Mom’s Ultra Soft and Tender Caramel Rolls
These caramel rolls are a Christmas morning tradition in our family. Mom’s Ultra Soft and Tender Caramel Rolls, my favorite rolls in all the world!

Food traditions are such a big part of who I am. And these time honored recipes have a way of stacking up during the holidays. I would love to make each and every recipe every single year, but it gets hard to find the time to make all of them, much less the freezer space to store them and the tummy space to eat them.
I’ve listed some of the recipes that I would call Christmas traditions in my family. Some have been gracing our family since before I was born; others are fairly new to the scene, recipes that we now simply don’t want to be without this time of year.
- Grandma Klein’s Chocolate Caramels
- Mom’s Homemade Peanut Butter Cups
- Donna’s Cranberry Cake with Butter Cream Sauce
- Mom’s Toffee Butter Crunch
- Loree’s Rocky Road Krispies Bars
- Jennifer’s Peppermint Bark
- June’s Yum-Yum Bars
- Cream Wafer Sandwich Cookies
- Peanut Butter Truffles with Marshmallow and Krispies
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies
- Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies
Doesn’t that list just make you want to get in the kitchen and make somethin’? I hope so!
While we can’t possibly make all these treats every year, there is one recipe that is extremely special, that I hope to never be without. Each Christmas morning, Mom gifts our family with a couple pans of her famous and amazing caramel rolls. It’s tradition at its finest. Mom’s Ultra Soft and Tender Caramel Rolls.
There’s something so satisfying about creating a sweet, soft bread dough, waiting for it to rise, and then placing its cut swirls of melted butter, cinnamon, and sugar into a pan. Although I’ve had Mom’s recipe for many years, it’s not one that I’ve taken the time to know intimately. Because those caramel rolls just taste better when made by Mom. It’s the simple undeniable truth. ;)
But I figured it was high time that I got this recipe perfected myself, so that I am able to pass this Christmas tradition down to our own daughters. I had quite a few conversations with Mom before I dug in, adding notes to the recipe where I had questions. I wanted to make sure I got them just right.
Normally, when Mom bakes these, she serves them straight from the pan, with the caramel on the bottom. But for special occasions, the rolls can be flipped out onto a platter with the caramel on top. The caramel will be somewhat clear in color, with a loose consistency, when hot from the oven. But when left to sit for awhile, as I recommend you do, it thickens and has a cloudy appearance. This caramel is not sticky or chewy or tough. Once it is set, it is lusciously soft and creamy. I absolutely love it.
These rolls are a Christmas morning tradition for our family, but it’s not the only time of year we enjoy them. They are welcome at any time, for any occasion. The recipe makes two pans of rolls, perfect for so many kinds of gatherings.
Mom’s caramel rolls are the softest, most tender rolls I’ve ever met. Their pillowy sweet goodness will always be ranked #1 in my book of caramel rolls. They are pure comfort, with longtime tradition.
Caramel Rolls
Sweet and pillowy Caramel Rolls make any morning special! A soft yeasted dough is stuffed with a cinnamon-infused filling and finished with homemade caramel sauce.
Ingredients
FOR THE ROLLS:
- 4 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast (2 packets @ .25 ounce each)
- ½ cup warm water (110° to 115° F, which is nice and warm, but not hot)
- 1 cup hot water
- ¾ cup shortening
- 1 cup cold water
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 heaping teaspoon Morton kosher salt
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 7 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon vegetable oil
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 4 teaspoons cinnamon
FOR THE CARAMEL:
- 2 ¼ cups light brown sugar
- 2 ¼ cups heavy cream
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3 tablespoons white corn syrup
- 3 tablespoons water
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Instructions
For the Rolls
- Place the warm water (110° to 115° F) in a small bowl or measuring cup. Sprinkle the yeast over the top and set aside for 5 minutes, or until it becomes frothy on top and smells "yeasty". Very lightly butter the insides of two 9″ x 13″ pans, then set aside - Mom always prefers light-colored aluminum baking pans for this recipe.
- In a small pan over medium heat, melt shortening in 1 cup of hot water. Remove from heat and add 1 cup cold water.
- Add the water and shortening mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer, and then add the ¾ cup sugar, salt, and eggs, followed by the activated yeast mixture. With a dough hook attachment, mix these ingredients just until combined.
- Then add the flour, 1 cup at a time, mixing it in almost entirely each time before adding the next cup. When all flour has been incorporated, you will have a very soft dough that is easy to handle. At this point you can either use the dough right away or store the dough in the refrigerator for up to a week to make the rolls at a later time (see Notes section for details).
- Cover the inside of a large bowl with a very light coating of oil. Place dough in the oiled bowl, turning it over to get some oil on all sides, so the top of the dough stays soft. Cover top of bowl with a clean kitchen towel and set in a warm place. Let dough rise to about double the original amount. This can take at least an hour, depending on the warmth of your surroundings, etc.
For the Caramel
- While the dough is rising, prepare the caramel. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, stir together brown sugar, cream, butter, corn syrup, and water until melted and combined. Bring to a boil, then boil for just 30 seconds. It will have a cloudy appearance and will stay soft once the rolls are cooked. Divide the caramel between the two 9″ x 13″ pans, then set the pans aside to let the caramel cool while the dough continues to rise.
