Franciscan Heritage Foods Bakery and Coffe Shop (1980-1994)

I'll admit that Cinnamon Rolls hold a special place in my heart - more than cupcakes, chocolate pudding pie (my favorite birthday dessert growing up), and more than a hot fudge sundae.

I went to Ada Village Preschool and on occasion, my mom and I would walk around the corner and stop in at the Franciscan Bakery and Coffee Shop. We would walk through the gateway, onto a cobblestone path, step up on the old stone stoop, push open the tall heavy door with the leaded glass, and the tinkling of a bell would announce our arrival. Stepping into what was once a general store or drug store, one length of wall had a counter with bins full of tea and gift items, the opposite wall filled with glass dessert cases with a nun or two standing behind it, taking orders, refilling coffee cups of and delivering orders to patrons sitting at the little tables spread the length of the room, and stocking the glass shelves with freshly baked goods that would emerge from the end of the room from behind two swinging doors.

I'm sure I tried a number of baked goods, but my all-time favorite, and the one that has since set on a pedestal in my mind as the ultimate-unbeatable sweet treat of all time, was the big glazed Cinnamon Bun.

I'll admit that I've never tried a Cinnabon Cinnamon Roll; in some moments of weakness, I've considered it, but I've never taken that step. To do so would dishonor, disrespect the memory and the gloriousness of those special stops at the Franciscan Bakery. Even if a Cinnabon Cinamon Roll was out of this world fabulous, how could the experience of purchasing a mass produced roll from a commercial franchise compare?!?

The flurry of baking this past winter was preparation for my attempt to make home-made Cinnamon Rolls. While my mom, on rare occasion, would bake a pan - and they were glorious -I have never attempted to make them; something about them being a yeast dough, time consuming, multistep, etc. Well, at this stage those reasons are no longer obstacles, but rather reasons to finally make home made Cinnamon Rolls. So, last night I made the dough, cut the rolls, and put them in a pan in the refrigerator to bake this morning. I got up at 5:45 a.m. and placed them on the stove for a final rise, moving them to the radiator for a final puff before putting them in the oven for 20 minutes. The result was unbelievable - even Matt, not a big sweet-eater, had two! I won't say how many I had...

While my dough was rising last night I looked to see what I could find about the Bakery and Coffee Shop. Unfortunately, the Master Baker, Sister Ann Boehm passed away in 2003 andthe only other Sister I can find, who was involved in the bakery is Sister Colleen Ann Nagle. She doesn't appear to be that old, so there may be time for me to contact her to see if she would share Sister Boehm's recipe for the best Cinnamon Rolls in Memory and maybe a picture or two of the bakery.