Cinnabons & My Most Curious Unsolved Case
- Luci
- May 20
- 7 min read
Introduction
I spent many childhood mornings having cinnamon rolls from our local food co-op, I can tell you it was a battle in my family every time of who would get the belly button (the inside of the bun to those unfamiliar). I always thought many cinnamon rolls I got in stores or bakeries were too dry, and my first time ever having a name-brand Cinnabon from a mall kiosk was truly a religious experience. I've created this recipe and adjusted it over the years to mimic the delicious and well-hydrated Cinnabon dough with my favorite cream cheese frosting to top it off. This recipe seems impressive to bring to any brunch or get-together but the dough is truly very forgiving. If you're new to breads or rising dough fear not, this is a great introduction! These are my ride-or-die baked good and they've come out at many family christmases, mother day breakfasts and even workplace baking days. When I think of sharing my love for baking this recipe is usually the first to come to mind, so it seemed fitting for it to be my very first Jurisdish recipe.
Have you ever been asked "if you could ask God one thing, what would it be?". I think no matter your belief system, everyone has that one question they just ache to know. Some people might want to know what happened between Taylor and Karlie, or if OJ did it (don't waste your question on this- we all know), but my most pondered case has to be the Yuba County Five. How do five men, traveling together for a local basketball game, end up going missing in a remote national forest miles off of their route home?
The Recipe: My Cozy Cinnabons
Ingredients
Dough
2¼ teaspoon active dry yeast (or instant yeast)
1 cup milk (lukewarm)
½ cup granulated sugar
⅓ cup butter (unsalted, softened, or margarine)
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
4 cups all-purpose flour
Filling
1 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons cinnamon
⅓ cup butter, melted
My very cream cheesey- cream cheese frosting
1 block of cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
2-4 cups powdered sugar
Instructions:
Buns
Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk with a teaspoon of sugar in a large bowl. I typically heat up the milk in the microwave for 30 seconds and then whisk in the yeast and sugar. Put the mixture aside for 5 minutes to froth up. If your yeast doesn’t froth, its not good and you should get some fresh.
Put the sugar, butter, eggs, flour and salt in a large mixing bowl and add the yeast mixture once its foamed up a bit. Mix together all of the ingredients until a clean dough ball forms. I have used a dough hook or a wooden spoon- either work.
Oil the sides and bottom of a large bowl and place your dough inside, cover with a cloth and place in a warm area to rise. I've had luck with setting my oven to the "keep warm" setting while I prepare the dough and then turning it off but placing the bowl there to rise. You don't want it too hot but this creates a nice warm place and ensures a better rise. If you have a wood stove like my parents do, you could place your bowl on the side for some warmth while it rises.
Set a timer for 1 hour for your dough, meanwhile butter your baking dish. This recipe is made for a 9x13 pan, but I've experimented with round or oval dishes as well. Once you roll out your buns you'll have a better idea of what dish will work best for you, so feel free to leave the greasing until then if you want to get creative with pans.
Combine your filling ingredients in a small bowl and get out any other fillings you may want to add- nuts, dried fruit or chocolate.
Once your dough has risen and nearly doubled in size, punch it down and turn the ball out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll into about a 10"x13" rectangle, not worrying too much about a perfect shape. The larger you make this shape, the more spirals and thin layers your buns will have.
Spread the filling over your entire rectangle evenly with a spatula, butter knife or large spoon. If you feel you don’t have enough filling, mix some extra cinnamon sugar and sprinkle it on top. You can also add your extra fillings at this point.
Now it's time to roll them up! Be mindful of what you want your belly button (the middle of the roll) to look like, I usually like to make sure there is some filling in the very middle of my roll, meaning rolling it up I tuck some extra in the first roll. As you roll the rectangle up away from you lengthwise, pull the dough away with each turn as it may try to shrink on you. Once you're finished with this step you should have a large log, the ends may be a little bit uneven or smaller and that's ok.
