Missed cinnamon rolls at the fair? Make your own!

Fair time is over and the food vendors have all left with their goodies — including the cinnamon rolls.

No more scent of baking cinnamon rolls wafting over the midway and across the fairgrounds.

But not to worry: You can make your own. Whether you just never made it through the long line to get one, or you’d just like to have another, the following recipe yields great-tasting cinnamon rolls.

I adapted the recipe from one my mother passed down to me. She used to bake all the time when I was a little girl. I recall coming home from school one day to find her kneading yeast dough for making dinner and cinnamon rolls. I watched her form a ball with dough, place it in a large bowl that she had greased, cover it with a dish towel and set it on top of the refrigerator so the dough ball would rise to double its size.

After she left the kitchen, I scooted a chair next to the fridge, took down the bowl and pulled out a small gob of dough for myself. After returning the bowl to the top of the fridge, I placed my dough in a small bowl, added some orange juice to it and kneaded it.

I separated the dough into three long pieces and braided them, just as I had seen my mother do when she baked fancy loaves of bread. Then I covered my braided orange juice dough and set it on the kitchen counter to rise.

Later when my mother returned to finish making her rolls, I showed her my dough braid, which had not risen due to being saturated with orange juice, and asked her to bake it with her rolls.

Just as she was taking the bread out of the oven, in walked my dad and another cowboy from the Diamond A Cattle Company. Their spurs a-jingling, they sauntered over to the kitchen table, where my mother served them cups of freshly brewed coffee, and I served them my freshly baked braided orange juice bread.

They chewed and chewed the tough bread and washed each bite down with generous gulps of coffee. Though their facial expressions were solemn, they told me over and over how good my bread was. In fact, my dad’s friend, a flashy former rodeo star who wore silk shirts and a big smile, said he would marry me when I grew up if I would make homemade bread for him.

Well, after that I met him and my dad at the kitchen door every afternoon with my baked goods. I was 8 years old then. About 30 years later, my dad brought his old friend over to see my family and me.

We ate supper and talked of old times, and the friend said: “Nancy, do you remember all those little cakes and things you used to make me and your dad eat? Oh, they were awful!”

The good news is, I eventually learned to bake well. In fact, when I was in high school, I won first place and Best of Show ribbons at the Maricopa County Fair for huge cinnamon rolls I baked using my mother’s adapted recipe, which follows.

I sure hope you enjoy the prize-winning cinnamon roll recipe better than my dad and his buddy enjoyed my first baked goods.

Chris’s Cinnamon Rolls
1 cup water
1/3 cup margarine
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 package active dry yeast
3-1/2 to 4 cups flour

In a large mixing bowl, combine yeast with 2 cups of the flour. In a small saucepan, heat water, margarine, salt and sugar until mixture is lukewarm and margarine barely melts. Add liquid ingredients to flour and yeast. Mix well with electric mixer, add two beaten eggs and mix again. Add as much of the remaining flour as you can mix with a non-metal spoon.

On a lightly floured surface, knead in enough flour to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic. Do not overwork dough, or the rolls will be tough. Shape into a ball and place in a large, lightly greased bowl. Turn it once, so that it’s lightly coated with shortening. Cover with a cheesecloth or dish towel and place in a warm area until it has doubled in size (about 1 hour).

Punch down, divide in half and let rise for 10 more minutes.

Forming the rolls
6 tablespoons margarine
1 cup sugar
4 teaspoons cinnamon

Melt margarine. In a separate dish, combine cinnamon and sugar. On a lightly floured surface, roll out one half of dough into a 9-by-12-inch rectangle. Brush half of margarine over rectangle. Sprinkle half of cinnamon sugar evenly over rectangle. Roll dough and pinch edges together to seal. Moisten edges with water to seal them more firmly, if needed. Repeat with second half of dough and remaining ingredients.

Tip: To make more, smaller rolls, begin rolling with longest end. Or to make fewer, larger rolls, begin rolling from shortest end.

Use a piece of thread to cut individual rolls. Holding thread by the ends, place the center under the roll of dough where you want to cut, pull thread up, cross it over top of roll and pull hard to cut. Repeat across length of roll. Place rolls in greased baking pans, cover and let rise till nearly double (about 30 minutes).

Bake at 375 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes. Top with icing, if desired.

Icing
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 to 1-1/2 tablespoons milk

Combine ingredients, adding just a drizzle of milk at a time, until icing is smooth enough to drizzle over hot cinnamon rolls. Serve warm with coffee and a good-looking cowboy.