Old-Fashioned Caramel Rolls (Grandma’s Recipe)

4.95 from 20 votes

Old-Fashioned Caramel Rolls (Grandma’s Recipe)

This Caramel Rolls Recipe features homemade fluffy rolls topped with a simple, thick caramel sauce and crunchy pecans. They’re not your average breakfast treat!

Prep Time55

Cook Time25

Rise Time, divided2

Total Time3 20

Servings:

Calories: 878kcal

Author: Karin and Ken

Ingredients

Rolls

4 ½ - 5 ½ cups all purpose flour, divided
½ cup sugar
2 packages active-dry yeast
2 teaspoons salt
¾ cup milk
½ cup water
½ cup butter or 1 stick
1 large egg, room temperature, beaten

Caramel

1 ½ cups brown sugar, packed
¾ cup light corn syrup
¾ cup butter, room temperature
1 cup pecans or your favorite nuts, chopped more if necessary to cover the bottom of your pan

Regular Filling

⅓ cup butter, melted
½ cup brown sugar, divided

Optional Filling

2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ cup brown sugar, packed
2-3 tablespoons butter

Instructions

Make the Dough

In a large bowl, using a stand or handheld mixer, combine 1 ½ cups flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Set aside.
In a small saucepan combine milk, water and butter. Heat gradually until butter melts and mixture is warm.
Slowly add milk mixture to your large bowl with the flour mixture in it. Beat until smooth.
Add the egg and enough flour to make a thick batter, about 3 cups. Beat until smooth.
Prepare your work surface with flour and place the dough on top of the flour. Knead in the remaining flour until an elastic dough forms. You may not need all of the flour.
Place the dough inside a well greased bowl and paint melted butter all over the top. Cover with a clean, damp towel and let the dough rise until it has almost doubled in size, about 1 hour. Punch in the middle of the dough at about the 40 minute mark. This will remove some of the air that has built up in the dough.

Assemble the Rolls

Prepare a medium sized bowl with brown sugar, corn syrup and butter. Using a handheld mixer blend until smooth.
Grease a 13x9 inch pan with butter. Pour caramel topping inside your prepared pan and make sure the bottom of the pan is covered.
Sprinkle with pecans, making sure the bottom is basically covered.
Punch the center of your dough and divide the dough up into 3 even pieces. At your workstation flour your surface and roll out the dough until it is about 20 inches by 10 inches. A little more or a little less will not matter.
You have the option of including more filling in your buns if you desire and I have included the recipe to use if you want to. You really should try Option 2 at least once!

Option 1

Brush each dough rectangle with approximately 2 tablespoons melted butter and 3 tablespoons of brown sugar.

Option 2

In a small bowl combine brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Paint the butter on and sprinkle brown sugar mixture all over.
Using it makes your buns more sticky and ooey gooey good. The more brown sugar, the stickier the buns will be.

Roll them Up

Roll up the dough, from the longer side, as tight as you can get it, into like a jelly roll.
Pinch the ends together and cut into 1 inch slices.
Place the slices into your prepared pan.
Cover again with your clean, damp towel for another 45-60 minutes. The dough should again double in size.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees,
Bake for 20-25 minutes or a beautiful golden brown.
Allow to cool in your pans for at least 5 minutes and then flip upside down on top of parchment paper until it is cool enough to handle. This ensures that the caramel topping won't run off the buns.
Serve warm. Enjoy!

Notes

Let the caramel pecan rolls cool for a few minutes before flipping them. Carefully invert the pan to help prevent spills and avoid getting burned by the hot caramel.
If your dough isn’t rising much, your kitchen may be too cool. Let it rise in a turned-off oven with the light on, or place a pan of hot water nearby to create a warm spot for the dough to rise.
If the middle rolls are pale while the edges are browned, your caramel rolls may need a little more time or a better oven position. Bake the rolls on the center rack and use the longer end of the recommended baking time to give the middle rolls a chance to brown.

Nutrition