Caramel Rolls

On Christmas Eve Gena and Theron brought us a special treat for Christmas morning.  We all LOVED them and I had to have the recipe.  Before we get to the recipe though Gena has a story to share about how she received the recipe.

Hello!  Gena here, this recipe is a family tradition,and we have these every year on Christmas morning. 

This year, because I consider all my Riverton Housewife gals family, and because we were all home this year, I decided to share this tradition! 

This recipe originally comes from the Plaid Better Homes and Gardens cookbook that my Mom has had for years! It is “the” go to cookbook. 

The real story behind these cinnamon rolls goes much further back in family history! My Grandma Grubaugh grew up in Jackson Hole, when it really was just plain Jackson Hole. Not a resort town, but a ranching, earn your living on the land, town. My Grandpa Grubaugh grew up in Montana with much the same lifestyle  They both somehow ended up in Sun Valley Idaho working at separate restaurants. The restaurants must have had an agreement of some sort to share recipes and goods because one day my Grandpa was working and my Grandma walked in carrying a big tray of cinnamon rolls. Well, my Grandpa took one look and for him it was love at first sight! We like to blame it on the cinnamon rolls, but we also know that my beautiful Grandma took his breath away just as much, if not more, as the cinnamon rolls!

My Grandma was always a baker, and she passed the tradition of bread and pie making on to her children who them passed it on to us, her Grandchildren! Now, especially during the holidays, all of her Great Grandchildren share in the tradition and help knead bread, shape rolls and bake pies. My Mom gets a workout helping all her Grandchildren “help” her with the holiday baking!

Thanks for sharing with us Gena!!  Now, on to the recipe!

The recipe starts with their Basic Roll Dough recipe.

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

1/4 cup warm water

1 cup milk, scalded

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup shortening

1 teaspoon salt

3 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1 egg

Soften yeast in warm water.

Combine milk, sugar, shortening and salt.

(I heated the milk in the microwave until it was hot so when I added the shortening it would melt it down).

Cool to luke warm.

Add 1 1/2 cups of flour, beat well.

Beat in yeast and egg.

Gradually add remaining flour to form soft dough, beating well.

(skip these steps if you’re making the caramel rolls)

Place in greased bowl turning once to grease surface.  Cover and let rise till double (1 1/2 to 2 hours).

Turn out on a lightly floured surface and shape as desired.  Cover and let shaped rolls rise till double (30-40 minutes).  Bake on greased pan in 400 degree oven 12-15 minutes

Here is the rest of the Caramel Roll recipe

In saucepan mix 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup butter or margarine, and 1 tablespoon light corn syrup.

Heat slowly, stirring often.  You do not need to bring it to a boil just heat it until it is all melted together.

Pour the mixture into the bottom of an 8″x 8″ pan.

Sprinkle the pecans on top of the the mixture.

Roll the dough out onto a lightly floured service.

(I doubled the recipe)

Once it is rolled out brush with

1/4 cup melted butter or margarine

Sprinkle with mixture of 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon.

(I did not follow the above measurements.  I brushed it with the butter and then just added cinnamon and brown sugar until I decided it was enough.)

Once you have it all brushed and sprinkled roll it up.  Roll lengthwise and seal the edge.  Cut into 1-inch slices and place them on their sides on top of the mixture.

 (I somehow ended up with the picture of the bigger pan – since I doubled it I ended up with 24 rolls)

Cover and let rise in a warm place till doubled (35 to 45 minutes).  At this point you can also cover and stick them in the fridge or freezer.  If you put them in the fridge just pull them out about an hour before you need to put them in the oven.  If you freeze them take them out the night before you want to cook them.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes.

Let cool 2-3 minutes and then flip them out onto a cookie sheet.

They are so wonderful fresh out of the oven but they reheat wonderfully as well.  We all love them!

 One of the few littles who got to enjoy the 1st batch.  When I was putting them together Saturday night I totally forgot Sunday was Fast Sunday so everyone else had to wait.  Luckily I had a few pans ready so we had them fresh Monday morning. 

A few little notes.  Remember if you’re going to double the roll recipe you will need to double the caramel recipe as well.  Pecans are optional but taste seriously good on it.

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