Cinnamon rolls: A family Christmas tradition
Easy Cinnamon Rolls from "200 Cake Mix Creations."
One of Utah County's favorite cinnamon rolls is made fresh inside a gas station in Spanish Fork.
Frosting sweet rolls is a work of art and love at Shirley's Bakery.
Every family has special Christmas traditions.
When my husband and I were married, we discussed our favorite traditions from each individual family and chose to carry on our favorite traditions. In my in-laws’ home, the night before Christmas everyone would decorate a piece of paper with their name so that Santa would know where to drop his unwrapped gifts. Gifts from mom and dad were nicely wrapped under the tree. As children joined our new family, I thought this was genius on Santa’s part.
In my parents’ home, stockings weren’t hung. They were hid. Finding your stocking often became a game with hints coming from family members telling whether you were hot or cold. Cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning was another of my family’s traditions that we chose to continue.
Depending on various circumstances throughout the years, our annual Christmas cinnamon rolls have been sometimes store-bought and sometimes homemade.
This year I turned to my family, friends and social media asking people all over Utah County to share where I could buy the BEST cinnamon rolls locally. A few of the answers were expected, but others completely surprised me.
I learned that people stand in line at Westlake High School in Saratoga Springs on Fridays that fall on their B Day bell schedule to buy cinnamon rolls made by ProStart students, who turn around and donate proceeds to fund their annual Christmas Jars Service project.
From the numerous responses I learned that Utah County has several businesses that sell amazing cinnamon rolls. Everyone had an opinion on where you could buy the perfect cinnamon roll. Kneaders, Cinnabon, Provo Bakery, Lehi Bakery, Zubs, Hickory Kist in Spanish Fork, and Wallaby’s Smokehouse in Orem were mentioned multiple times. Gaydean’s Sweet Art Bakery in Mona (Juab County) was called a hidden gem by several as well.
On Facebook, I also had a few people ask where they could find a good gluten free cinnamon roll. Megan Keller gives the answer for this one. “Cravings-Alisha’s Cupcakes in Pleasant Grove does something no one else can. They make gluten free taste phenomenal. For those of us with celiac who know what a glorious cinnamon roll should taste like, they do not let us down. My celiac children have gotten to know this luxury and for this, I am grateful.”
From my nonscientific Facebook inquiry held on a variety of yard sale sites from the Point of the Mountain down to Payson, I learned that the top two favorite places to buy cinnamon rolls in Utah County are Shirley’s Bakery in Provo and the Dugout in Spanish Fork. Megan Hepworth shared, “My family has been eating Shirley’s rolls for over 20 years! Before she ever opened a storefront, every family party and celebration had Shirley’s rolls/cinnamon rolls!”
Danelle Walker summed it up perfectly, “The Dugout and Shirley’s have the world’s best! Who would have thunk you could get amazing cinnamon rolls at a gas station?!”
That’s right. The Dugout is a gas station that happens to make fresh cinnamon rolls that have become a favorite for many people in the area.
Saturday morning I took my 18-year-old son and one of his friends to sample cinnamon rolls from the two top places around Utah County. We stopped at the Texaco Dugout where they informed us that their $2 cinnamon rolls are so popular that they have a hard time keeping up with the demand. Their large rolls are light and fluffy and smothered in a thick layer of delicious frosting. We could see why so many people liked them.
Next we headed to Shirley’s Bakery to compare. So many people had mentioned not only how great the cinnamon rolls are but also how tasty the raspberry rolls are. For this reason we purchased a variety 12 pack of sweet rolls with cream cheese frosting. The variety pack includes raspberry, blueberry, orange and cinnamon rolls. One bite was all I needed to know why so many people loved their rolls. They are so soft and heavenly. The raspberry and blueberry rolls have now been added to my list of favorite things.
The lady sitting at a table near us commented that she lives in Salt Lake but comes to buy Shirley’s cinnamon rolls anytime she has a reason to visit Provo. She also has to come down to get them to take to family she visits who live out of state. I have to admit that I would drive to Provo just to buy the variety pack.
My son started out our taste-testing adventure a little biased. Kneaders is his favorite place to go for Cinnamon Rolls. He loves doughy, dense cinnamon rolls with less frosting. So our last stop was Kneaders to buy one cinnamon roll for all of us to sample and compare. His opinion was unchanged though he thought Shirley’s came in a close second. The rest of us declared Shirley’s Bakery as the best.
I learned an important lesson from this. The perfect cinnamon roll to you may be different than the perfect cinnamon roll to me. If people love doughy and dense rolls, they will love Kneaders and Cinnabon. If they like their rolls to be light and fluffy and love frosting, they will love the rolls at the Dugout. If they are looking for a delectably soft cinnamon roll with plenty of filling smothered in amazing cream cheese frosting, they will love Shirley’s Bakery.
The important thing is that good qualities can always be found in both people and cinnamon rolls.
For those with the time to make cinnamon rolls for Christmas, this is one of my favorite cinnamon roll recipes from my book, “200 Cake Mix Creations.” Merry Christmas!
Easy Cinnamon Rolls
2 ¼ cups very warm water
1 (0.25-ounce) envelope or 2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
1 yellow or white cake mix
5 cups flour
½ cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
¼ cup raisins, optional
1 container cream cheese frosting
In a large bowl, mix together the water and yeast with a whisk. Whisk cake mix into yeast water. Stir in flour 1 cup at a time. Let dough stand in a bowl in a draft-free place for 45 minutes. Punch down and then roll into an 18-inch x 10-inch rectangle. Add a small amount of flour if dough is too sticky while kneading.
In a separate bowl, mix together the butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Heat in the microwave for 15 seconds. Spread over rolled-out dough. Sprinkle raisins over top, if desired. Starting with widest end, roll dough into a tight log. Cut into 15-20 rolls and place 15 rolls cut side down in a greased 9-inch x 13-inch pan. Place any extra rolls in a smaller pan. Let rolls rise for about 25 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. When heated, bake rolls for 19-23 minutes. Warm frosting in the microwave for 30-40 seconds and then drizzle desired amount over the baked rolls.