Every holiday season, our grandma would make a huge batch of her sticky pecan rolls. She’d grab the biggest bowl in the kitchen and quickly mix the dough ingredients. We watched in amazement as the dough rose for a few hours, nearly doubling in size and almost overflowing the bowl. Then came the fun part – she’d punch down the dough, making it shrink back to its original size.
Sticky Pecan Rolls
Ingredients
**Dough:**
- – 2 packages dry yeast
- – 1/4 cup warm water
- – 1 3/4 cups whole milk
- – 2 large eggs
- – 1/2 cup salted butter
- – 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- – 2 teaspoons salt use 1/2 teaspoon if using Morton
- – 5 cups all-purpose flour
- – Butter for lining the pan
**Cinnamon Center:**
- – 4 tablespoons cinnamon
- – 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- – 1 stick butter softened
**Sticky Pecan Topping:**
- – 1 stick salted butter
- – 1 cup brown sugar
- – 1/4 cup corn syrup
- – 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- – 1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt use 1/4 teaspoon if using Morton
- – 3 cups pecans roughly chopped
Instructions
**Dough:**
- Combine yeast and warm water (under 120°F). Stir gently and let sit for 5 minutes until bubbly.
- Warm the milk in a saucepan on low (under 120°F). Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, butter, sugar, and salt until combined (the mixture will look slightly curdled).
- Add the yeast mixture to the egg mixture and whisk gently.
- Stir in the warm milk.
- Gradually mix in the flour by hand, cup by cup, until well combined. Knead the dough for 3-5 minutes until smooth.
- Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula and coat with butter to prevent sticking.
- Cover the bowl with a cloth and let the dough rise for 2 hours, or until almost doubled in size. Punch down the dough and turn it over, then let it rise for another 2 hours.
- Before rolling out the dough, place the pecans in the bottom of a 9×13-inch pan and top with the caramel mixture (below).
**Caramel Pecan Topping:**
- In a saucepan, boil together butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, vanilla extract, and sea salt. Pour this mixture over the pecans in the pan.
**Rolling and Baking:**
- Punch down the dough and roll it out into a 12×24-inch rectangle.
- Melt 1 stick of butter and spread over the dough. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup sugar and 4 tablespoons cinnamon.
- Trim the edges and cut the dough into 12 strips (~1.5 inches each). Roll each strip into a swirl and place in the prepared pan.
- Cover the pan with a towel and let the rolls rise for 1-1.5 hours until puffy.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and bake for about 45 minutes until golden brown.
- While hot, cover the pan with foil and carefully flip the rolls onto a plate (use oven mitts as they will be hot).