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pecan rolls
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Sticky Pecan Rolls

Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Rising Time 5 hours
Total Time 6 hours 15 minutes
Servings 12

Equipment

  • 1 9 x 13" pan

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 1/2 if 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 karo syrup
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt if using morton use 1/4 teaspoon
  • 3 cups pecan roughly chopped

Instructions

Dough

  • Combine yeast and warm water (under 120 degrees). Stir gently and let sit for 5 minutes. The yeast should be fragrant and bubbly
  • In a saucepan on low, warm milk on the stove - do not scald or let steam (under 120 degrees). Remove and set aside
  • In a large bowl, mix eggs, butter, sugar, and salt. Combine with a whisk until incorporated. The mixture will look slightly curdled
  • Add in the yeast to the egg mixture and whisk together very gently to ensure not to kill the yeast
  • Add in the warm milk and stir until combined
  • Using your hands, start mixing in the flour cup by cup until the mixture is well incorporated. After all the flour is added, the dough will not yet be smooth. Continue to need the dough scooping dough up from the bottom to the top until the mixture is smooth (this will take about 3-5 minutes of kneading)
  • Once the mixture is smooth, scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula so no dough remains on the side. Coat the exposed sides of the bowl with butter to prevent sticking
  • Top the bowl with a cloth and let rise for 2 hours. After 2 hours (or until it has almost doubled in size), punch down the dough and then turn over the dough by pulling the bottom of the dough to the top. Cover with a cloth again and let rise for 2 more hours (or has risen again)
  • Right before rolling out the dough, place the pecans in the base of a 9x13" pan. Top with the caramel topping mixture (below)
  • Punch down the dough and roll out a rectangle that is around 12” x 24”
  • Melt 1 stick of butter and spread over the dough. Sprinkle each piece of rolled dough with ½ cup sugar and 4 tablespoons cinnamon
  • Cut off the edges and cut into 12 long pieces (~1.5" each). Roll each strip upwards into swirls and place into the caramel pecan filled cake pans
  • Cover the pans with a towel and let them rise for 1-1 ½ hours until puffy but not overflowing
  • Bake at 350 for ~45 minutes until golden on top and cooked through the center
  • While they are still hot, place a piece of foil over the cinnamon rolls and flip them over onto a plate (be careful they are hot so use oven mitts!)

Top make the pecan topping:

  • Boil together sea salt, vanilla bean, brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup and place in the bottom of the cake pans (over the pecans) before adding the cinnamon rolls

Notes

Note this was updated from 2021 to make 1 9x13" pan of pecan rolls.