Before you cut the log, you can adjust it how you like. These rolls are very versatile, so if you decide you want more smaller ones or fewer, large ones you can stretch the log accordingly.
Get a serrated bread knife- a regular steak knife will smoosh your swirls- and carefully saw your log into rolls, I do about 1 inch rolls. Again, the ends may look messy or small and you can always cook those ones in a separate dish if you'd like.
Once your rolls are all cut, place them swirl-flat in your prepared pan(s). You will want to leave at least an inch between them. Cover the rolls and let them rise once more in a warm place for 30 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.
After 30 minutes your buns should have noticeably expanded and may touch each other. Place them in the oven for about 20 minutes- cook time may vary depending on your oven so be sure to check doneness by poking the tops of the buns. Finished buns will have a slightly hard shell on top and start to brown slightly, be sure not to overcook and dry them out too much.
While your buns cook, place your cream cheese and butter in a stand mixer and whip them until there are no lumps and they form a cohesive whipped mix. Next, add vanilla and slowly add powdered sugar to your preferred sweetness, I typically like my frosting on the more cream cheesey-side (as the name suggests) because the buns are sweet themselves. If the frosting gets too thick, add some milk or cream, but not a lot.
Let the buns cool for as long as you'd like or serve hot, in my house they usually don't last more than 5 minutes out of the oven without being cut into.
Enjoy your cinnabons with cream cheese frosting and a side of your favorite crime podcast!
Storage: Store the buns in a plastic bag without air to prevent dryness, or covered in a pan if your frost them all together. If they do dry out, you can revive them by placing a damp paper towel over a bun before microwaving it. Store cream cheese frosting in the fridge.
The Yuba County Five Case
Gary Mathias (25), Bill Sterling (29), Jack Huett (24), Ted Weiher (32), and Jack Madruga (30) were all young men living in Yuba County, California in 1978. It's important to note that all of these men had mild intellectual disabilities, with the exception of Gary, and lived with their parents but were somewhat indepenedent in their activites. Gary was living with schizophrenia and was considered to be successfully treated for the mental illness. On February 24, 1978, the group drove from Yuba City to Chico, California to attend a California State Chico basketball game. After the game, the men stopped in a local store for some snacks. This is the last time the men were seen alive. Their car was later discovered abandoned on a remote mountain road in Plumas National Forest, far off their expected route and in an area none of them were familiar with. While the blue Ford Mercury was lodged in a snowbank, the car was not in undriveable conditions. The men seemingly could have pushed it out of the snow and, according to reports, it would have driven easily from where it was found.
Months after the men vanished mysteriously, searchers found the remains of four of the men in harrowing conditions. Ted Weiher’s body was discovered in a U.S. Forest Service trailer TWENTY MILES from where the car had been, having apparently survived for weeks or even months before dying from starvation and exposure. What makes this so puzzling was that there was months of food and gas in an unaccessed storage locked just next to the trailer he was found in. How did a man who got by for so many cold months on the same food and heat supply simply pass away when so much more was available? There was also an unidentified pair of boots found in the cabin. The bodies of Sterling, Huett, and Madruga were found scattered in the woods nearby. Their remains were skeletal and were found at different points leading up to the cabin, although it's unclear if this could be due to scavenging by animals or the actual areas where the men passed. The fifth man, Gary Mathias, was never found, and his fate remains unknown.
Despite investigations and numerous theories—including foul play, disorientation, and mental health crises—no definitive explanation has ever emerged. The strange circumstances, like why the car was abandoned with fuel and no damage, why they ventured so far off course, and why they failed to use supplies in the trailer, have led to decades of speculation. This case continues to puzzle me to this day. While other mysteries, like Jonbenét Ramsey or the Black Dahlia, have some plausible lines of logic, the Yuba County Five simply stumps me. I want to hear any theories you may have on what happened to these young men- please sound off in the comments. For more in-depth coverage of this case, there are numerous podcasts on it that go into detail, I recommend checking them out! I will link a few in this weeks post. Enjoy your cinnabons and stay jurisdelicious!
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