I believe in a lot of things. I believe in being nice. I believe in forgiveness. I believe in Hot Breakfasts. As my daughter G used to say, “for real life, I do.” However, mornings are tight at our house. The bathroom is in heavy demand, people are practicing instruments, almost all major appliances are up and running. Speaking of running, I am usually back from my run and instead of running on the street, by 7:30am I am running around my house barking orders to play the right note, start the dishwasher, or get out of the bathroom. So, given the morning craziness, my strong belief in Hot Breakfasts suffers dearly. Enter Fake Cinnamon Rolls. My dear friend H introduced these to me a few years ago. She brought this towering gooey mess of Orange Rolls to Easter Dinner. I couldn’t stop eating them. I took four just for myself. When my daughter asked me if there were any more of H’s orange rolls, I lied and said, “I don’t think so”, when in fact there were about seven left. I wanted them all for myself. Whenever somebody reached for one, I gave their hand a dirty look. I resented H for not making these sooner, and I told her so. She said, “well, I didn’t think you made things out of a can.” “What?” I replied. “These are just canned biscuits dipped in butter, sugar and orange peel, then baked in a bundt pan.” “Oh.”, I humbly replied. Fast forward a few years later. I make these fake cinnamon/orange rolls all the time. When I have an extra fifteen minutes in the morning, I pop these puppies in the oven and wha-la, the girls treat themselves to a yummy breakfast dessert (post scrambled eggs, mind you). And if any of you are grossing out that I in fact use biscuits from a can, too bad. I guess that means you can’t come over and try one. Just kidding. I said I believe in forgiveness, and for real life, I do.
Marilyn’s Orange Rolls (including a cinnamon roll variation)
3 cans prepared biscuits –Pillsbury Biscuits (buttermilk)
1/2 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup sugar
grated rind of one orange
Mix butter, sugar, and rind. Dip biscuits in mix, then stand on end around greased bundt pan. Pour extra mix on top (I add a bit of the orange’s juice as well). Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes.
For Fake Cinnamon Rolls, I use 1 teaspoon of cinnamon instead of orange rind. I also use 1/2 cup white sugar and 1/4 cup brown sugar, but be sure to watch closely because the brown sugar causes potential gooey-ness to drip over the pan.
Finally, I don’t use all 3 cans of biscuits for my girls in the morning, I reduce the whole recipe and use one can, and bake it in any sort of small baking dish. Yummy.
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Oh I miss you! Can I come to your house for breakfast, like, everyday?
Wow, these sound great (and I have no objections to things from cans.)
Although it’s less quick than this version, Dean came up with shortcut for a version of this recipe. I have an “orange bubble loaf” recipe that’s much like yours, but uses a bread dough that you roll into many 1″ balls before dipping and baking (and you can do a cinnamon roll version.) But since it takes so long to shape all the little balls of dough, I’ve only used this beloved recipe once or twice. Well, Dean figured out to roll out the dough out flat and then cut it into little squares with a pizza cutter. SO much faster, and with the same delicious result. I think he might have also just mixed the sugar with the butter and drizzled it to save the time rolling each piece in sugar.
Anyway, I’ll bet your girls love your orange rolls as much as if they were entirely from scratch. I’ll have to try them.
It does make me feel better to know that I am not the only person who believes in popping open of can of goodness.
Becca,
I have to be honest here….I’m kinda sad to hear that you (dare I say it), cook from a can – and admit it! I thought I knew you so well…
I love your dirty little secrets. For real life, I do!
I’m so making these this week. And I’m even worse than you, Becca. I would serve these to my family for dinner, alongside eggs, of course! Breakfast for dinner is one of the fastest and easiest things, in my mind. Remember when Abigail saw you making eggs at our most recent family reunion, and she said, “What?! Why are you making EGGS for breakfast, Aunt Becca?” That’s how often I serve them for dinner.
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