Yummy Experiment #41: Sticky Pecan Caramel Rolls

I’ve been in a baking mood lately. I baked pan de sal this weekend for a family get-together. Today, I finally made Sticky Pecan Caramel Rolls using the Master Dough from my favorite bread making book, The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking. The fantastic thing about these rolls is that you can use three different types of doughs from the book: the Master dough, Challah and Brioche. Very versatile. I went with the dough with the least number of ingredients.

Last night, I prepared enough dough to make two different types of bread – these rolls and soft dinner rolls. There will be a separate post about the soft dinner rolls. By the way, here’s the disclaimer. . .

Acknowledgement: The full and original version of this recipe can be found in The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking. Feel free to visit their website artisanbreadinfive.com. In addition, I took the photographs from this post. If you think it’s nice enough to use, please let me know.

To make the Master Dough, I used:

• 3 cups lukewarm water
• 1 tablespoon granulated yeast
• 1 1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
• 6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

In addition, you also need the following for the Sticky Pecan Caramel Rolls:

• 1 1/2 pounds Master dough
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) melted unsalted butter, plus 1 tablespoon to grease the cake pan
• 1 1/4 cup brown sugar, well-packed
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon  ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups whole toasted pecans

Before officially starting my experiment, I melted the butter in a pan on the stovetop, then toasted the pecans in the oven at 350 F. I spread the pecans on a baking sheet for five minutes. After five minutes, I stirred the pecans and placed it back in the oven for another five minutes.

In a bowl, I mixed the butter, brown sugar, honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and pepper. This caramel mixture was set aside, so I could prep the cake pan.

After greasing a 9-inch cake pan with butter, I spread half of the caramel mixture into the bowl.

Then I scattered half the toasted pecans over the caramel mixture

Next it was on to the dough. I shaped the dough into a ball, then used a rolling pin to stretch it out. The recipe said it should be “1/8-inch-thick”.

I spread the rest of the caramel mixture all over the dough.

I scattered the remaining pecans all over the caramel and dough.

I rolled the dough into a log and cut it into eight pieces. I was worried that I didn’t have enough to fill the pan.

I covered it with plastic and let it rest for an hour. While the dough rested, I preheated the oven to 350 F. After an hour-long rest time, my worries were unfounded. The pieces filled the pan quite nicely. With the cake pan on a baking sheet, I baked the rolls for exactly 40 minutes.

I inverted the rolls onto a plate. Here it is after baking.

Now here’s a side view.

How about a piece?

It was sticky rolling it to a log. I didn’t even attempt to seal it because the caramel just covered my fingers. The recipe warned about the caramel bubbling over and it did! Thank goodness I followed the tip to put the cake pan on top of the baking sheet while baking.

These rolls truly lived up to its name. It was sticky and sweet, given it’s pecan caramel. Somehow it was too sweet for me, but that’s really a matter of taste, not a failing of the recipe. Next time, maybe I can lessen the sugar and just use one cup whole toasted pecans.

Nevertheless, it smelled so delicious while it was baking! When I placed it upside down on the plate, all the gooey caramel goodness just dripped on my hand and the plate like crazy! Of course, I’m making this again.

This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive compensation if you make a purchase using the links in this post. All opinions are my own.