Cinnamon, Magic Rafts, and Slavery
Until early in the 16th century, the origins of cinnamon were closely guarded by spice merchants. Tales of gathering the exotic spice, as outrageous as the price of the cinnamon itself, were crafted in order to maintain the merchants’ stronghold.
One of these stories, as documented by the Greek historian Herodotus, involved gigantic birds that collected cinnamon sticks and stored them in their nests high atop mountain peaks that were impossible to reach by mere humans. According to Herodotus’ account, cinnamon traders would leave huge pieces of ox meat for the birds below the nests. As large as the nests were, they couldn’t hold the weight of the meat and would collapse to the ground carrying with them the cinnamon sticks which were promptly collected by the courageous spice merchant.
Another tall cinnamon tale reported by Pliny the Elder – the Roman philosopher, not the beer – indicated that cinnamon was carried on magic rafts powered solely by “man alone and his courage”.
Portuguese traders discovered cinnamon in Ceylon, present-day Sri Lanka, in the early 16th-century bringing with the discovery hundreds of years of wars, occupations, and slavery for this small island kingdom. By the 19th-century cinnamon was being cultivated in other parts of the world and was no longer the expensive, rare commodity it had once been.
The Origins of the Cinnamon Roll
Whether you’re British, German or Swedish, you may lay claim to the origins of the cinnamon roll. The butter enriched dough, foundational to cinnamon rolls saw its origins in Northern Europe around the 18th-century. In turn, each country developed the rich dough into something uniquely its own. The British rolled the dough up with currants, sugar, and butter and called it the Chelsea bun, and the Germans used raisins and nuts rolled into sweet schnecken, both of which made way for the kanelbulle, Sweden’s iconic rolled bun with cinnamon and sugar served for fika.
So, as you make Thelma’s Cinnamon Rolls, rejoice in the fact that you don’t have to carry large pieces of ox up mountains or power a magic raft with your courage alone. But above all recognize the sacrifices made and the creativity employed by so many in order that you may savor this uniquely warming sweet spice enveloped in a buttery, rich dough.
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Ingredients
Dough
- 1 cup milk scalded
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 envelope dry yeast
- 3 cups flour + a little more if needed
Topping
- 4 tablespoons butter melted
- 6 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Pour the warm milk into a large bowl. Add the butter, sugar, and salt and stir until sugar and salt are dissolved.
- Add the yeast and 1 and 1/2 cups flour, beat well to combine, about 1 minute.
- Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until a shaggy dough is formed.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and satiny, about 4 minutes. Adding 1 tablespoon of flour at a time, being careful not to add too much flour.
- Place the dough in a greased bowl, spreading the top with a little bit of melted butter.
- Cover with a dampened cloth and let rise to double in size, about 1 - 2 hours.
- Gently deflate the dough and knead. Roll into a 10 x 14-inch rectangle about 1/4-inch thick.
- Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with topping, leaving an 1/2-inch border around the edges.
- Starting at the long edge, roll the dough jelly roll-fashion. Pinch the seams together.
- Using a serrated knife, dental floss or heavy thread into nine 1 1/2-inch slices.
- Arrange the slices cut side up in greased 8 x 8-inch baking dish, brush with melted butter, cover and allow to rise until double, about 1 hour.
- Heat oven to 400˚F.
- Bake in the center of the oven for 20 minutes, or until golden brown and firm to the touch.
Nutrition
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I love your history of the cinnamon , so intersting!! I have made 657,983 cinnamon rolls in my life , lol, this sounds like an excellent recipe. The melted butter on top is a nice touch!!
Food history is my jam 😉 That’s a lot of cinnamon rolls 😉 Thanks for stopping by.
I wasn’t hungry until these photos, they look like the perfect cinnamon rolls!
Love it when my photos can make someone hungry. Cheers!
OMG these look way too good! I cant wait to make these
Let me know how they turn out for you. Cheers!
I love cinnamon rolls so much! And they’re so easy to make 🙂
I agree on both counts!
