When Buns Go Bad...

Cinnamon buns, of course.

Oh...and how very bad they are.

And it's all my fault. I killed my yeast. I'm turning myself into baking police.

Here is the play by play.

6:00 AM

Yawwnnn!!! Cinnamon buns day! First things first...make the yummy, chewy dough to encase all that brown sugar-cinnamon-y goodness.



I added some orange zest for fun. It's my new thing.

6:30 AM

Hmm...now I need to let this sucker rise for 2 whole hours. In a...and I quote, "warm area without a draft". Hmm....well, seeing as it was a pretty toasty August night last night, I have the AC on. No warm area in sight. Exceptttt...(and this is where things went terribly wrong), the oven. Maybe if I just put it on something low like 200, that'll do the trick. Sighhh. Famous last words.

6:35 AM



Dough is in the oven. My fate was sealed.

8:15 AM

Yawnnn...I suddenly feel sleepy again. I crawl back into bed with my Urban Italian cookbook and watch a re-run of Everyday Italian. She's making pasta for every season. Just wrapped up summer...shrimp with arugula and orange...sounds tasty. Now she's on to fall...whole wheat spaghetti with prosciutto and herbs. Whole wheat pasta is more hearty and filling for the fall weather. I agree. Yawnnnn....snooooozzzzzzzeeee....

Yes! I feel asleep! While my dough was proofing!! In the f-in oven! Who's bright idea was that anyway??? Oh yeah. Mine. Ugh.

8:52 AM

I wake up...finally. And realize that my poor cinnamon buns dough is still proofing! Ahh!! I run to it. The bowl is hot. Yikes. The dough has formed a crust! I start to panic. I try my best to knead it into some semblence of raw dough. But it's too late. But I'm still in denial.

9:05 AM



Still in denial. I roll out the dough and sprinkle with topping.



And cut off the uhh...hmm...cooked parts.

9:20 AM

Rolling and cutting. No problem here. Or so I thought. I couldn't get it to fit in the specified pan.



This one was too big.



This one was too small.



This one wasn't just right. But it fit. Whatev. I was over it. I just wanted to get these stupid things in the oven.

9:35 AM

Oh but not so fast. The dough needs to rise again for another 45 minutes. "Don't skimp," the recipe says. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like this thing is gonna rise anymore. The yeast was officially gone like an hour ago.

So I waited. I went for a run and contemplated my pan issue. Why didn't it fit? Why? Why? It said roll from the long side...oh. Crap. That explains it.

I check on my buns upon my return. They didn't rise.

So I baked them. Crossed my fingers. Did a little dance and hoped that somehow these little buns (despite my negligence) would perhaps pull through.

They didn't.



I still tried one.

Not bad. Ok bad. Try again tomorrow. No oven this time. Or ever again.

So now what?



Dozens and dozens...ok 5 dozen peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.

I feel somehow redeemed.