If you are going to the trouble of making homemade cinnamon rolls, you should make them even better… Caramel Rolls!
I took a lot of pictures, so I’m going to try something different. Let me know if you like the gallery-style post (like this one) better or the longer pictures-in-post better!
Here’s what you need for the dough.
Mix together the milk, butter, and sugar in a saucepan. You can cube the butter to help it melt faster.
And don’t forget the cornmeal!
Cook over medium heat until the butter melts and the mixture starts to bubble.
The cornmeal mixture has to cool before you can add the rest of the ingredients.
When the cornmeal mixture has cooled, it will be slightly thicker.
Mix together the flour and yeast.
Add the cornmeal mixture and eggs and mix up.
The mixture will be pretty runny.
Mix in the flour a little at a time. You can tell this is still pretty sticky, but I wanted to change to my mixer’s dough hook to mix in the rest.
Still a little too sticky yet. Add flour little by little until it is only slightly sticky.
Once it is slightly sticky, you are ready to knead the dough.
Keep kneading several times.
Knead the dough. Fold it in half, push down with the heels of your hands. Turn the dough 90 degrees, and repeat.
The dough will be nice and soft. If you are kneading by hand, don’t worry about over-kneading. You’ll likely tire before that happens!
Oil a large bowl and place the dough inside. Turn the dough over to coat all sides. Cover and let it rise for an hour, until doubled.
When the dough has doubled in size, you’re ready to roll it out.
For the caramel, you need brown sugar, butter, and milk.
Cut up the butter so it will melt faster.
Make the caramel by melting the butter, brown sugar, and milk. Bring it up to a bubble, and then it’s ready to use.
Use the butter wrapper to grease the dish. The wrapper may not have enough butter stuck to it to fully grease the pan, but it will help!
Pour the caramel into two greased 13″x9″ pans.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and let it rest for about 5 to 10 minutes before working with it.
For the filling, you need butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Melt the butter for spreading it on the dough.
Mix together the brown sugar & cinnamon. I used this much in one half of the dough.
Shape the dough roughly into a rectangle before rolling it out.
Roll out the dough to about 1/4-1/2″ thick. Spread the dough with melted butter.
Sprinkle the cinnamon & sugar mixture over the buttered dough.
Spread around the cinnamon and sugar to make it nice and even.
Begin rolling the dough on the long side. If you want to roll from the short side, you would have less rolls, but they would be fatter.
Don’t roll too tightly. If you do, the centers will pop out when the rolls bake, and that’s not pretty or tasty!
Continue to roll until the end. Pinch the seam shut.
Shimmy a piece of dental floss (unwaxed, unflavored) under the roll. Make sure it’s about 1-1 1/2″ in so that the rolls will be uniform in height.
Bring the floss to the opposite side. In other words, take the floss from the bottom and move it across to the top, and take the floss from the top and over it across to the bottom.
Pull the floss all the way through, and the dough is cut into the perfect little roll.
Place the rolls about 1/2″ to 1″ apart on top of the caramel. They will rise again and be touching after this second rise time.
This recipe makes enough for two full pans of caramel rolls.
Rolls have risen and are ready to bake!
Fresh from the oven
Warm, Gooey Caramel Rolls
The middle is the best part!
Plenty to share!
In a medium saucepan, combine the first six ingredients. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Set aside to cool to 120-130 degrees.
In a mixing bowl, combine 2 cups of flour and yeast. Add cooled cornmeal mixture. Beat on low until smooth. Add eggs and 1 cup of flour, mix about 1 minute. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface and knead until dough is soft and smooth. Place in a greased bowl and cover. Let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
Combine topping ingredients in small saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Pour into two greased 9"x13" pans.
Turn dough out of bowl onto floured surface and gently punch down. Let rest for 10 minutes. Divide in half. Roll each into a large rectangle about 1/4" thick. Spread each with half of the melted butter. Sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar mixture. Roll up, starting with the long end. Pinch seam shut. Cut each into 12-15 rolls and place on top of caramel, leaving space for the rolls to rise. Cover and let rise about 30 minutes.
Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for about 20 to 25 minutes, until light golden brown. To serve, invert on serving platter.
