Birthday Schnecken

Another excellent way to celebrate a birthday--particularly an office birthday--is with Schnecken. German cinnamon rolls. Literally translated: Snails, because of the spiral that is made when the dough is rolled up, then sliced. Celeste's birthday was last week, and our office likes to celebrate birthdays in the morning with still warm bakery goods and hot coffee and a "meeting in progress" sign on the door. These schnecken are filled with pecans and butter and lots of brown sugar. The dough is a simple sweet, soft yeast dough and yes, I admit to using a bread machine when making the dough. And although I'm not a fan of silicon baking pans, I do keep silicon muffin pans specifically for making schnecken. In a regular metal muffin pan, you have to worry about the sugar burning, but not so with the silicon pans. The brown sugar and butter does exactly what it's supposed to do; that is, make a sugary glaze that coats the bun when the pan is turned upside down on a cooling rack and the buns are released.