I love any excuse to make a special breakfast. And by “special”, I basically mean anything outside of cereal and smoothies. I like to experiment with breakfast, but I have my old standbys. This cinnamon biscuit roll recipe is one of them. It’s a treat I’ve used to mark special occasions from my college graduation to Christmas. I like them because I usually have all of the necessary ingredients on hand (no yeast involved) and they’re surprisingly quick to whip together, but feel no less celebratory for their ease.

The original recipe was from my childhood neighbor, who was a home economics teacher at my high school and who provided me with some of my first and most memorable experimental recipes. Egg drop soup, polvorones, croissants and other global cuisine found its way into my recipe list thanks to Mrs. Brewer, and I still have the printouts from junior high to prove it.

These biscuit rolls are more flaky than the average cinnamon roll, but still follow the most important cinnamon roll guideline: the gooey center is the best part.

CINNAMON BISCUIT ROLLS

2 cups of flour

1 T. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1/3 cup shortening

3/4 cup milk

3 T. softened butter

4 T. sugar

2 T. brown sugar

2 tsp. cinnamon

3/4 cup powdered sugar

2 – 3 tsp. milk

Preheat oven to 425° F. Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl. Cut in the shortening with a fork or pastry blender until mixture looks like crumbs. Add milk and stir until well-blended. On floured surface, knead 10 times. Roll dough into large rectangle shape until 1/4 inch thick. Spread dough with softened butter. Mix sugars and cinnamon and sprinkle over butter. Roll up dough jelly roll style, starting at one of the narrower ends. With a sharp knife, cut into slices about one inch thick. Place on foil-lined cookie sheet. Bake for about 12 minutes.

Place powdered sugar and milk in a small Ziplock bag and squeeze until mixed and smooth. Cut away a small corner of the bag, and drizzle over warm rolls.