Old Dough

I made yeast rolls at Christmas, but didn't need all the dough, so I saved half of it. It's been in the freezer. I put it in the frig earlier in the week. This morning, I decided to make cinnamon rolls with the old dough.

It looks pretty good, I think. It was easy to work with.

I spread it out by hand and drizzled melted butter on the dough, and in the pan. Butter makes anything good, right?

I was generous with the cinnamon & sugar.  I've always felt you can't have a good cinnamon roll if you scrimp on the cinnamon & sugar.

Then I rolled it into a log,

Cut the rolls, and placed them in the buttered dish. I let them rise in a warmed oven for 45 minutes. They didn't rise much. Hmmm.

Then I baked them at 350º.  They never did get very big. As a matter of fact, the cooked dough remained rather small, tough and unpleasant, instead of the soft, fluffy, big texture you want in a good cinnamon roll.  We ate them anyway, but they were a disappointment -- even though I could still get a decently delicious-looking picture of them. Looks are deceiving.

I suppose when one starts with bad, tough, old dough, no amount of butter, cinnamon, sugar, or even rising time, can improve upon it. A good cinnamon roll is a good cinnamon roll from the inside out. I think the same is true of people. Excellent character can't be fudged. Next time I'll use fresh, lively dough.