To Assemble
- Once the dough has doubled, score it in half. With a rolling pin, roll out each dough half into a large rectangle shape, about 14″ x 8″. Brush half of the melted butter over one dough rectangle. In a small bowl, stir together the 1/2 cup of granulated sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle half the cinnamon sugar mixture evenly over the melted butter on the dough rectangle. Starting with the wide side of the dough rectangle, roll the dough up tightly, and finish by pinching the seam to seal it. Cut the dough roll into 12 equal slices, using a piece of dental floss or thread. Place dough slices, cut-sides facing up, in one of the 9″ x 13″ pans with caramel in the bottom. Repeat with the other half of the dough, to create a second pan of rolls.
- Cover each pan with a clean kitchen towel and let dough rise again in a warm place, until dough has doubled in size. This can take at least an hour, depending on the warmth of your surroundings.
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Place pans in oven and bake for about 30 minutes, or until nicely browned. If you want to turn the rolls out onto a platter, let the rolls rest for 5-10 minutes after removing them from the oven before doing so. We usually just serve the rolls straight from the pan. If the rolls are at room temperature, I highly suggest warming them up just a bit, so they're warm and super tender!
Notes
To prepare the dough and make the rolls at a later date: Once you've completed Step 4, place the dough in a large airtight container that has a bit of oil in it to coat the dough. Spray one side of a piece of plastic wrap with nonstick spray and place it directly on top of the dough (so it doesn’t stick to the dough). Put a lid on the bowl and place the bowl in the refrigerator. The dough will still rise while in the refrigerator, just at a much slower rate. When ready to make rolls, take the chilled dough out of therefrigerator and let come to room temperature before shaping it into rolls. Start by preparing the caramel in Step 6, and proceed with the remainder of the recipe. Note that when the dough is cold, it will take longer to rise in the pan.
To bake the rolls and freeze: Bake the rolls per the recipe instructions. Freeze. Then remove from freezer the night before you want to eat them, and place them in the fridge. Reheat in a 250° F oven for 15-30 minutes before serving.
Recipe from Mom's recipe box, adapted a bit from her friend Dorie's caramel rolls recipe.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 24 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 485Total Fat: 25gSaturated Fat: 14gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 70mgSodium: 75mgCarbohydrates: 60gFiber: 1gSugar: 30gProtein: 6g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by Nutritionix. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee accuracy. If your health depends on nutrition information, please calculate again with your own favorite calculator.
Just exactly what I was hoping for! My Mom always made but the roll would come out hard, I wanted soft and flaky! This is by far the best roll ever!!
Is shortening butter or crisco?
What a great tradition, these rolls look absolutely perfect Brenda!
Thanks, Mercedes. Merry Christmas to you!
Caramel rolls are a Christmas tradition in our house, too! These look perfectly soft and fluffy!
Perfect for Christmas morning!
perfect for a holiday or any day!! I just love family traditions
To respond to Lynn’s comment–I don’t do it all on Christmas morning. I do one of two things. I make up the dough two days before Christmas and put in the fridge (according to Brenda’s directions) and then make the caramel, and roll them out early Christmas morning, allow them to rise to double, and then bake.
Or, I make, bake and freeze ahead of time (up to a week before Christmas). Then I take them out before going to bed on Christmas Eve. In the morning we reheat individual rolls in the microwave for 10 to 15 seconds to warm. Of course, fresh baked is the best.
Have you ever gotten to the “putting the rolls on top of the caramel in the 9×13” and then refrigerated overnight and taken out in the morning for the second rise before baking?
Yes, that works too. :)
I’d love to make these for Christmas morning – they sound wonderful! But I’d like to know if they can be made out the night before and put in the fridge for baking Christmas morning. I didn’t know if the caramel would work that way. I don’t know how you would have time to do it all on Christmas morning! Thanks for the great blog!
Brenda, I love these caramel rolls!!! and thanks for sharing all of these great recipes from your kitchen. . I love family food traditions and think that it makes this time of the year so much more memorable and special!! We’re all about baking and decorating cookies together. . the girls love it! Happy holidays to you and your beautiful family!!
Your family sure knows how to celebrate the holidays in the kitchen! I want to make it all, starting with these fluffy, caramel-y rolls.
Wow these look absolutely delicious. The caramel they’re swimming in would be much welcomed here on Christmas morning. I enjoyed the list of yummies you’re family makes for the holidays!!
These are absolutely gorgeous rolls! Pinned!
I am drooling over all that gorgeous caramel!!
:) Thanks, Gaby.
I don’t know if it is because I am pregnant but these look SOOOOOO good to me. I am seriously drooling on my keyboard. I think they would be amazing with pecans in the caramel too! Can’t wait to make them, thanks for the recipe!
You’re welcome. Enjoy!!
These look so Yummy!
Can the dough be made in a Bread machine?
Thanks,
Diane M.
I love pampered chef products, they are always so solid. I have cookie scoops from there that are my go-to when baking cookies!
Those cookie scoops are used very often around here. Love them!
Oh my goodness, caramel rolls! Where have these been all my life, they look heavenly!
Thanks, Diane. They are the most tender rolls I’ve ever eaten. LOVE.
MMMMMmmmm! I need these in my life this season!
Agreed!
Mmm those sound great! I’m totally game with caramel for breakfast :)
Thank you!
WOW, these look so incredibly soft and fluffy. Perfect for christmas morning!
Thanks, Tieghan. They are so wonderful!
I was wondering if I made these rolls up to the part where I put the rolls in the pan on the caramel could they be covered and placed in the refrigerator and baked in the morning? Also, would this recipe work for making a frosted cinnamon roll. Cinnamon roll probably would be baked for a shorter amount of time.