Overnight Cinnamon Rolls, or How to Rot Your Teeth

*Not my recipe. This comes from Pink Perfection.

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
makes 12

dough
1 cup milk
1/3 cup butter
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1/2 cup white sugar
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 eggs

filling
1 1/3 cups (packed) golden brown sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons unbleached all purpose flour
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

glaze
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup maple sugar (if you can’t get maple sugar, use 2 cups powdered sugar, and you could add some maple flavoring, if desired)
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons (or more) whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

Heat the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Stir in butter until melted. Let cool until lukewarm.

In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 1/4 cup flour, yeast, sugar and salt; mix well. Add eggs and the milk mixture; beat well. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. When the dough has just pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, adding more flour as needed, about 5 minutes.

Cover the dough and let rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together filling ingredients.

Roll out dough into a 9×12 inch rectangle. Spread dough evenly with filling mixture. Roll up dough from the long end and pinch seam to seal. Cut into 12 equal size rolls and place cut side up in a 9×12″ baking pan. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

The next morning, remove cinnamon rolls from refrigerator and let sit on the counter for about 30 minutes to take the chill off. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until browned. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together glaze ingredients, adding more milk to thin glaze, if necessary. Remove rolls from oven, and pour glaze over hot cinnamon rolls. Serve warm.

The God of Catastrophe

This was Pastor Leitart's exhortation this week:

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At the Trinity office this week, you will find printed copies of Pastor Sumpter’s pastoral report from last Tuesday’s Heads of Household meeting. I encourage you to take one and read it carefully and prayerfully.

You’ll find that, as we celebrate our eighth anniversary as a church, we face several intense pastoral situations. Hidden sins have come to light; previously quiet sinners have turned defiant; apparently harmonious marriages have unraveled; family secrets have been revealed; accusations have been hurled at the elders.

Reading that report, you may be tempted to think that God has abandoned us for a season. The opposite is the case. Whenever God comes near, He throws the world into turmoil.

He brought flood waters in the time of Noah. Sodom was cheerfully decadent, until Yahweh showed up. No one had ever seen a nation plowed up as Egypt was when Yahweh came to rescue His son.

What surprises us is that God traumatizes the righteous as well as the wicked. Abraham the just was called to sacrifice his beloved son, faithful Joseph was sold as a slave, and David spent his early life on the run. When God the Son draws near in human flesh, He bears a cross. God’s presence is unspeakable joy; in a sinful world His presence is also, necessarily, unprecedented grief.

Many of the situations at Trinity emerged after we started our regular days of fasting and prayer. We have considered asking you to stop praying. But we need this. We are so content with our sin, sloth, and immaturity that we need trauma to grow up. God has answered our prayers. He has come near as the God He is, the God of catastrophe.

Even if you are not involved in any of these situations directly, don’t miss this chance for taking stock, self-examination and repentance. Don’t be proud when you read about other people’s problems. God is among us, and He is bringing hidden things to light. Beat Him to the punch; expose yourself before he exposes you. As Paul says, “let a man examine himself . . . if we judged ourselves rightly, we should not be judged.”