Cinnamon stick recipe search has twists and turns

Back in December, we had a query from Jean Swain in Garland. She wrote: “We have been looking for a recipe for a cinnamon twist or stick … When we visit friends in Massachusetts, we always stop at a little bakery/sub shop called Rose and Vickies in Manomet near Plymouth. There we always buy 20-30 of them to bring home and share with family. We have had no luck with any recipe we find in cookbooks or looking on line. Once my husband tried to buy the recipe from them but didn’t fare very well.”

Jean described the cinnamon sticks, and we put the query in the paper. You all came through with two really good-sounding recipes – one called for a yeasted dough, and the other was a rugelach dough. I saved both those recipes because they sound great, and we will use them here in a while.

Meanwhile, I turned to my Old Girls Network. As it happens my good friend Kathleen Curtin (co-author with me of the cookbook “Giving Thanks: Thanksgiving History and Recipes from Pilgrims to Pumpkin Pie”) lives in Plymouth. I asked Kathleen if she knew of Rose and Vickie’s and had ever had the cinnamon sticks. She took a little field trip to Manomet, bought some, tried to ask for the recipe and was turned down flat.

Turns out Rose and Vickie’s was sold to a couple of guys, though the bakery staff still calls one of them Rose and the other Vickie. Kathleen and I consulted, she e-mailed me pictures, and we finally figured out the reason you can’t get the recipe out of them is that they buy a commercial dough, similar to but not the same as puff pastry. Clearly they have a way with it and handle the dough just right, add just the right amount of spice and sugar, so that they have happy customers like Jean and her husband.

So I turned to my Larousse Gastronomique. This is a giant French cookbook-reference book that is less likely to give a recipe as you and I know them than to provide formulas and instructions. I looked for pastry dough and happened upon a semipuff pastry which I tried and I think might come close to what Jean is looking for. The upside is that it tastes very good; the downside is what a pain it is to make. No wonder Rose and Vickie buy it. Of course, some of you are terrific and patient bakers and will enjoy this process. Plan ahead, because the dough has to chill between additions of the shortening and before you finally turn it into the sticks.

The coarse sugar Jean described is hard to find in a regular grocery store. Sometimes you can find it in specialty food stores. I used turbinado, or raw, sugar because it has larger granules. You’ll notice that I think you ought to line your baking pan with parchment paper; that’s because the sugar and butter melt and ooze a bit, and the pastry will stick like a son of a gun.

Looking for … Marguerite Gallison of Bangor writes, “I need a recipe for a pie crust made with oil. I have heard that some are quite good.” She and I both wonder if one kind of oil works better than another. We hope you can help out with this.

Cinnamon Sticks

Yields 8 servings.

1/3 cup butter, chilled

1/3 cup lard or shortening

2 cups flour

7-8 tablespoons cold water

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon butter

Using a pastry cutter, cut the butter and lard together. Divide the resulting lump into four pieces, and wrap them in waxed paper to chill for about 30 minutes.

Rub one of the lumps into the flour with the tips of your fingers until the shortening is all blended in. Add the cold water, and form a ball of dough. Knead it lightly a few times, roll it out into a rectangle a little less than 1/4 inch thick. Over two thirds of the rectangle of dough, stick little bits of a second lump of the shortening. Make sure you distribute them evenly and to the edges. Fold the unbuttered third over to the middle of the middle of the other two thirds, then fold again. (You should have a layer of buttered dough on each side of the unbuttered dough.) Pinch the edges, wrap in waxed paper, and chill it for at least 30 minutes.

Repeat the above with a third lump of shortening, this time turning the dough once clockwise to roll it, pinch the edges together, rewrap in waxed paper, and chill for 30 minutes. Repeat the final time using the last lump of shortening. Chill the dough for 30 minutes before using it.

Preheat the oven to 425 F., and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix the cinnamon and sugar, and melt the butter. Divide the pastry dough, and roll out to 1/4 inch thick. Lightly brush the pastry with melted butter and sprinkle half the cinnamon sugar over the pastry. Roll the dough along the long side, and pinch the edges together. To form the sticks, cut each long roll into four sticks (or more) and place on baking sheet. Brush the tops with melted butter, and sprinkle some sugar on it. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 400 and bake another 25 minutes. Remove to a rack to cool.