Valentine’s Day is often considered a romantic holiday but I like to make it about all of the people I love in my life, most importantly my children. We do this by having a special family dinner with a Valentine’s theme. Heart shaped mini meatloaves, mashed potatoes piped onto their plates in the shape of hearts, and these rolls are always part of that menu. My children love cinnamon love knots and its such a special treat to have a yeast roll with the surprise of cinnamony sweetness. 

Of course, if the recipe is from me, you know it’s going to be streamlined and easy for those of us with limited time in the kitchen who still want to add that special touch to our meal.

Frozen roll dough make this recipe possible for anyone who doesn’t have the time to make dough from scratch.



 Cinnamon Love Knots



8 balls of Frozen yeast roll dough (such as Rhode’s)

1 cup sugar

2 T cinnamon

1 stick margarine, melted

Place dough balls on plate sprayed lightly with baking spray to prevent them from sticking. Allow to thaw but not rise. Once thawed, melt margarine in microwave. Stir cinnamon and sugar together in separate bowl. Roll out dough into tube about six inches long. Tie into knots. Dip into margarine and then roll into cinnamon sugar mixture. Place on greased pan and cover with greased plastic wrap. Leave in warm place and allow to rise until double in size (about one and a half to two hours). Bake at 350 for 15 to 20 minutes, or until brown.

For an added treat, prepare the following cream cheese icing to be served with rolls.



Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing



4 ounces cream cheese

1/2 stick margarine or butter

1 1/2 to 2 cups confectioner’s sugar

1 tsp butter flavoring (can substitute Vanilla)

1 T cinnamon

Soften cream cheese and margarine by leaving out on counter until it reaches room temperature. Combine the two in a mixing bowl and mix until well blended. Add sugar.

Mix until smooth. Add flavoring and cinnamon, mixing until well incorporated and icing is creamy. Serve with warm rolls.

This recipe and more can be found on www.southernplate.com.

Christy Jordan publishes www.southernplate.com, a website dedicated to teaching classic southern dishes and quick and easy family favorites through full photographic tutorials. Her recipes may be seen in upcoming issues of Southern Beauty Magazine and The FOOD Mag. Her cookbook may be purchased on her website or at Pablo’s.