Making dough, on the clock

Regarding the question of whether it really takes more time to make things from scratch, when you factor in the time it takes to shop for and earn the money to pay for a prefabricated alternative: Consider today’s cinnamon rolls, prepared for yet another spring break sleepover.

Usually I don’t think about how much time it takes to make cinnamon rolls, because I make the dough ahead of time, usually for pizza the night before. But this morning I walked into a kitchen apparently devoid of any actual food, with only various components stored in their various containers in various cupboards and a fridge, and 40 minutes later the cinnamon rolls were in the oven and the frosting was made.

I guess that seems like a long time, compared to unfurling dough from a tube and squeezing icing from a plastic packet. But time is relative. Standing in front of a Red Box DVD vending machine with a bunch of chattering, arguing kids last night felt longer than 40 minutes of quiet spent alone in the kitchen this morning. The prospect of entering a Wal-Mart with this same herd just to get a tube of dough and icing, when we had all the stuff that goes into that tube already at home, felt like it would drain another hour from my life -- maybe not in actual ticks registered on a clock, but in the form of a stress penalty to be deducted  from the sum of my days.

Besides, making the frosting is easy: Just whisk a tablespoon of milk into a small bowl of powdered sugar with a fork. I sometimes put more effort into it than that, but when you’re competing against tube-packet icing, why bother?

As for the dough, it doesn’t take long if you make a small batch and reduce the steps down to the most basic: Mix some warm wet stuff (oil and milk and water) with something sweet and salty (a little bit of sugar and an even smaller bit of salt) and yeasty (like, say, yeast), and then just pour on the flour, mixing with one hand and pouring with the other until the dough‘s not sticky and your other hand wants to join in. Now it‘s play dough time, which is usually good for wiping out at least two stress penalties.

When you‘re ready to form the rolls, start by pretending your’re making a pizza, spreading the dough out on an oiled surface. (In fact, at this point you could still elect to change your plan and make a pizza. But if you’re still set on cinnamon rolls, slather on butter instead of tomato sauce and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar instead of cheese.) Now roll it up into a tube, slice it with your play-dough knife, set each slice on its end in a greased pan, butter again, sprinkle with more cinnamon and sugar, and it’s ready for the oven. You’ve crossed the finish line, with your sanity intact.

By the way: Let the kids put their own icing on the rolls when they come out of the oven. It’s one less thing you’ve got to deal with, and they’ll think it’s fun.