The Results Are In...

...and I'm afraid you are going to be disappointed.

It was a tie. A. TIE.

Unbelievable!

I mean I didn't spend hours upon hours- measuring, mixing, rising, rolling, cutting and baking to have tie results! (well, I guess I did).

I decided that the toddler votes didn't count, because they liked whatever I gave them- so they were void, which left the 4 adults with spilt results.

Because I'm the one who did all the work I figure I can be the best judge of things OUTSIDE of the tasting. The ingredients, the dough consistency, ease of baking etc. You'll get a FULL breakdown from yours truly, and then results of the tasting from the other 3.

The Recipes!

Recipe #1
Breadmaker Cinnamon Rolls
1 1/2 Cups warm water
4 Tbsp sugar
4 Tbsp oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 Egg
4 Cups of flour
1 Tbsp quick rise yeast (I am a big fan of Fermipan)

Softened Margarine
Cinnamon
Brown Sugar

Put all ingredients in breadmaker in order listed. When you get to the yeast, put it in a well in the flour. Set breadmaker to dough setting. Roll out dough and spread a thin layer or margarine (or butter, whatever floats your boat) on top. Cover the margarine with a good layer of brown sugar, then sprinkle with cinnamon. Roll like a jelly roll and slice. Place slices in a greased 9X13 pan. Let rise for 1 hour then bake in a 350 degree F oven until done.


Recipe #2
INGREDIENTS (for the dough):
1 cup warm milk
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup margarine, melted
4 1/2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast (regular yeast seems to work just fine)

INGREDIENTS (for the cinnamon mixture):
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, softened

DIRECTIONS:
Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle; press Start.

After the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. (I just let the dough sit in the pan for awhile after the cycle is over rather than letting it rest on a floured surface.)

In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.

Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. (I use Pam to spray the surface that I roll the dough on.)

Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture.

Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan.

Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. (I usually make mine in the evenings and I let them rise overnight in the refrigerator so I can just pop them in the oven in the morning.)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes.

~~
Ok- first off, as you can see, the ingredients are similar. One uses essentials that you can find in your pantry and one uses more expensive ingredients. I thought for sure this would make a difference in the long run- but it totally did not. Anything that did go wrong- was completely my fault for making assumptions. (read: quick rising yeast is NOT the same as regular bread machine yeast).

So my favourite dough was recipe #2. It was a breeze to roll out, it rolled nicely, and it was over all, just a very nice dough. Dough #1 was full of air bubbles which *granted* was my fault, but even with just rolling it out it wasn't as smooth or as elastic-y as #2. Word from the wise? If you are going to use regular yeast, drop the amount to 2.5tsp and I'm sure the dough will be great.

After they were rolled up and needed to be cut, I noticed a huge difference in my ability to do so. Recipe #1 was sticky and difficult to cut into equal sized buns. Granted, I'm not sure how much was my fault with the yeast or just the dough...but that is what I noticed. Recipe #2 was a breeze to cut out and stayed its shape while it rose in the oven.

The 2 batches took different amount of time to bake as well. Recipe #1 took almost an hour while recipe #2 took about 27 minutes. I don't think that made any difference- they both browned nicely and were not dry.

I used a secret frosting recipe which I will not be sharing (sorry ladies). By the request of Ms. B, she wants to keep it on the downlow- which is A-OK with me. She was kind enough to share it with me for the battle, and I promise to take it to the grave. It's easy to whip up- but really...any kind of cream cheese icing/frosting would have worked just fine.

Now onto the results of the taste test.
Judge #1- Mr M.
Sample #1:
without frosting 3/5
with frosting 4/5
total- 7/10
Sample #2:
without frosting 3/5
with frosting 3/5
total: 6/10

Judge #2- Miss S.
Sample #1:
without frosting 4/5
with frosting 5/5
total- 9/10
Sample #2:
without frosting 3/5
with frosting 4/5
total: 7/10

Judge #3- Erin.
Sample #1:
without frosting 3/5
with frosting 4/5
total- 7/10
Sample #2:
without frosting 4/5
with frosting 4.5/5
total: 8.5/10

Judge #4- The Hubs
Sample #1:
without frosting 3.75/5
with frosting 4.16/5
total- 7.91/10
Sample #2:
without frosting 4.5/5
with frosting 4.65/5
total: 9.15/10

OVERALL Recipe # 1: 30.91/40
OVERALL Recipe #2: 30.65/40

So, as you can see, Recipe #1 won by 0.26 but in the end I broke it down to 2 liked the first and 2 liked the second. I will say that both sets of buns were slightly dry, but when put in the microwave for 20 seconds on high, it softens them right up and melts the icing just a little bit. :)

I hope that helps you guys...I wouldn't say that either of these recipes are 'the-best-cinnamon-buns-in-the-world' but they were both very yummy. I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for more cinnamon bun recipes and try this again in the future.

And now- for the pictures.
Go ahead...drool...

Recipe #1





Recipe #2





There you have it.
The Battle of the Buns.

Frugally Yours,
Erin B.