Poke 'Em...One Of Them Is Bound To Giggle.

Sometime during the winter, while passing a Burger King I noticed a banner advertising their new breakfast menu. I hate eggs, so fried chicken embryo on a biscuit scaled up 800% serves no purpose other than triggering my gag reflex. But something else on that banner made me do a double-take: Cini-Minis. For those unfamiliar, they were (and are once again) four bite-sized cinnamon rolls with icing dip (see mug shot on right).

I love cinnamon rolls and have sampled the spectrum of good and bad with many bordering on building supply rather than baked good. However, for a product originating from a fast food restaurant, Cini-Mini's were exceptionally good. I hadn’t seen them since at least 2003 when suddenly, and without warning, they disappeared. In trying to reason their disappearance I devised this theory: they were a headache for franchisees. Cini-Minis were, according to a Burger King press release dated April 27, 1998, "Baked fresh daily on restaurant premises…” My theory made sense as there were a few rare occasions when I could swear that corners were cut and they were deep-fried (dark brown and greasy…yum!).

Cini-Minis share an interesting lineage with another popular cinnamon roll; Pillsbury produces them for Burger King. A small image of the Poppin’ Fresh, The Pillsbury Doughboy found on the bottom of the carton offers the only evidence of this [Note: While I’m no Annie Leibovitz, the blurred quality of the following photo comes courtesy of the package printer and not my jangled nerves - click for an enlarged view]:

This makes sense as the corporate information on Burger King’s website reveals that Pillsbury was a one-time owner of Burger King, purchasing the company ten years after its founding in 1967 (Burger King was sold in the late 1990’s).