Quick Homemade Sticky Rolls

This weekend I finally found some time to be in the kitchen. Wahoo!! I had a very special guest come and visit: 2 1/2 week old Elliana and her mom, my cousin Jessica. I got a call from them in the morning and they said they would be at my house in a couple of hours. I wondered, is it possible to make homemade caramel rolls in two hours?! I did a google search and found a recipe that fit the bill. This sweet dough uses two packages of yeast which must speed up the process. I doubled the amount of caramel sauce listed since it didn't sound like enough and even then it didn't end up very caramely. They were light and fluffy, sticky and sweet, and made the whole house smell good!
Sweet Dough
2 packages of yeast
1/2 c. warm water (105-115 F)
1 1/2 c. milk
7 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
4 Tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs
1 tsp. salt


Filling
2/3 c. sugar
4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 stick butter, melted


Caramel Sauce
1/2 c. butter
1 c. brown sugar
4 Tbs. corn syrup


In a stand mixer bowl, add yeast and warm water and let dissolve for 5 minutes until foamy. Heat milk in microwave (30 seconds or so) until warm to the touch. Add milk and remaining sweet dough ingredients to the yeast and mix on low speed. Add additional flour if needed until dough comes away from the sides of the bowl and forms a large ball. On a floured work surface, turn dough over and roll out into a large rectangle about 1/2" thick.


For the filling, brush melted butter over dough and sprinkler with cinnamon and sugar. Starting on a long side of the rectangle, carefully roll up dough into one large log. Using a piece of string (floss works great too!) cut dough into 2-3" pieces by sliding string underneath the log and criss-crossing string to cut through dough.


In a small sauce pan, melt butter, brown sugar and corn syrup over low heat and stir until combined. Pour caramel mixture into a large cake pan (I used an 11x14). Place cinnamon rolls over caramel sauce cut side down. Cover and let rise for an hour. Bake at 375 F for 25 minutes. Let sit for 2 minutes before inverting over a half sheet pan.
Recipe adapted from http://www.cooks.com/
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