3 Sweet Roll Recipes- One winner!

I had been wanting to make several sweet roll recipes for a while, but they were all so dissimilar that I couldn't decide which to make first. And a big batch of goodies needs a big batch of kids to eat it up. Then there was the annoying situation of making one kind one week, and one the next, then asking which they liked best. The answer is always something like, "They were both yummy! But it's been a week since I ate the other kind...I'm not sure which I like best." Argh, the agony!! I have to know these kind of things. So I have started making them all at once. That way we can have a real comparison and see which one is just right.

I did this with chocolate pies not too long ago. I had a chocolate mousse, a chocolate silk, and a plain chocolate custard that I made at different times. No one could ever say which one they preferred, so I made them all in one day and forced them to decide. Yes, I am like the evil dictator of sweets. Turns out that even my boy who loves light and airy chocolate, like mousses and silks, preferred the good old chocolate custard like your grandma would have made. Hooray, a decisive victory!

This Monday's family supper was to be the Sweet Roll Showdown. I made an Orange Roll recipe from a Cottage magazine. I made the 90 minute Browned Butter Cinnamon Rolls from The Baker Chick.com. And I made a recipe from one of my Grandma Betty's old Country Woman magazines called Molasses-Pecan Sticky Buns.  It is interesting to note that every single one had a different type of yeasted dough. I was as interested to see which texture would be best, as I was to try the flavors. 

The orange roll was very nice, but not quite orange-y enough, even though I took the liberty of adding orange zest to the dough. The dough was good, but a little coarse. Almost leaning toward a heavier biscuit type texture, despite the fact that it was yeasted.

The only picture I got of the cinnamon rolls is in the center below. I was working on them while making supper and wasn't thinking about getting a picture of the inside to show the texture. They were good and the cream cheese frosting was very nice. But they had the problem that lots of cinnamon rolls have in my opinion- the dough is too much like bread. For me, a really luscious pastry has to walk the fine line between being too heavy and dense, or too dry and open textured like bread.

Then there were the Molasses Nut Rolls. YES. Just cooking the delicious smelling topping of nuts and molasses to pour into the baking dish had me biased toward them. The dough came together well and was a pleasure to knead. I changed the fact that there was no flavoring in the center of the roll, only butter. I almost thought there might have been a typo there. So I sprinkled over cinnamon sugar before rolling.

Once cooked, I turned them out on a tray, all of the nutty, syrupy goodness that had been on the bottom coating the rolls in a big, sticky rectangle of yum. These were so, so good.

 The dough was sweet, delicate, just airy enough and so tender. The topping was the icing on cake, so to speak. The molasses coating was sticky and chewy and not at all overpowering. The pecans were a crowning touch.

Let's just say that moma and pop took ones for their breakfast, and my middle son nabbed one for later, so I hid the last one before anyone else could grab it. And that was with two dozen other rolls to eat!

This recipe is definitely a winner and I will make it again soon. But I do really love a good orange roll. I have an old orange biscuit recipe that calls for 1/2 cup of fresh orange juice, plus the zest. Gonna have to try that one next. Now I have the perfect sticky bun, the quest for the best orange roll is on!

 My only change to this recipe was to add about 1/3 cup sugar to the cinnamon before sprinkling over the dough. Make it for the best breakfast roll ever, or just a sticky pan of dessert!