I always love a good cinnamon rolls recipe and this is definitely a great one to try. Thank you so much for sharing this yummy recipe. Will need to make those pretty soon.
Happy to share Thelma’s Cinnamon Roll recipe. Enjoy!
What an interesting history of the cinnamon roll! I’m Norwegian (which is basically also Sweden in terms of history), and I’m loving our version with cardamom so much, but I love trying new things too! Adding extra butter on top sounds delicious.
Glad that you enjoyed the history of the cinnamon roll. Always interesting to see how the food that we eat today has come to us. I’m also Norwegian, so completely identified with the origin story 🙂
Oh god I love these so freaking much. Theyre also home made! Ugh I will definitely be trying out this recipe.
Glad Thelma’s Cinnamon Rolls made you happy. Enjoy!
Seems pretty quick and easy. I’m not sure what my Dad uses but he whips up a batch of these badboys in like 20 minutes over light conversation. Always impressed me.
Love to hear about people so comfortable in the kitchen. Thanks for sharing. Cheers!
Oh, my goodness! These cinnamon rolls looks so perfect and delicious. I love how uniform they all look.
Thank you Erika. Thelma’s Cinnamon Rolls were fun to make!
I love learning the history and stories behind the food we love to eat and make. Such a great read and recipe. Thanks for sharing.
I so agree. I love me a good food history story 🙂 Thank you for visiting and it’s my pleasure sharing these recipe box recipes with everyone.
Cinnamon rolls have always been one of my favorite sweet breakfast! I’m sure they are even better from scratch!
I think that homemade is great, but so often it is the company that you enjoy food with that really makes it special. Cheers!
This speaks to my sweet tooth! I love homemade cinnamon rolls, especially for Sunday brunch with the family!
Sunday’s and sweet rolls were made to for each other. Cheers!
You totally nailed the simple way to make cinnamon rolls! so very cool! I will definitely try it at home
Well, I can’t take the credit for the simplicity of the rolls that is all Thelma’s doing. Hope you give them a try.
I love homemade cinnamon rolls! These look so delicious and perfect for brunch!
Thanks for stopping by. Thelma’s Cinnamon Rolls would be perfect for a brunch, or breakfast, or a snack 😉
One of the first food posts that I did was actually an ode to cinnamon rolls. I just love them. I’m addicted. I see one on the menu and I automatically order it.
You really can’t go wrong with a good cinnamon roll. Cheers!
One of my favourite recipes from now on! So easy and quick! I’m not a cooking enthusiast so anything easy quick and tasty is my moto hehe
I hope that you use Themlma’s Cinnamon Roll recipe often and it brings deliciousness to you 😉
That looks so amazing! I will have to try this with my family. I can’t wait to try it! I bet it’s going to be delicious.
I am sure they will enjoy them. Cheers!
This looks so yummy and easy to make. I’m always looking to spice up my cooking skills and recipes choices. Thanks for the new addition.
Hope Thelma’s Cinnamon Roll recipe helps your spice your skills. Enjoy!
I’m not a baker but I need to forward this to my bf because he LOVES cinnamon rolls. Those pictures look so mouthwatering.
Jules, these are so easy to make. Hope you and you bf enjoy them. Cheers!
I did not read the title i went straight away to the post and im obsessed with Greek and Roman mythology that i got transfixed right away. And to my surprise it was only an introductory for cinammon rolls. Good one! 😉
Thanks Erik. Love me a bit of history with my food 😉 Cheers!
I love reading the interesting history of cinnamon rolls. This recipe sounds easy.
I’m glad you enjoyed the history of cinnamon and cinnamon rolls. Thelma’s recipe is very simple and quite delicious!
Wow, these cinnamon rolls looks great. And the recipe seems easy to follow. I have to try this. 😊
Thank you! Hope you give them a try and enjoy them. Cheers!
I love the historical tales about cinnamon that you included int his recipe! So fun! I also think these just look and sound spectacular and straightforward. I am a huge cinnamon roll fan myself so any brunch involving them is perfect for me!
I’m glad that you enjoyed the food history lesson 😉 They are perfect for brunch. Cheers!
Oh I really love cinnamon rolls. I bet this would really taste great. I would love to try this.
Thelma’s Cinnamon Rolls are pretty tasty. Hope you enjoy the making the recipe. Cheers!
Oh my goodness those cinnamon rolls look absolutely delicious! And they are so pretty. Mine never come out so uniform.
Thank you Tynia. To be perfectly honest, I use a ruler to measure the rolls to make sure that they are as uniform as possible.
I love your storytelling and your photo of these cinnamon rolls is mouthwatering good. By the way the Pliny the Elder beer is one of my favorite and am actually heading to Santa Rosa to pick some up next week. I get some beer and then think of your delicious cinnamon rolls.
Thanks Jere! Enjoy your trip and have a drink of that fabulous beer for me.
LOVE LOVE LOVE your cinnamon legends! I’m also really into food history but focus mainly on Italian food and recipes! Your cinnamon rolls look fabulous. Going to pin for later!
Aren’t those legends fabulous? So glad that you enjoyed them. Love your pasta project. Cheers!
I do love a bit of food history, such an interesting read. Cinnamon buns are my favourite thing to make, something about them makes me feel so smug. They’re bloody lovely! Your’s look fab, can’t wait to give em a go!
Katie xoxo
Thank you so much for your kind words, Katie. There is something empowering about making the perfect cinnamon roll. Enjoy!
That looks like a great cinnamon rolls recipe. I like the history of cinnamon in this post too.
I’m glad that you enjoyed the history. Give Thelma’s Cinnamon Roll recipe a try, I am sure you will love them. Cheers!
I love recipes that aren’t too hard to follow. This is simple enough for me to do at home and I’m all for simple.
Can’t beat simple and when it involves cinnamon rolls, all the better. Thanks for stopping by. Cheers!
Always say yes to cinnamon rolls. These look so incredibly delicious.
Cinnamon rolls are hard to say “no” to. Cheers!
This is such a very interesting story and this cinnamon recipe look so easy to make and looks really delicious!
Glad that you enjoyed the story. Hope you give Thelma’s Cinnamon Rolls a try. Cheers!
This is such a very interesting story and this cinnamon roll recipe look so easy to make and looks really delicious!
I think that understanding the history of our food just adds another layer. Thanks for stopping by. Cheers!
I am crazy about cinnamon rolls. I really love the taste and the texture.
Hope you enjoy Thelma’s Cinnamon Rolls
i love cinnamon rolls i just thought it was going to be hard to make but with this recipe, i would try this for sure
Thelma’s Cinnamon Rolls are pretty simple and really delicious. Enjoy!
These look delicious! Never tried cinnamon rolls before but I guess I now need to make them, thanks for sharing the recipe
Loved the piece on cinnamon history. These rolls look so perfect, they are almost geometrical.
Glad you enjoyed the history. I think it makes food way more fun when you have a little bit of history. Cheers!
There’s nothing better than enjoying a sweet, warm cinnamon roll with your coffee and Sunday paper. So glad that we have them.
Agreed!
Wow, these cinnamon rolls looks great. Yummm… I bet this recipe would really tastes great.. 😊
Thanks Owen. They are pretty good 😉
I loved learning about where cinnamon rolls came from. My daughter would really love to try out this recipe I know. We love making them but usually, it’s from a can and this sounds so much better.
Glad you enjoyed the history lesson of cinnamon rolls. Give these a try and let me know what you think. Cheers!
My kids, nieces and nephews loves having cinnamon rolls after playing. I am going to make this recipe for them and I am sure they will love it.
Such a special treat. Cheers!
Is there sugar in the dough?
Hello Connie. Yes, there are 2 tablespoons of sugar in the dough. Thank you so much for pointing out this oversight. Have a wonderful day!