Florida’s Most Famous Thanksgiving Dessert Has Nothing To Do With Pie
Every year around this time, the leaves become all sorts of reds and oranges and yellows, a sudden crispness latches in the air, and the feeling of the holidays is everywhere...I imagine.
Though I would love, love my Thanksgiving to be so idyllic, I’m from the Sunshine State, which has other thoughts on the matter. I mean, we put lights on palm trees, guys. And while traditional holiday pies sound delicious (apple pie, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, sweet potato pie-all things that are so classic for others!), there is one thing no one can take away from us Miamians. That thing is Knaus Berry Farm's cinnamon rolls.
Tucked away in the Redland area of South Florida is a farm that sells strawberries (you've gotta pick 'em, though), jams, pies, shakes and vegetables, but everyone-and I mean EVERYONE-knows about Knaus's cinnamon rolls. You can smell them all the way at the end of the line. Yes, the smell alone is enough to make you want to cut everyone in line. Yes, there's a line. And, yes, people will wait on it for hours for just a single bun. I've thought a lot about why I myself have waited in that line for three hours and here’s what I've landed on.
These cinnamon rolls are fresh. Like, super fresh. Fresh enough that the buns are still warm by the time you get to them, no matter how long it took for that to happen. They’re swirled nearly perfectly every time. Oh, and they’re gooey and soft and chewy and sweet and flawlessly spiced. You can’t have just one, which is probably why people buy boxes.
Hundreds make the trek to the Redlands for these cinnamon-filled, sugar sauce-laden rolls. We have welcomed the delicious Knaus Berry Farm cinnamon rolls into our homes and placed them on a pedestal above all the other desserts. They have become a tradition that is almost as essential as the turkey at Thanksgiving. Almost.
The anticipation for the rolls begins months in advance, as the farm is only open from late October to late April. Still, the long lines won’t stop until after the holidays, according to one employee. A woman in line confirmed her Thanksgiving is never complete without the Knaus Berry Farm cinnamon rolls. She and her family-all of whom are from Cuba and love sugar-are devoted to the house-made treat.
Locals aren't the only ones to know and love Knaus Berry Farm. Restaurants add their rolls to their shakes, put bacon on them, put them around burger meat, make them into doughnuts, submerge them into puddings, smother them in ice cream. Last year, the farm was even added to the National Culinary Heritage Register.
So while us Miami residents don’t really have fall, I’d say the taste of a warm Knaus Berry Farm cinnamon roll has to be about the same feeling other people get when they first see snow, right? It’s just magic.
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