandma Button could probably make with her eyes closed. :)

After the mixing and resting and doubling and punching down and more doubling, the dough was ready. Mom Long rolled out the dough, sprinkled on the cinnamon sugar and then rolled them up.

After careful slicing and placement in two pans...

they were ready for a final rise before baking in the oven.

And here they are, ready for Christmas morning...

I think we did it, Grandma Button! (Elise was certainly pleased with our effort.) :) Thank you for sharing your recipe. I wish you could have joined us this Christmas and given an in-person cinnamon roll making tutorial. Still, we felt that in spirit and in cinnamon roll yumminess, you were with us this Christmas - certainly with us in our hearts.

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January 2008: