Cinnabon Cinnamon Roll Recipe

OH MY GOODNESS THESE ARE GOOOOOOOOD!!!!!!

I have been looking for different baking recipes to use with my KitchenAid Mixer that I got from Costco. I have also gotten into stoneware and wanted to start breaking in my new pie dish that is pictured in the second photograph.

This recipe was easy and, as it states, is probably as close to Cinnabon as you could get. My husband would say, it is better than Cinnabon.

These beauties made the house smell amazing!

A few notes:
1. I would say it is easier to melt the butter and brush on rolled out dough and then sprinkle on the cinnamon/brown sugar mix rather than mix the butter, cinnamon and brown sugar. I did that and then was trying to spread out this cakey mixture. No bueno. Though they were still incredibly, lick your fingers, edible.

2. Do not be fooled, the frosting is enough to sufficiently cover all the cinnamon rolls even if you would ask for extra frosting.

3. TIME! They are not ready to be baked in 20 minutes. There is an extra 1.5 hours that is not added to prep time. You are supposed to let the dough rise for ONE HOUR then, after you form them into actual cinnamon rolls, you are supposed to let them sit for another 30 MINUTES.


The near finished product. I still had more frosting to put on these bad boys!

The recipe was enough to be able to give a bunch away to neighbors, my parents and even a few for ourselves. One person said they were the best cinnamon rolls they had ever had.



DIY Hard Nails Base/Top Coat and Heartbreaker Polish

So, it is...AMAZING!


Heartbreaker Polish:
I thought there would be a delay on the color change, there isn't. It is surprisingly instantaneous. The warm color is a fun bubble gum pink. The cool color is black but not dreary or drab due to the lovely sparkles. I was hoping that it would look like I had a French manicure all of the time when my nails grew out but it is only some of the time that I am warm enough and it is just cold enough, usually it is just a little too warm or too cold.


In reading reviews I was prepared for it to appear very thick, tar-like even. Once you scrap the excess off the brush it ends up going on pretty easily and not at all gunky like it appears.


This was my first experience with temperature changing polish and I am definitely going to be getting more because of the fun I am having with it.




DIY Hard Nails Base/Top Coat:
My nails I did with the DIY Hard Nails base/top coat. The base coat and top coat seem opposite of others (ie OPI and Gelish). I found the base coat more liquid and the top coat more thick/gel-y than other top coats. I did my sister's nails with the DIY Hard Nails top and base coat and the OPI colors that I used seemed to go on very smoothly/evenly. OPI gelcolors seem more streaky when I put them on over the Gelish base coat that I have.




I painted my nails on Thursday, and on Tuesday, after a weekend of cleaning bathrooms, mopping, washing dogs and everything else in between they are still looking pretty good, wouldn't you say? :-)

This one is after 1.5 weeks. There is obvious grow out, no chips or peeling that I could tell. This is what they look like when warm.

Update on 48 Watt Melody Susie Nail Lamp

As I had hoped, it works faster than their 24 watt lamp! I am really enjoying the fact that the power cord is longer. That in itself is almost worth the extra cost. I also love the sensor that turns it on when you put your hand in and turns off when you pull your hand out before the timer is up so you don't have to mess around with any buttons. The 5 second setting is so fast I worry that it is not enough time so I put my hand in for twice the length of time for the base coat. Maybe next time I will have the courage to just do the 5 seconds. I hate when things don't fully cure and then you get bleeding over into the other colors. Argh.

I used the lamp on my moms nails first and it worked about as well as the 24 watt lamp. It still did not seem to be curing the whole nail. Since I have tried a couple of different lights with her I am thinking there is something she is doing wrong.

The picture below was the result of the 48 Watt Melody Susie lamp and SensatioNail Coral Sunset with OPI base and top coats. I only needed two coats of the color and the ends capped nicely. Over a week and still no chips and believe me I have been busy with house projects. I wasn't thrilled with the color as it was closer to pink than I was hoping though, still not a bad color.

Gelish vs. OPI base and top coats

The lifelong debate on every beauty and nail blog.

To be honest I am still torn. There are pros and cons to both.

In my experience, with Gelish Base/Top Coat the polish seems to chip and peel a little easier than with OPI Base/Top Coat. Just as Gelish comes off easier when you don't want it to, it comes off easier when you do want it to. I have still not gotten the OPI Base/Top coat to come off without putting some elbow grease into it. That is with trying 100% acetone and Onyx Gel Remover and checking at 5 minute intervals up to roughly 20 minutes. The Gelish Base/Top coat does seem to do a little better when I use the Bond Aid nail plate dehydrator. I also
love that the OPI doesn't require roughing up the nail to get the base coat and colors to stick better. The shine seems to be equally good and lasts through the two weeks that I have worn them. I also like how OPI gel color goes on so smoothly/evenly in application and color.

In conclusion, I would probably reach for the OPI Base/Top Coat first, even though I slightly dread when it comes time to take it off.

Ideally, I would like to find is a base/top coat that keeps my gel polish from chipping or peeling but that I can take off easily within a reasonable amount of time.

Today, I ordered DIY Hard Nails Base and Top coat and Heartbreaker, one of their temperature changing gel polishes, taking advantage of their "Buy 3 Ship Free." Hopefully they will arrive soon enough to try this weekend with my new Melody Susie nail lamp. From my few interactions with this company they seem very responsive and helpful. I have high hopes that their polish will do well.


SO EXCITED FOR THIS COLOR!

48 Watt Melody Susie LED nail light

I have been getting into gel nails since my friend turned me on to them this last summer. I have since tried two lights: USpicy 18 Watt and Melody Susie 24 Watt LED lights for curing Gelish and OPI brand gel polishes. The USpicy was nice as it would turn on automatically when you put your hand in and you could see how much time was left. I shortly returned it and got the Melody Susie light since I wanted to try something that was a little more powerful and not much more money. It was nice as it was a little more powerful = took less time to cure gel polish. In doing my mother's nails regularly though, I realized I wasn't getting the results I wanted with this lamp. I don't know if it was lack of internal reflection or if my mother's hands were too arthritic to place in there appropriately. Just recently, I ordered off the Melody Susie website directly for the Melody Susie 48 Watt to see if it works better for my mother's nails. The order was placed 1/19 and, being the frugal person that I am, I opted for free shipping. The light arrived with much anticipation on 1/25, which was quick to me for not having to pay a dime for shipping.

Needless to say, I am very excited to try it on her.

The various pros I have read about and seen coming out of the box:
*even more power, 48 Watts, for a decent price ($119 direct from their website or from Amazon)
*sensor that kicks it on for when you set your hand in AND turns it off when you take your hand out before the time is done!!!
*very reflective interior
*removable base plate
*timer that lets you know how much time is left incase you get antsy
*much longer/more forgiving cord than the Melody Susie 24 Watt light

An important thing to consider: when I was purchasing the light I signed up to be a member. This resulted in a $6 discount. :-)