Caramel Rolls

This summer Ben's grandparents came to visit from North Dakota, and I had the opportunity to learn how to make Florence's famous Caramel Rolls. It took me a few tries to really get the recipe down, but I think I've finally got it. (I keep getting requests for them all the time, so that is a pretty good sign!) I use my bread machine to make the dough, but I'm sure you could do it by hand or with a stand mixer.


Caramel Rolls

Dough
1/3 c. water
1/3 c. milk
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 c. sugar
1/3 c. dry milk
4 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
2 1/2 tsp. yeast
1 stick butter, softened
Caramel
1 c. heavy whipping cream
1 c. brown sugar

You will also need enough butter to spread over rolled out dough, and cinnamon and brown sugar to sprinkle on top.

Directions
First put water, milk, and eggs in bread machine. Mix together dry ingredients (sugar, dry milk, flour, salt) and add to bread machine. Next put add the yeast, and put the butter on top. Start machine. While dough is mixing, begin the caramel sauce by heating the cream and brown sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly. Heat just until the mixture begins to bubble. Remove pan from heat and allow to cool. When the caramel has cooled, pour it into a greased 13 by 9 pan.

When the dough is ready, roll it out into a large rectangle. Spread with butter, and sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar. Roll up and slice into 12 rolls. Place the rolls in the pan on top of the caramel.

At this point you can either allow the rolls to double in size and then bake them for 20-25 min. in a 350 degree oven, or you can cover them and let them rise in the fridge overnight. (I usually like to prepare these the day before.) When you are ready to bake your rolls simply take them out of the fridge and let them sit at room temperature while the oven heats, then bake them for 20-25 min. at 350 degree oven.

The rolls are done when they are golden brown on top, and have a hollow sound when you tap them. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before flipping the pan over onto a clean cookie sheet.

I was going to take pictures of the different steps along the way, but I forgot. Here is a picture of the rolls fresh out of the oven and after being flipped over. I hope you give these a try, and enjoy these as much as we do!