Caramel Rolls



My Aunt Peg gave my Mom this recipe and then she passed it down to me.  These caramel rolls have become a Christmas Morning tradition in our house.  Also, you can halve the recipe for great home-baked gifts.  (We do that kinda thing here in the Midwest ... not everything comes from Macy's, you know.)  Anyway, make these a day or two ahead so you can sleep in on Christmas Morning, cut a few up and microwave them.  Enjoy!
2 loaves (1 lb each) frozen bread dough
1 stick margarine
2 4 oz pkgs cook-and-serve vanilla pudding (not instant)
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp milk
1 cup chopped nuts
Thaw bread dough slightly and break into small pieces.  Place 1 loaf in one layer in a greased 9 X 13 pan.  In a saucepan, melt margarine, add dry pudding mix, brown sugar, cinnamon, milk, & nuts.  Bring to a boil stirring constantly.  Cool slightly.  Pour over first layer.  Place small pieces of other loaf of bread dough on top. Let rise to top of pan.  Bake at 350˚F for 30 min.  Invert immediately on a large platter.
Notes:
1)  If you've got a teflon coated saucepan, now's the time to use it.  Otherwise, cleaning up the saucepan is made easier by filling it with water and dishsoap and boiling on the stove for a few minutes.
2) Though there's cinnamon in the recipe, these aren't really cinnamon rolls.  If you like more cinnamon, I sprinkle it on the first layer of bread dough before adding the caramel.
3) Put your candy thermometer away, this isn't a real caramel.
4) If you like raisins or dried cranberries in your caramel rolls, I'd sprinkle them on top of the first layer of bread dough before adding the caramel.  Personally, I think cooked raisins have the taste and texture of dead flies.  But, to each his and/or her own.
5) I save some nuts to sprinkle over the rolls right after inverting them on the platter.
6) Best to store these tightly sealed, not refridgerated.  Remember sugar is deliquescent (absorbs water from the air), so if you don't seal them tightly they'll get mushy and the caramel will get watery.
7) I do all my bread rising on a heating pad, set to medium, covered in waxed paper.
8) I like to use 3/4 cup of light brown sugar and 1/4 cup of dark brown sugar.
9) Yes, margarine.  Don't attempt to get fancy and substitute butter.  The caramel won't set up properly (probably the milk solids in butter, or perhaps the broader and lower melting point of butter screws things up.)

Posted: Sat - December 23, 2006 at 10:47 AM        

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