Caramel Cinnamon Rolls {Video}

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These Caramel Cinnamon Rolls are absolutely ah-mazing.  We start with our favorite homemade cinnamon roll dough and smother them in delicious caramel sauce hot out of the oven.

The Best Homemade Caramel Cinnamon Roll Recipe

This recipe for Caramel Cinnamon Rolls is very similar to our Classic Homemade Cinnamon Rolls, only modified to include an ooey-gooey caramel sauce topping.  They are uber-sweet, but perfect for a brunch, baby shower or holiday gathering.

Jump to:

• The Best Homemade Caramel Cinnamon Roll Recipe
• Ingredients in Caramel Cinnamon Rolls
• Making Cinnamon Roll Dough Without a Stand Mixer
• How to Make Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
• How to Make Caramel Sauce For Cinnamon Rolls
• What’s the Best Temperature To Cook Caramel Sauce To?
• How to Make Cinnamon Rolls Ahead of Time
• Can I Freeze Baked Cinnamon Rolls?
• What Temperature Should I Bake Cinnamon Rolls At?
• Caramel Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

You can absolutely serve these solo, or else pair them with something savory like our Ham and Cheese Quiche, Sausage Egg Biscuit Casserole, Candied Bacon or Cheesy Hash Browns with Bacon and Ham. 

We’ve included step-by-step instructions and helpful hints to get you well on your way to making picture-perfect Caramel Cinnamon Rolls in no time!

Ingredients in Caramel Cinnamon Rolls

Dough

• Water - you want this to be luke warm to help activate the yeast.
• Sugar - we use white granulated sugar for the dough.
• Yeast - this recipe calls for active dry yeast which must be activated, or “proofed.”  
• Butter - you want the butter to be either melted, or incredibly soft.
• Eggs - any kind of large eggs will do.  It helps if they have come to room temperature, but don’t worry if you forget.  You can also run them under warm water while they are still in the shells.
• Salt - we like to use sea salt.
• Flour - we like to use all-purpose flour, but you can also substitute bread flour if you would like.

Cinnamon Sugar Filling

• Butter - this should be melted or incredibly soft.
• Brown Sugar - you can use either dark or light brown sugar, keeping in mind that dark brown sugar has a more intense molasses flavor.
• Cinnamon - any kind of ground cinnamon.

Caramel Sauce

• Butter - you can use salted butter if you’d like more of a salted caramel flavor, or unsalted works great.
• Brown Sugar - we like to use light brown sugar, but you can substitute all or some with dark brown sugar if you prefer that more intense molasses flavor.
• Karo Syrup - you can find this at just about any grocery store.  You can also substitute corn syrup if you’d like.
• Sweetened Condensed Milk - you’ll use half of a 15-oz can.

Making Cinnamon Roll Dough Without a Stand Mixer

If you don’t have a stand mixer and plan to knead the dough by hand, no worries.  While it does require a little more elbow grease, it’s totally possible.  We have just a couple of extra hints:

• You’ll know you have added enough flour when the dough no longer sticks to your hands!
• Your kneading time will be about dough the time it would take if you use an electric mixer.  So, in this case you can plan on kneading your dough by hand for about 6 minutes, once all of the flour has been added.  Just be sure that the dough is nice and shiny and you’re good to go.

How to Make Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

Step 1 - Mixing the Dough

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the warm water, sugar and yeast and stir well.  Let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes until it gets bubbly and activates the yeast.
2. Add the melted butter, eggs, salt, and 2 cups of flour, then mix on low using the bread hook for 2 minutes, or until everything is well-mixed.
3. Add an additional 3.5 cups of flour, then stir on low to combine.  You may need to add up to ½ a cup more (you will know you've added enough flour when the dough pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl).   Once all of the flour has been added, continue to knead on low for 3 minutes more.
4. Turn off the mixer and cover the bowl with a kitchen towel.  Let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled, or about 30 minutes.
5. Once the dough has double, turn it out onto a floured surface and form it into a small rectangle with your hands.  Then, using a rolling pin, gently roll the dough into an approximately 24" x 12" rectangle (should be about ½" thick).

Step 2 - Making the Cinnamon Filling

1. Using an offset spatula, or knife, carefully spread the ½ cup of soft or melted butter evenly onto the rolled dough. Sprinkle the cinnamon and brown sugar evenly over the top, then pat down gently.

