Caramel Cinnamon Rolls - Stephanie's Sweet Treats (2024)

These caramel cinnamon rolls combine my two favorite things! Salted caramel and homemade cinnamon rolls. The rolls are super soft and gooey, full of cinnamon filling and salted caramel. They are topped with a salted caramel icing and extra caramel!

If there is one thing that can make regular cinnamon rolls better, it is having them smothered in caramel. These salted caramel cinnamon rolls are extra gooey and full of rich fall flavor.

My favorite part about these rolls is the topping. The icing has salted caramel and it has even more caramel on top. If you are a salted caramel lover, you will love these rolls!

For more cinnamon roll recipes, try Gooey Cinnamon Rolls, Nutella Rolls, and Gooey Cookies and Cream Cinnamon Rolls

Why This Recipe Works

• Homemade dough- The dough is extra soft because 10 Tablespoons of butter is cut into the dough like it is pie dough. As the butter melts when cooking, it helps keep them very soft.
• Cinnamon roll filling- The cinnamon filling has lots of brown sugar and cinnamon!
• Salted caramel- Caramel made from scratch is far superior than any caramel you buy at the grocery store. However, in a pinch you can still use store bought caramel.
• Caramel icing- The icing is simple, and it is poured on top of the rolls when they are very hot so it melts into all of the cracks.

Step By Step Recipe Video

Ingredient Notes

Here are some notes on the ingredients. For a full list of ingredients, check out the recipe card below.

• Unsalted butter- Pull the butter out 2 hours before using so it is softened.
• Milk- Use any milk and warm it to 110F. If too hot, it will kill the yeast, if too cool then it will dramatically slow the yeast down.
• Active dry yeast- I used 1 packet of yeast.
• Eggs- Pull the large eggs out 2 hours before baking. They also need to be lightly beaten before adding to the flour.
• Brown sugar- I used light brown sugar.
• Powdered sugar- Make sure this is sifted to get a smooth icing.
• Heavy cream- You can also use milk. Use slightly less milk since it isn't as thick as heavy cream.

Step By Step Instructions: Dough and Caramel

Here is how to make and bake the dough for the rolls and the salted caramel.

The dough is made with a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. For making by hand instruction, see the recipe notes.

STEP 1: Mix the milk and yeast. First, warm the milk in the microwave to 110F. Use a kitchen thermometer. Pour the yeast over the warm milk and let it sit for 10 minutes.

It will be foamy at the end of the 10 minutes.

STEP 2: Mix the dry ingredients and the butter. In a large mixing bowl, mix the all-purpose flour, white sugar, and salt. Then, pour in the cubed butter. Use either a pastry cutter or your hands to cut the butter into the flour mixture.

The butter should be the size of a pea.

STEP 3: Knead the dough. Mix wet ingredients with the dry on low speed until a dough starts to form. Then, turn to medium speed and knead for 5 minutes.

STEP 4: Rise. Spray a large bowl with nonstick spray and place the dough in the bowl. Cover with a kitchen and towel and let it rise in a warm place.

Rise for 1 hour. It will be double in size.

STEP 5: Heat the sugar. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, heat the sugar. Use a whisk to stir until all the sugar crystals are melted and it turns amber in color.

See my salted caramel recipe for a ton of tips and tricks on making caramel.

STEP 6: Add butter and cream. Take the sugar off of the heat and add half of the butter at a time. It will bubble a lot and be hot, but keep stirring!

Repeat with the cream and add the vanilla extract and salt.

Assembling The Rolls

• Roll the cinnamon roll dough out. Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface using a rolling pin. Roll the dough into a large rectangle, it should be about ¼th inch thick.
• Spread the cinnamon filling. Use an offset spatula to spread the filling over the dough. Make sure to get the edges on the short side of the dough. Don't worry as much on the edges on the long side of the dough because we will cut that part off.
• Spread the caramel. Drizzle the caramel on top and use the spatula to spread it on top of the filling.
• Roll the dough. Start on the short side and roll the dough into a log.
• Cut off the uneven ends.
• Cut the roll into 12 even slices. I used a serrated knife with light sawing motions to cut the rolls. You can also use unflavored dental floss.
• Rise. Place the sliced rolls into a 9X13-inch baking dish. Let it rise for 20 minutes.
• Bake. Bake the rolls for 22-25 minutes. They should be lightly golden brown on top.
• Spread the icing. Pour the icing on top of the cinnamon rolls when the rolls are hot. I used a spoon to spread it on top.
• Add extra caramel. Immediately sprinkle the extra caramel sauce on top of the sticky buns.

See Also

Nigella's chocolate peanut butter cheesecake | Simone's KitchenGordon Ramsay Butter ChickenCheese and Garlic Crack Bread (Pull Apart Bread)A Mid-Summer Raspberry Eton Mess - The Irishman's Wife

Overnight Dough

Once you are done kneading the dough. Place in a large bowl sprayed with nonstick spray. Then, cover with plastic wrap. Store in the fridge overnight. It needs to chill for a max of 16 hours.

Then in the next morning, you can pull it out and roll up the cinnamon rolls. Then, let it rise for 1 hour instead of the 20 minutes.

FAQ

Storing and Freezing

Store these caramel cinnamon rolls in an airtight container in the fridge. Store up to 5 days.

Freezing

The baked rolls can be frozen. Store in an airtight container and freeze up to 30 days.

Heat in the microwave for 30 seconds until hot.

Other Cinnamon Roll Recipes To Try

Make sure to leave a STAR REVIEW if you loved this recipe! Make sure to tag me on Instagram@stephaniesweettreats. To get more ideasfollow me on Pinterest.

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