Molly Wizenberg, Bon Appétit

Homemade cinnamon rolls. I can hardly think of three words more welcome on a wintry morning. Just saying them is soothing somehow, calling up visions of warm, butter-rich bread and icing as smooth as fresh, unsullied snow. Homemade cinnamon rolls. Say it, and the tongue does a little jig, then curls up and purrs like a cat on a pillow.

I love the idea of homemade cinnamon rolls. But that's the problem. I love the idea. The reality is another story. I feel awfully silly saying this, but I'm intimidated by yeast. Making cinnamon rolls, of course, means working with yeast. That's where the trouble starts.

The secret, I discovered, is rapid-rise yeast. Unlike active dry yeast, this variety requires no proofing, which-whew!-means it can be mixed right in with the dry ingredients. The dough, enriched with milk and butter, is no trickier than a typical cake batter. It's impossible to mess up.

Related: 31 All-Time Favorite Holiday Cookies

Making cinnamon rolls, it turns out, is the ultimate in tactile pleasure: the rolling and the filling; the soft butter and cinnamon sugar; the fat, tender spiral of dough; the way it warms chilly fingers. I was hooked from the very start. I made them once, twice, half a dozen times. I even got cocky, tweaking the recipe here and there. It's better than a million bakery-made specimens. (Trust me. I know.) Each time I take that first bite-still warm, I should note, and slightly, perfectly gooey inside-I curse myself from head to toe for being such a scaredy-cat. I'm starting to think yeast and I might have a future together-so long as it's full of cinnamon rolls.