4-24-15 Jumer Rolls

Those of you from central IL will recognize these delicious little rolls which were a staple at the local Jumer’s Castle Lodge years ago in Peoria, Bloomington, and Champaign (Urbana?); for those of you that don’t know, Jumer’s was a German-style hotel/restaurant with these trademark rolls, and they were wonderful. I think I had them a few times outside of the restaurant, but not many people made them because they were “a lot of work.”

Well, a couple of years ago I was asked to make these for an event, and so I did. They turned out ok; no leftovers, you know, but just not how I remembered them from way back when. They were kind of ‘bread-y’ and drier than I remembered. Like I said, there were no leftovers, but it wasn’t a recipe I wanted to repeat often. So I didn’t.

Well guess what? I was asked to make them again for an event this weekend, and so Wednesday I tackled this project. And what do you know? I found a few tips and hints that turned out a phenomenal cinnamon roll!! Just like I remember from way back when! And I also found a few short cuts which made this entire process, from the first picture to the last picture, take a couple hours which includes baking and cleanup time (and yields a LOT of little rolls!). Unbelievable. I was so excited when they turned out so good and were so easy.

And then.

The vultures appeared.

Really. Out of nowhere they came, and I don’t know where I was, but next thing I knew half the pan was gone. Well I do like to treat my family, so we finished off that first pan at supper, and I fully intended to save the second pan for the event. *sigh*  I failed to hide the tupperware box of them, and by bedtime that box was half gone too. Finally I wised up and hid the remnants because Jacob requested them for his birthday meal last night (this in addition to the dozen and a half he took for lunch yesterday). And yesterday I made a second batch. Results: same as first time. Delicious and easy. And (obviously) the family loved them.

But.

Before you get too excited about these rolls, let me tell you the secret to the delicious moist gooey roll as opposed to the dry bread-y roll. Just so you know up front:

The secret is lots of butter.

If you’re looking for a healthy recipe, look elsewhere. You won’t find much good in these rolls except the taste. Which is wonderful. But healthy?

Not.

Okay so we don’t and won’t have these every day. But every few weeks - - - oh yes. They’re now on the roll rotation. Right along with our regular cinnamon rolls.

The recipe first, and then a few pictures. Because I googled this to find pictures and found so few that I decided a tutorial is in order. And this is my version as opposed to all the web versions I found which made a third of this batch. My take is that if it’s good enough to make, make a lot of it so there’s enough for leftovers and to share (if you can keep the vultures out). So if you want a smaller batch (why????), divide this by three. Or google it.

 

Jumer Rolls

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 1/2 cups cold water

3 tablespoons yeast

9 cups Bisquick

3 sticks butter

4 cups sugar

1/4 cup cinnamon

flour

Directions:

Dissolve 3 tablespoons yeast in 1½ cup warm water. Let stand a few minutes until yeast is nicely dissolved.

In a large bowl, mix 9 cups Bisquick with 1½ cups cold water, and add yeast/water to this. Let stand 10-15 minutes. Dough will be sticky.

Meanwhile, melt 3 sticks of butter, and combine 4 cups sugar with ¼ cup cinnamon; set aside.

Divide dough in half. On flour-covered board, roll each half to ~16x20, then butter and sugar/cinnamon generously. Cut rectangle in half to form two smaller rectangles, ~16x10. Cut each half into thirds. Each of the resulting six sections should be approximately 5x10”. Roll up lengthwise, and place entire log in well-buttered jellyroll pan, seam side down (do not need to seal seam). In pan, cut log into ~13-14 rolls. All six logs will nicely fit into one pan. Repeat with other half of dough. Let set 10-15 minutes then bake 350 for 15-20 minutes, until barely brown on top. Do not overbake.

Immediately brush rolls with more melted butter and sprinkle on more cinnamon/sugar. Be generous. This is what makes them good!!!

Yield: ~12 dozen.

Delicious and easy!!

 

Now a few pictures:

This is the bisquick, yeast, and water. Resting nicely for 15 minutes or so.

Pour some melted butter into jelly roll pans. Be generous. Tip pan to spread butter.

My able assistant doing most of the work so I can photograph.

Notice dough is very sticky.

Generous use of flour makes dough much easier to work with.

Ready for filling.

Remember: be generous. We used about a stick per half batch. (I never said these were healthy, remember?!)

A note on cinnamon/sugar: I found as many proportions of cinnamon to sugar as I did jumer roll recipes. We prefer 1 cup sugar to 1 tablespoon cinnamon, but adjust if too cinnamon-y or not cinnamon-y enough for you. I don’t think there’s a wrong proportion.

And did I mention to be generous here?

Ready to cut.

And roll.

Place entire log into pan BEFORE cutting (HUGE timesaver here - - - - SO EASY).

Cut.

Repeat for other half of dough. Resting nicely for about 15 minutes while oven pre-heats.

We baked one pan at a time; experiment with two pans at once if you’re short on time. Immediately after rolls come out, drizzle generously with butter. We used one stick to top both pans.

Sprinkle (again!) with cinnamon/sugar.

Again, be generous (hey if you want moist and gooey this is how you do it. If you want dry and bread-y, feel free to skip this step).

As they cool, some of the cinnamon/sugar is saturated by the butter (= goo ); the dry cinnamon/sugar mess on top is part of the appeal (which I remember from the restaurant’s rolls as well).

These are served in big chunks of little rolls that have baked together but can be easily broken apart into individual rolls. Sometimes they are taken from the serving platter in big chunks (or two or three if you’re a healthy teen-age boy who burns a lot of calories). And re-heat before serving, if possible. Way better warm (aren’t all cinnamon rolls???).

So there you have it.

My take on Jumer Rolls.

I would love to hear from anyone who has other hints/tips/suggestions/ideas about these cute little delicious little rolls. I’m always open to improvements!