Ann Sather’s Cinnamon Roll
Ann Sather Restaurant (Multiple Locations Chicago, IL)
Created by Ann Sather
Description: Handmade fresh dough rolled into a bun slathered with margarine, cinnamon and sugar mix and homemade icing.
The Nomination
Every resident in Chicago!
Don’t you just love when someone gets a recipe perfect and doesn’t change it ever? Well, that’s just what Ann Sather did when she opened her namesake restaurant 70 years ago with her cinnamon roll. Ann Sather actually owned the family restaurant herself for 35 years, before handing it off to her apprentice Tom Tunney. Tunney, now a Chicago Alderman, has steered the ship for an additional 35 years. Aldolfo Martinez, who heads up the kitchen at one of Ann Sather’s Lakeview locations, knew immediately that the rolls were something special the moment he started making them. Now twenty plus years later he and his brother make them together using an impressive hand roll technique that took years to master.
The same quality goes into every cinnamon roll, which means you are sure to get the same consistent mouth-watering taste every bite. Ann Sather’s cinnamon rolls are made from scratch with a special kind of flour that is their secret recipe. Rolls are made fresh everyday starting with the dough, a mix of brown sugar and white sugar, cinnamon and margarine. A generous amount of margarine is first spread all over a long flat piece of dough. Then the mix of brown and white sugar is added on top with the cinnamon being sprinkled on last. The dough is now ready to be rolled and shaped allowing the added mixtures to be folded nicely within the dough. Once rolling is complete the oblong dough is now cut into individual cinnamon rolls that are put on a baking sheet and into the oven.
The rolls are first proofed in the oven for 10 minutes at 200 degrees, which allows them to breathe and rise. They are then baked for 25 minutes at 275 degrees. The perfect ending to this process is applying the icing, which is a mix of vanilla, powdered sugar and condensed milk. This mixture is slapped on and spread over the warm rolls that are now ready to be served. In my opinion, the best way to experience an Ann Sather’s Cinnamon Roll is to indulge when they first come out of the oven, however many folks opt to take them home and reheat them in the microwave. I’ve done that many times as well and they’re really just as good. Adolfo thinks the cinnamon rolls are addictive because of the mixture of the dough, which is made fresh
every day. A typical weekend at any Ann Sather location would see 50-60 trays of cinnamon rolls being made with each tray holding 48 cinnamon rolls. A lot of customers stop by Ann Sather to pick up cinnamon rolls for their office, or even to take home as gifts to their families during the holidays. I’m sure that this is one gift no one will want to re-gift.
Addictive Properties
Sugar, cinnamon and more sugar. The freshness of the dough and the icing on top makes it impossible to put your fork down. Yes, you eat these rolls with a fork.
Addictive Rating (On a scale 1-10)
9.5
Chef de Cuisine
Their dough is a top-secret recipe, so you won’t be able to duplicate this cinnamon roll at home. The good news is that there are three Ann Sather locations in Chicago, so you won’t have to search high and low for their cinnamon rolls.