Cinnamon Rolls

After the cinnamon roll from an unnamed bakery cafe in a Madison suburb, I've given up the search for cinnamon rolls.

About a week ago, Todd and I were having lunch at an unnamed bakery cafe in a Madison suburb. We both had cinnamon rolls to go. After that evening's meal of salad and vine ripened tomatoes, the cinnamon roll was planned for desert. When I opened the take home box containing the roll, I already knew what to expect. That quarter inch of butter frosting on top overpowered any other flavors that may have been there. The cinnamon flavor was hardly noticeable -- if it was even there. It seems that for most people cinnamon rolls are about goo and sugar. That has been my experience for several of my recent tests.

As I walked the Farmers Market on Madison's Capitol Square on a following Saturday, I had to prove that all cinnamon rolls weren't bad. An Amish bakery had cinnamon rolls. They didn't look especially appealing, but I had to ensure that a look wasn't everything. As I walked away I took a bite. Yuch. Too much sugar and frosting over the small swirls of roll. I found the nearest garbage can for disposal. There REALLY would be no more cinnamon roll searches....

But there will be more cinnamon rolls. Only the very best. After arriving at Green Bay, I headed off to purchase the absolutely best cinnamon roll ever found. It can be found at the Stadium Bakery in Green Bay -- right across from Lambeau Field. Their rolls have that perfect balance of flavors and texture that is essential to a cinnamon roll. Why are they so great. My mother set the standard and the Stadium Bakery cinnamon rolls are the only ones to have matched that level of excellence.

Time for balance.... Granola bar? Cookies? Ice cream?

Chris and I decided that we would spread our coffee money around town so we chose Venice On The Boulevard (50th at Lowell in Denver). They also had cinnamon rolls. How could we pass this up. Chris knows my penchant for cinnamon rolls.



They were out of cinnamon rolls. Shucks. However, the stock of cinnamon bites had not been depleted. There have been times when I have groused about the size of cinnamon rolls. Sometimes they were large enough for a family of four. Perhaps this cinnamon bite may have been a little small, but since I have been trying to watch the consumption of calories, this was a good option. It was excellent. (Note: Standard sized napkin and plate is about five inches across.)

Roaming the streets of Mancos, I was taking photos of old buildings. This 1905 bank building was built to last -- not like commercial buildings that are built today looking like they were built by the corporate bean counter.

That was when I noticed the Bakery sign on the end of the building. How could I have missed that.

The bakery/cafe had the the original tin ceiling. More importantly, the bakery case had a cinnamon roll. David, the baker, makes an excellent cinnamon roll with a balance of flavors and textures and a light coating of a powder sugar frosting.

Looks like a repeat visit next time I am on US Hwy 160 in southern Colorado.

Note: Mancos is about seven miles east of the entrance to Mesa Verde.

A destination for many visitors to Sedona/Cottonwood area is the one time mining town of Jerome. Jerome is built on the side of a very steep hill with the main road (and highway) snaking its way through town to continue on its way to Prescott 30 miles away.

I parked on the down hill side and walked the main road uphill taking photos along the way. After all that exercise, I needed some calories to replace those burned. Perhaps I ended up consuming more than I burned, but that is another problem.

The cinnamon roll at Giselle's Bakery was very good. Perhaps a little sweeter than I like my cinnamon rolls, but still very good. There were other choices in the bakery including cookies and other pastries. The bakery is named to honor the baker's mother and many of the edibles are from family recipes.

When wandering Jerome some morning check out Giselle's Bakery and have a mid morning snack and a cup of tea or coffee. It will be an enjoyable stop.

Sweetwater Park was the destination for a hike. There was the bakery sign in Sunnyside. I couldn't pass it up. It had been far too long that I had a cinnamon roll. I should have forgotten the urge.

The cinnamon roll was labeled "Apple Raisin Cinnamon Roll". There may have been four raisins in the five inch diameter, two inch high roll with an equal number of apple pieces. Cinnamon flavor was impossible to detect.

There was no balance in the flavors of this piece of "sweet bread." Not good enough for my standard to deserve a rating. Too bad there wasn't a homeless person nearby. It would have kept me from putting it in the garbage.

RVing road acquaintance Mary Anne came to visit me one afternoon at Boyd Lake State Park. Knowing about my cinnamon roll fetish, she picked up a cinnamon roll at Johnson's Corners.

The roll was put away for the next day while we chatted and caught up on each other's travels.

The cinnamon roll is large enough for a two -- or three -- person snack. Instead it was just me. The balance of flavors and textures was quite good. If it were not so large, it would qualify for inclusion in my first place category.

Driving the back streets of northwest Denver, I found a cafe advertising pastries. A quick decision was made to search out the selection including any possible cinnamon rolls. Looking in the display case, I couldn't see anything that looked like a cinnamon roll. When I asked, the clerk pointed to the cinnamon rolls. Since it was wrapped in cellophane, I didn't recognize it as a cinnamon roll. That was when I noticed everything was wrapped up -- including the apple turnovers. That was ridiculous. The texture of an apple turnover needs that crispy flaky crust. Wrapping it up was not going to improve the texture.

Were any of these pastries fresh. How many days had they been languishing in the display case in that plastic wrap. After all of that indecision, I passed on the cinnamon roll and the other pastries.

Instead I opted for a chai latte. It is sweet enough to stand in for a pastry. Perhaps it may have been sweeter than a pastry.

That got your attention...

A fellow part time RVer living in Arvada joined me for a cinnamon roll at Rheinlander Bakery. It is better than honorable mention, but certainly was not worth a trip back. Perhaps another item from the extensive selection of baked goods would have been a better choice.

Another time I checked the cinnamon roll at the Totally Tasty Bakery. This was more sticky bun than cinnamon roll. All that sugar provided nothing more than a sugar rush.

Driving in the Regis neighborhood there was a coffee shop with a window advertisement for "cinnamon rolls". The rolls were wrapped in cellophane. How old were those things. I like a little crispy outside texture on my rolls. Once wrapped that isn't possible. So I had a cup of tea and left.

With all the competition from the large grocery store inside bakeries, the stand alone bakery is fast disappearing. Those chain grocery store bakeries can do a pretty good job on most pastries, but I have yet to find one that can make a decent cinnamon roll.

The search continues.

German Bakery in Sierra Vista is located right across the street from the Elks Lodge where I was parked. The bakery had numerous pastry choices. I chose apple strudel. Perhaps if the cinnamon rolls had raisins, I would have indulged. The apple strudel was good, but I like more apple than strudel.

This morning I headed out of Sierra Vista and headed along I-10 to New Mexico. From past travels, I knew there was a cinnamon roll waiting for me at Kranberry's in Lordsburg, NM. I didn't stop to eat, but just had a large cinnamon roll "to go". The roll is more than snack size at about eight inches across. A couple of snacks and dessert slices and it will be history. Although larger than I prefer, the balance of flavors and textures is very good.

When I was parked in the Foothills area of Yuma, I made a trip down Fortuna Road to a thrift store. I checked out their selection of shirts searching for a Hawaiian print shirt. They had none. I headed out the door with full intentions of going to Goldsboro's Bakery which is next door. As I headed in that direction, two (very) obese men came out the front door of the bakery. It was enough of a deterrent. I got in my truck and left.

However, those cinnamon rolls have a strong attraction. Those heavy weight gentlemen were not there the next couple of times I went to Goldsboro's. Drat. So I had to go in and make sure the cinnamon rolls were as good as I remembered them from past visits. They were. A perfect mid morning snack sized cinnamon roll.