Tender whole wheat rolls with irresistible swirls of gooey, almost caramel-like cinnamon sugar. My family called these the BEST they’ve ever had! They don’t taste healthy at all!
This past weekend, I flew to Minnesota to attend a food photography workshop put on by Lindsay, who writes the blog Pinch of Yum. If you’re following me on Snapchat (@AmyBakesHealthy) or Instagram, you already saw a few sneak peeks of the event and what we ate—hello gorgeous cupcakes!—and I’m going to share more about my amazing trip in the next few days.
But for now, let’s just say that I felt a twinge of first-day-of-school jitters the night before. I tossed and turned for half of the night, too excited and slightly nervous to truly fall into a deep sleep. What will Lindsay be like? What will my classmates be like? What are we going to learn? Am I going to fit in?
I shot out of bed the moment my alarm rang on Saturday, and I quickly rode the elevator to the hotel’s fitness center to squeeze in a quick workout. Although most of my nerves had resolved overnight, a little exercise always helps me relax into a calmer state of mind!
After showering, I walked three blocks over to a different hotel, where I met two of the other bloggers attending. We drove over to the studio space together, and as soon as we spotted the pretty gold balloons outside of the door and checked in with Abby, I inhaled with excitement all over again. I made it! This was really happening!
Lindsay was even sweeter than I imagined, and she made all of us bloggers feel right at home. She started off the workshop with a long breakfast bar with lots of delicious options: coffee, orange juice, fresh fruit, DIY yogurt parfaits with nuts and granola, and…
Donuts. Big, soft, fluffy pillows of perfection. Old fashioneds, sprinkled, glazed, cinnamon sugared, pure chocolate, little holes… You name it! They were provided by a local family-owned donut shop, and seeing that big box of pastries reminded me of my favorite donut place back home, which offers a very similar menu as well as sticky buns and cinnamon rolls the size of my face.
And somehow, I started craving cinnamon rolls.
So when I arrived home after the incredible weekend away, that was the first thing I baked, and these Clean Eating Classic Cinnamon Rolls tasted even better than the ones from our California donut shop! My family walked in while the pan sat cooling on the counter, and although they know the drill—no eating until after the treats have been photographed!—they swooped in as soon as I finished, and 8 of the cinnamon rolls had disappeared in the blink of an eye. My family couldn’t stop raving about them!
Continue reading & see the recipe! ›› Clean Eating Classic Cinnamon Rolls