History
The cinnamon-roll-with-chili pairing came out of Kansas City school cafeterias in the 1960s, where chefs scaled bakery-counter rolls for school lunch programmes and paired them with chili as the protein. Stroud's, which had been serving cinnamon rolls with fried chicken since 1933, helped cement the format. The combination spread to truck stops and lunch counters across western Missouri and eastern Kansas.
Make it at home
Yield Serves 6Hands-on 45 minTotal 3 hrDifficulty Intermediate
Ingredients
- For the chili: 1 lb ground beef, 1 onion diced, 2 cloves garlic, 2 tbsp chili powder, 1 can kidney beans, 1 can crushed tomatoes, 1 cup beef stock, salt, pepper.
- For the rolls: 3 cups flour, 2 tbsp sugar, 1 packet yeast, 1/2 cup warm milk, 1/4 cup melted butter, 1 egg, 1 tsp salt.
- For the filling: 1/2 cup brown sugar, 2 tbsp cinnamon, 1/4 cup softened butter.
- For the glaze: 1 cup powdered sugar, 2 tbsp milk, 1/2 tsp vanilla.
Method
- Make the chili: brown the beef with the onion and garlic. Add chili powder, beans, tomatoes and stock. Simmer 60 minutes.
- Make the dough: bloom the yeast in warm milk with sugar. Combine with flour, butter, egg and salt. Knead 8 minutes. Rise 90 minutes.
- Roll the dough into a rectangle. Spread softened butter, sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon evenly.
- Roll into a log; cut into 6 rolls. Place in a buttered pan; rise 30 minutes.
- Bake at 375F (190C) for 22 to 25 minutes until golden.
- Whisk the glaze ingredients; drizzle over the warm rolls.
- Serve a bowl of chili with one cinnamon roll on the side.
Tip from the editors. The combination is regional and divides eaters; the trick is to alternate bites of chili and roll rather than mixing them. The chili should be on the sweeter, beanier side of the spectrum, not a Texas-style bowl.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.