World Record Story

October 15, 2005
246.5 pounds
The World's Largest Cinnamon Roll

This is how House of Bread set the standard for cinnamon rolls and brought attention to Mill Creek from across the country.

At 7:00am, head baker Amy Shay and owner Wayne Warren fill two bowls with ingredients for 180 pounds of dough, 90 pounds per bowl. A total of 112 pounds of flour, 60 pounds of water, 14 cups of honey, 2 pounds of yeast, and 2 pounds of salt were used in the dough.

The baking sheet was designed and fabricated by Don Temple, owner of Ottercraft of Kingson, WA. It officially weighed in at 83 pounds. The weight of the pan must be subtracted from the final weight to obtain just the weight of the cinnamon roll.

Part of the fundraising for Hopelink was done through a raffle. Retailers from the Town Center contributed gifts, and celebrities from Mill Creek drew the tickets. Here, the first drawings were done by Police Chief Bob Crannell and Mayor Terry Ryan. House of Bread employee and event coordinator Jon Dickenson hosted the outdoor activities.

Starting at 9:00am, Lisa, Sarah and Julia start rolling out the dough, covering it with butter and cinnamon sugar. They are rolled into "logs" that are then cut into 3" rolls to be used as pieces of the big one.

The individual rolls are added end-to-end to the big roll by head baker Amy, forming a growing spiral. She added more than 600 pieces in about 100 minutes to form the one, single-piece, record-size cinnamon roll.

The 180 pounds of dough, plus about 50 pounds of butter and cinnamon sugar covered the entire pan.

The local police department provided help getting that heavy pan/roll into the oven. Together with Wayne and Anita and Amy, Sergeant Stan White, Chief Bob Crannell, and Officer Jennifer Clark provided the muscle.

Just about done! The roll went into the oven at 11:00am.

City Council member Donna Michelson does a drawing as Anita and Jon look on.

Council member John Hudgins does his part.

Rosemary Bennetts is a candidate for City Counsil position 3, currently held by John Hudgins. The two of them were taking a break from their "doorbelling" to help a good cause.

At 1:00pm, right on schedule, local firemen helped us carry out the completed roll (see their photo below). The baked roll had a perfect brown color all the way across and had expanded significantly during the two hour bake. The crowd gasped! Amy is removing the foil in preparation for icing.

About 50 pounds of icing (powdered sugar and water) were added to the roll. Here, Wayne is adding some finishing touches.

Mill Creek firemen are used to the heat! They helped pull the 350 degree pan out of the oven and set it on the table. This is Kelly Johnson, Bill Gunterman, Lt. Brian Fox and Ron Malcomson.

Producers of the roll: Julia Ackerson (House of Bread Franchising Nutritionist), Anita and Wayne Warren (owners), Amy Shay (Head Baker), Lisa Rosted (esteemed all-around employee), and Sarah Blau (Baker).

Steve Nelson and John Leerhoff, from the Washing State Department of Agriclture. Steve is from Weights and Measures, and he performed the official weighing and measuring of the roll - exactly 246.5 pounds according to Steve. John is from the Food Safety Program, and he watched the entire process, from the mixing of the ingredients to the final tasting of the finished roll. His opinion matters to Guinness, since they require it to be "entirely edible." His official report: "I received and declared the baked traditional cinnamon roll edible and very scrumptious."

As promised, at 2:00pm the roll was offered to the public. Hopelink received contributions from many cinnamon roll lovers as they received their piece. This line extended about 100 yards beyond the door and stayed that long for quite a while. Everyone who waited got a piece. Our estimate is that over 1000 pieces were handed out.

Serving went on for over an hour and a half. Here, employee Linda Hofer works on the table, Lisa carries some servings, and Amy keeps on cutting.

Owner and hostess Anita loves serving.