A Bouquet of Cinnamon Buns

That's right...mini cinnamon buns on a stick...in a chalk mug. I pretty much died and went to heaven when I saw this post a few months back by some bakers who have written a book about bread (I wonder what the attraction for me is?), and it took me this long to get permission to get back here from heaven and make some. Usually, I can't wait this long, but I have thought about them often, and the recipe and instructions I printed have been sitting on my nightstand since I printed them...I wish I were lying. (The reason I'm single becomes a little more clear daily when I reveal stuff like this...Chapter 2,345,765 of This Side of Single: Mini Cinnamon Bun Recipes...On the Nightstand).
There is apparently a competition in Minnesota at the state fair with food on a stick. I'm moving, that's it....I have to be in Minnesota with other people that appreciate serving things on a stick. I love sticks. I can't even link to all the stick projects I've done over the last four years, not to mention the 26 years before I blogged that I've been playing with sticks (My love of sticks also includes one incident where I ate a piece of stick, I don't recommend that...or dirt...or grass...or leaves. In my defense, I was young, and Ella suggested it. I wonder if Ella remembers recommending trying out the local culinary delights in our yards when we were little girls? On a good note-I was never much of a follower after that, so this probably kept me out of trouble as a teen, thanks Ella. ;o)).
P.s. I have another 'on-a-stick recipe I have to try soon, but I have the date for that in mind as well, so I'll wait. I just need a little praise for having found some patience, and an actual reason to do a craft, other than my invented holidays!
OK...back to the craft. This Wednesday is Principal Appreciation Day. Usually my teaching partners and I get together and give our principal(s) a Starbuck's gift card because that's the sort of thing (we think) they like. This year I suggested we attach it to a chalkboard mug (I've seen all sorts of fun chalkboard ideas all over the net, so when I'm ready to get help, I know there are plenty of people who can join me in my support group) filled with a mini cinnamon bun bouquet. The other two on my team need a raise because this was one of about 23 suggestions I made that hour for work and non-work related stuff, which is sort of how it goes daily in my world of people. I've been trying to talk to one of them about her son's birthday party in July since last August. If the government ever found out about me, I'm pretty sure they'd use me for torture tactics with foreign captives, but there are laws against cruel and unusual punishment so... Sorry, people in my world, it's how God made me.
I bought a mug at the (cough cough Dollar Tree cough cough).

I created a square with painter's tape, and sprayed the square with chalkboard spraypaint (my new drug of choice), and then put a little square of styrofoam inside the mug for my sticks ( the foam is also from the Dollar Tree, which is conveniently located next to Hobby Lobby-who I probably need to start paying rent to b/c I go there 6 days a week (they are closed on Sunday)).

I baked the cinnamon rolls, adapting the instructions in the link above. In the recipe (from the link at the top of this blog) they say you can use a variety of different bread doughs. I used a canned dough I bought near the biscuits/crescent rolls called crescent dough sheets.

I sprinkled 1/2 c. of brown sugar, and then I sprinkled the whole thing with 1 1/2 T. cinnamon. (You leave one long edge plain so that it can seal when you roll it tightly...I went back and reread the directions, and had to spread my brown sugar/cin to the edges after rereading...so, I guess this is how not to do it.)

You roll it up (they have great pictures on the site). Use scissors to snip it into 3/4 inch pieces (if they are too thin, they wouldn't slide on a stick). I only got 20 out of my batch of dough. You then add your pieces to a (greased) mini-muffin pan. It says to let it rise, but with this sort of ready made dough, that step was not necessary.

Here's my team of employees. They are in charge of letting me know when things are done baking...when people come to my door....when leaves blow down the street....when the garbage man in here....when the mailman is here....

Out of the oven after 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

You do need to go ahead and pull them out of the pan right away (I used a fork), and insert the stick before the dough/brown sugar hardens.
As for the icing, the recipe calls for a powdered sugar/heavy cream mix, but I wasn't sure how this would harden, so I actually melted some white chocolate, put it in a ziplock, snipped the corner, and zigzagged my way to these....

Everything's better with raffia...

I used the rest of the money we all pitched in to supplement with a gift card, and ta da...another Principal Appreciated on their day!

Another 'bouquet,' minus the chalkboard cup.

This project was really super, duper, easy, cheesy, peezy....whatever the words are that mean 'easy,' that's what I want to apply here...because it was, and I love it. I'm for real this time! Christy+Mini Cini's=Chrisinimini
Linking To:
Be Different...Act Normal
Me and My Bucket
Trendy Treehouse
We Are That Family




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