Aunt Becky's Jumer Rolls

If you have never had a Jumer roll, you are missing out. They are sort of like a cinnamon roll without frosting, but smaller and so much better. My mom's sister, Aunt Becky, was an excellent baker. Growing up, she used to make these Jumer Rolls on Easter. All 4 of us kids considered them a special treat and we added the rolls to a long list of reasons why we loved Becky that included her great sense of humor and fun-loving nature.

In anticipation of Easter, I asked my mom for the recipe for Jumer rolls. My aunt passed away in October of 1994 and while my mom has made these great little rolls a few times in the past 15 years, I decided it was time to try to make Jumer rolls on my own. So, today I set out to do just that.

Not having inherited my aunt's baking skills (I think those went to my sister), I expected it would be a bit of trial and error and that they wouldn't turn out perfectly. What I didn't expect was to feel so nostalgic about how these little rolls connected me to my aunt. I think about her quite often and wear her cowboy boots just about every other day - fall through spring; and today I felt that there was something special about trying to recreate her recipe. While brushing the butter over the rolled out dough and sprinkling the cinnamon and sugar on top, I remembered being in my mom's kitchen with my aunt standing next to me, guiding me through these steps. This is a memory I had forgotten and am glad that the Jumer rolls brought it back to me.

In the end my Jumer rolls didn't turn out anywhere near as good as my aunt's, but that's just fine. It was a nice day in my kitchen in the middle of Chicago with my memories. And right now my Jumer rolls are staying fresh wrapped in plastic in my kitchen waiting for Easter tomorrow when I can share this special treat with my friends.