Ooey Gooey Brown Butter Pecan Rolls

Just imagine this …

You wake up to a freshly baked pan of sweet Rolls that pair perfectly with your coffee or tea.

OH, and they’re not your normal sweet roll recipe. Nope. They’re so much more than that.

Can you see it now, you’ll take a bite and the flavors of brown butter and caramel will invade your senses.

Do I have your attention now?

You can blame Aiden from My Gingerbread Man (Man Card Book 13) for this amazing recipe. He had to test it out three separate times before it was just right.

Cora loved his Gingerbread Sweet Rolls with Cranberry Compote so much that Aiden decided it was time to create another sweet roll recipe.

There was no special occasion for these ooey-gooey rolls, he just wanted to make something special for her.

BUT now that the recipe is just right he may need to test it out in his next baking championship. They’ll definitely make him the winner with all those delicious brown butter flavors popping out in ever bite.

Okay, full transparency–This recipe challenged me. I had the idea and then had to make it three separate times. We almost had to have them a fourth time which would not have been a bad thing.

Here are two key things I discovered with this recipe: Don’t add too much butter or bourbon to the yeasted dough recipe because it will not rise. Make sure the brown butter is solidified before spreading it out over the rolled-out dough (I added mine to the freezer). If the butter is too runny it won’t stick and you won’t be able to roll up the dough easily.

Brown butter has always been a favorite of mine, so I had fun adding it to every element of this recipe. Just like anything when you take a flavor to another level it gives depth to the recipe. Trust me, you notice the moment you bite into the roll; all the flavors will pop out and make you smile.

Once I had the recipe exactly where I wanted them, the rolls were not hard to make. Actually, this would be fun to make with your kids.

(I didn’t do this but I’m going to venture a guess and say you could freeze some of the rolls if the recipe makes too many.)

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Ooey Gooey Brown Butter Pecan Rolls

Recipe by Terra Kelly

Prep: 1 hour 45 minutes

Cook: 25-30 minutes

Makes: 12-16 rolls

Ingredients

For the Dough

1 Tbsp brown butter, melted (recipe here)

1 packet active dry yeast (3/4 oz)

½ cup milk (I used whole milk)

½ cup water

½ cup granulated sugar

1 Tbsp bourbon (optional)

1 egg

1 tsp salt

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour (plus extra for kneading and rolling out dough)

1 Tbsp oil for proofing dough

For the Filling

1 stick (8 Tbsp) brown butter (recipe here), let it solidify

2 tsp cinnamon

1 cup brown sugar

Ooey Gooey Caramel Top

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup brown butter (recipe here)

1 packet butterscotch pudding mix (look at note below)

4 Tbsp bourbon (optional)

Directions

Butter all sides of your 13 x 9 pan or casserole dish. Set it aside.

For the dough:

In a small saucepan, heat milk and water between 112-120 degrees Fahrenheit. Add the yeast and let it sit for five minutes.

Follow the brown butter recipe with this link.

Set the brown butter you need for the filling of the rolls aside and let it solidify because it will be easier to spread the butter around on the soft dough. (You don’t want it melted and runny.)

In a medium bowl, add 1 cup flour, melted brown butter, the yeast mixture (with milk and water), sugar, bourbon, egg, and salt. Mix ingredients well, and then slowly add the remaining flour until dough starts to form in the bowl. It may be a little sticky.

Remove dough from bowl and flour surface. Begin to knead the dough for about 5-8 minutes. It will be sticky, but as you add a little flour while kneading, it will get soft and easy to fold. (The dough will be smooth and not sticky.)

In the same medium bowl you used to mix the dough, add oil and then coat all sides of the kneaded dough with the oil. Cover bowl with a damp towel or damp paper towel and let sit in a warm area for one hour or until the dough triples in size.

When the dough is ready, lightly flour the surface and roll out the dough into a rectangle. (You want the dough to be about 1/8 to ¼ inch thick.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

For the filling:

Evenly spread out the brown butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar around the rolled-out dough. Add ingredients all the way to the edges.

Roll up the dough and evenly cut 12-16 rolls (you can decide how big you want each roll).

Add the rolls to your prepared pan and set them aside.

Ooey gooey caramel top:

In a small saucepan, add prepared brown butter, brown sugar, butterscotch pudding mix, and bourbon. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and ingredients are mixed.

Pour over the top of brown butter cinnamon rolls. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and internal temperature is about 200 degrees Fahrenheit.

Let them cool or enjoy them warm!

Note: I bought the instant butterscotch pudding mix, which thickens the pecan mixture slightly. To prevent that, you can look for the cook and serve butterscotch pudding mix.

The bourbon is optional. I also used a Tennessee salted caramel whiskey once, and it provided a lot of flavors. The bourbon and whiskey will give the recipe another dimension of flavor—the alcohol will cook off.