Caramel Rolls

Caramel roll on my Grandma's china dish

A lot my recipes are designed out of cravings for things that I can not find anywhere, or they are not as good as the original. Been craving my grandma's caramel rolls. Now, these are huge in North Dakota and haven't seen them anywhere but the midwest. Can venture to say that any family run cafe, truck stop, or diner you walk into there will be a gooey selection of perfectly baked caramel rolls sitting there just calling your name.

The other day after looking through the cookbook, my mom created after I got my very first place when I was 18 and not finding the recipe I wanted for the rolls. Mom to the rescue, she was able to give me the recipe for the caramel. When I was a kid, it always seemed much more complicated when I helped Grandma. Now, I was told that my grandma always used frozen bread dough. But, because I forgot it at the store last night, homemade white bread dough was substituted.

Gooey caramel sauce

Caramel Sauce
3 cups of brown sugar
1 stick butter
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Put all the ingredients for the caramel sauce in a sauce pot. Turn your burner on to medium heat, cooking until it is combined. Place the sauce into two cake pans, diving evenly.

Before (l) After (r) rise

White Bread Dough
6 cups unbleached white flour
4 1/2 tsp Yeast
4 Tbsp sugar
2 cups water (around 110 degrees Fahrenheit)
2 tsp salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 stick of melted butter

Place the water, yeast, and sugar in a dish allowing the yeast and sugar to dissolve. Allow it to foam and sit on the counter for about 10 minutes.  In the mixer with your dough hook, place the flour, salt, and vegetable oil. Once your yeast mixture has sat for the specified time, add that to your mixer. Once the dough is combined into a ball, place in a greased bowl covered with a towel until it has doubled in size. Punch the dough down and pull out of the bowl onto a floured counter top.












Once the dough is on the counter, drag out the rolling pin. Roll it out until it is one large sheet of dough. Spread on the melted butter evenly on the dough. Then cover the sheet of dough with brown sugar and cinnamon to you liking.  Once, all of the dough is coated, roll into a log. Divide the roll into 16 evenly cut pieces.  Place the rolls into the two cake pans evenly space. Cover the rolls with a towel allowing them to rise and double in size. Stick in the oven at 350 until golden brown and not doughy anymore.

Before the rise, after the rise, after the oven

After the oven take a cookie sheet larger than the pan, you baked your caramel rolls in. Place the cookie sheet on top of the pan and carefully flip it over. I do mean carefully because there is a chance you could get scalding caramel onto the skin causing a painful burn. After they release, scrape the pan to get out all the sauce.  Enjoy them with butter and a big glass of milk.