The Mistake To Avoid When Baking Cinnamon Rolls, According To Prue Leith

It's hard to think about baking without thinking about Prue Leith. She's one of the colorful and heartfelt judges on "The Great American Baking Show" and "The Great British Bake Off" and has been cooking professionally since the 1960s, making her particularly qualified to dole out advice. Her new cookbook, "Life's Too Short to Stuff a Mushroom: Really Good Food Without the Fuss," is filled with useful tips, and we'd all be remiss not to follow them.

If your favorite week of "GBBO" is Sweet Dough Week, you're in luck. Leith shares a recipe for cinnamon rolls that only takes a couple of hours to make — no overnight rise here — and reveals a must-know tip for getting that dough right.

According to Leith, the biggest mistake you can make when preparing the dough for your cinnamon rolls is adding too much flour to your hands or your work surface when kneading. While the dough might seem sticky at first, stick with it (pun intended) and keep kneading to build elasticity. As the gluten develops, the sticking will stop. Extra flour will result in a dry, tough dough that even a gallon of glaze can't save.

In true Prue fashion, that's not the only tip in this recipe. Her book is peppered with QR codes that take you to videos demonstrating proper technique, like the right way to knead for smooth — but not overworked — dough.

While you might be tempted to use a mixer to knead your dough and avoid those sticky fingers, resist the urge and do it by hand. Hand-kneading allows you to really feel the texture of the dough, judging the texture as it shifts from sticky and lumpy to soft and smooth. Plus, hands generate less heat than a mixer, which can alter the texture or melt the butter you've added to your enriched cinnamon roll dough.

Worried your dough will get stuck to the counter? Start by kneading in the bowl until the dough comes together, then move it to a lightly floured surface to continue kneading until it is supple.