Each year for Christmas I let everyone pick one treat they would like me to make for them as a Christmas present. This year my daughter told me she wanted me to make salted caramel cinnamon rolls. She never ever picks an easy thing. Not having a single recipe to refer to, I got busy creating one.
Salted caramel is easily my daughter's favorite treat. Any time I make anything she says: "oh, imagine this with salted caramel on it!". It is an epidemic. My husband hopped on her bandwagon and next week I will be sharing with you his request which happens to be salted caramel chocolate cups.
My recipe was a huge success. It is something to dream about. This recipe is perfect for holidays, birthdays, brunch, or any special occasion that you want to splurge. I would say that you will have some left to share with others, but I had trouble prying the pan out of my families hand. If you love salted caramel, get ready for your taste buds to take a trip to mecca.
Salted Caramel Cinnamon Rolls
Recipe by Christi Silbaugh
makes 12
for the dough-
3/8 cup warm water
1 1/8 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 egg
1/8 cup canola or vegetable oil
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
for the filling-
1/4 cup softened butter
1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
1 1/4 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Salted Caramel:
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup light corn syrup
2 tsp sea salt
4 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp heavy cream
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Sea salt flakes
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, pour in water, yeast and 1 tablespoon of the granulated sugar. Once mixture looks bubbly and frothy, pour in remaining sugar and salt.
In a small bowl, measure buttermilk, oil and egg. Whisk ingredients together until egg is incorporated to other two ingredients. Pour contents into the water and yeast mixture. Stir 20 seconds in the mixer.
Pour 2 cups of flour into mixer and stir on low until incorporated. Sprinkle flour in by 1/4 cup increments until dough cleans the sides and bottom of the bowl.
Once it has reached this stage, turn mixer on and knead for 5 minutes. Remove dough from bowl, grease and replace back into same mixing bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and a dish towel. Place in a warm place. Rise 1-2 hours or until dough has doubled in size.
In a medium size bowl, stir brown sugar, cinnamon and cornstarch together until combined. Set aside. Punch down dough. Flour a large clean table liberally with flour.
Roll dough out to be a 20x30 rectangle, while moving dough around to ensure it's not sticking to your work surface. Spread softened butter over dough, being sure to go right to the edges leaving a 1-inch strip untouched on one of the longer sides of dough.
Dump brown sugar mixture onto the middle of the dough and spread with your hands, creating an even layer over top of the butter, still leaving that 1-inch strip of dough untouched. Roll the dough up into a tight log, finishing with the plain dough on the bottom to seal the entire thing together.
Cut off the uneven ends to even out the log. Score log every 2 inches and then slice your rolls using those marks. Place into parchment paper lined, butter greased pan.
Cover pans with plastic wrap and dish towels. Let rolls rise another 1-2 hours or until they are touching and have risen almost double.
Bake in a preheated 350 degree for 17 minutes, or until tops start to brown.
Make the salted caramel. Combine the butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, salt, sugar, and heavy cream. Bring to a boil and stir for about 5-10 minutes until caramel reaches the “soft ball stage” at around 230 degrees.
Remove from heat, stir in the vanilla.
Once rolls have been removed from the oven, Pour the caramel over the rolls. It will take a minute for the caramel to sink into the rolls so they will look like drowned rolls.
Don't worry, the caramel settles and you end up with this:
Sprinkle with sea salt flakes and serve warm.
