try it tuesday

Welcome to the second edition of Try it Tuesday! Did anyone make the Chocolate Chip Treasure Cookies? Several lovely readers e-mailed me their favourite cookie recipes after last week's post, and I can't wait to give them all a try.

Though I hadn't initially planned to feature another recipe so soon, I ended up involuntarily spending many hours on this next treat, so to make the time a little more worth it, I thought I'd share my experience with you.

The challenge: Apple Cinnamon Buns

Sounds pretty simple right? Ha.

I went to see Julie & Julia tonight and have the spirit of Julia Child inspiring me as I write, so I'll try to be less cynical about this experience.

It all started when Husband mentioned that the apples we'd bought weren't great, so I decided to dig up a recipe to put a few of them to use. Because this is a long recipe, here is a scanned version for you. No disrespect intended to the copyright folks; this is indeed a BHG recipe.

So, see where it says "Prep" ... I saw that 45 minutes and carried on my way, not noticing the indications for Rise:1 hour, Chill 2 to 24 hours, Stand: 30 minutes, Bake: 20 minutes ... for a grand total of ... a long time.

To make matters more interesting, I realized a little late that I didn't have the corn syrup that was required for the vanilla glaze, so in my infinite wisdom, I Googled a recipe for homemade corn syrup substitute.

After a whole lot of whisking, my sugar, water, cream of tatar mixture became what I can reasonably describe as corn syrup.

The rest of the recipe wasn't too difficult. I just highly recommend waiting until you're snowed in for an entire day, rather than trying to rush this in two hours in the biggest heat wave to hit Halifax since I-don't-know-when.

I let the dough raise, I punched it down, I kneaded it with as much enthusiasm as I could muster.

And eventually I got little pinwheels.

Here they are, in all their golden brown, vanilla glazed glory. And, I will admit, they are quite tasty.

Overall, I won't make them again anytime soon. It's a whole lot of work for something that can easily be purchased at the delicious smelling bakery just steps from my office.

Satisfaction: 4 stars (minus one for the fact that I nearly melted in the process)