Step 3 - Rolling and Cutting the Cinnamon Rolls

1. Starting at either 24" long side, roll the dough up evenly making sure to get a nice tight tube, then cut into 12 evenly sized slices using a very sharp knife (they should be about 2" each).    We recommend using a ruler and pre-marking before you actually make any cuts.

Step 4 - Baking

1. Lay the slices cut side down in a greased 9 x 13" baking pan, cover loosely with a kitchen towel, and let the cinnamon rolls rise for another 30 minutes or until double and touching in the pan.
2. While your dough is rising, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Once risen, bake in a preheated oven for 18-22 minutes, or until the bottom and the top are golden brown. 
3. Remove from the oven and pour the warm caramel sauce over the tops while they are still warm.  Let them cool for about 5 minutes, then serve warm.  Enjoy!

How to Make Caramel Sauce For Cinnamon Rolls

1. In a non-stick saucepan over medium heat, add the butter and let it melt, then add the brown sugar, Karo Syrup and Sweetened Condensed Milk.  Bring to a rapid boil and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the caramel mixture reaches 215-220 degrees F on a candy thermometer. 
2. Once it reaches 220 degrees, remove from the heat and let it sit for a minute or so before pouring over the hot cinnamon rolls.

What’s the Best Temperature To Cook Caramel Sauce To?

The temperature that you cook caramel sauce to is incredibly important.  The higher the temperature, the more water from all of the ingredients will evaporate, giving you varying degrees of viscosity.  Basically, the higher the temperature, the thicker the sauce.

Cooking your caramel sauce to 215-220 degrees F will leave the caramel sauce nice and pourable while it’s warm, but will solidify a bit as it cools.  This is the temperature that we recommend for this recipe.

If you’d like to be able to pour the caramel sauce when it’s cool, cook it to 210 degrees instead.  Or, if you want it to have a bit of chew, take it a little further and cook to 225 degrees.

How to Make Cinnamon Rolls Ahead of Time

You have a few options if you would rather not make these from start to finish all at the same time.  

Refrigerate After Shaping and Cutting

• Once you have shaped and cut your cinnamon rolls, but before letting them rise again in the pan, you can wrap the entire pan well with plastic wrap and stick in the fridge overnight.  That way, in the morning all you need to do is pull from the fridge, preheat the oven and let them come to room temperature and rise until doubled.  Bake as directed and voila!

Refrigerate the Dough Before Shaping

• Once your dough has doubled in size, you can wrap well and stick the bowl in the fridge overnight.  The next day, remove the bowl from the fridge and let it come up to room temperature, then shape, cut and bake as directed from there.

Freeze After Shaping and Cutting

• If you want to prep these more than a day prior to baking them, you can freeze the shaped and cut cinnamon rolls right in the baking dish.  Just wrap well in 2 layers of plastic wrap or foil, then store for up to 4 weeks in the freezer.  The night before you want to bake them, transfer the pan from the freezer to your fridge and let them thaw overnight.  In the morning, pull from the fridge and let them come up to room temperature and double while you preheat the oven, then bake as directed.

Can I Freeze Baked Cinnamon Rolls?

Yes!  Make sure they are completely cool, then wrap well in plastic wrap and store inside freezer bags, or another airtight container, for up to 2 months.

To reheat, you can pull from the freezer and let them come to room temperature overnight, then warm individually in the microwave, or else warm them in a low, 300 degree oven until warm.

What Temperature Should I Bake Cinnamon Rolls At?

We like to bake these cinnamon rolls at 350 degrees F.  You don’t want to go much higher because you also want to allow them time to rise a bit further during the baking process.  If you bake much lower, they will take too long to cook and the filling has a tendency to drip out from inside.

Here are some other baked breakfast recipes that we love!

• Homemade Zucchini Bread
• Sweet Orange Rolls with Orange Dreamcicle Frosting
• Lemon Blueberry Scones
• Ham and Cheese Cornbread Muffins
• Einkorn Cinnamon Rolls

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These Caramel Cinnamon Rolls are ooey gooey, delicious and so simple to make.  We use our favorite homemade cinnamon roll dough, then smother them in warm caramel sauce.