Ice Cream Caramel Rolls: Special Breakfast Treat
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What does ice cream have to do with caramel rolls? Everything—because the caramel sauce for these rolls uses ice cream as one of its ingredients.
I know. Yum.
The best thing about these rolls? From start to finish, these puppies only take two hours. Did you hear that? Two hours until people will be falling at your feet, begging you for some of that carmely goodness.
You could control the world. You should probably get started right now.
Ingredients for Ice Cream Caramel Rolls —
Dough:
2 cups warm water (100 degrees)
4 tsp yeast
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup oil or shortening
2 eggs
6-7 cups of flour
Filling:
1 stick of butter, softened
Brown sugar
Cinnamon
Caramel:
2 sticks butter
1 1/2 cups vanilla ice cream
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
How To Make Ice Cream Caramel Rolls Happen —
Dissolve yeast in the water and let it sit for a minute. Then add the sugar and salt and mix.
Add the oil, the eggs, and 2 cups of the flour. Mix with a mixer until smooth.
By hand, stir in 3 more cups of the flour. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead, gradually adding the rest of the flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Work into a ball, and let it rest on your counter for 20 minutes.
While your dough is resting, it’s a good time to start making your caramel. Melt the butter and ice cream in a saucepan, and then stir in the sugars.
Bring this mixture to a boil for about a minute, then take it off heat and set aside.
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Now back to your dough ball. After it is done resting, use a rolling pin to flatten the ball of dough into a large rectangle.
Or whatever you call the shape I’ve shown below. 😉
Spread with soft butter, then toss a couple handfuls of brown sugar and a healthy dusting of cinnamon on top of the dough.
Now it’s time to roll the dough up into a log shape. I usually roll the long side, because I’m looking to make 24 rolls.
Finish rolling the log up until you have a nice big tube…
…then cut the log into 24 pieces. I usually start but cutting the log in half, then half again, and so and and so forth. Use a super sharp knife, or use a piece of string.
After you have 24 rolls, it’s time to use your caramel. It doesn’t matter if the caramel is still hot, it won’t hurt the dough. Grease the bottom of two 9×13 pans. Some people pour the caramel in the bottom of the pan and put the rolls in second…
… and others put the rolls in first and pour the caramel over the top.
We tried both ways this time to see which we liked better.
Let the rolls rise in their carmelish goodness for 45 minutes. Then bake for 25-30 minutes at 350.
Our family decided that starting with the caramel on the bottom worked better.
Note: When the rolls come out of the oven, turn the pan over onto a cookie sheet. The caramel rolls will come out and now the caramel is on the top of the roll, like this:
Baking the rolls with the caramel on the bottom kept things softer. The pan where the rolls went in first and the caramel was poured on top were crispier, but some folks like them that way. We also found them to be a bit harder to get out of the pan.
All in all, the caramel rolls disappeared pretty quickly. One pan stayed at home and was inhaled, the other pan went to work with my husband.
It is always good to pass the love around. It helps with calorie distribution.
Ice Cream Caramel Rolls
What's better than a pan of homemade caramel rolls? Homemade caramel rolls that are made with ice cream.
Ingredients
Dough
- 2 cups warm water (100 degrees)
- 4 tsps. yeast
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/3 cup oil or shortening
- 2 eggs
- 6-7 cups flour
Filling
- 1 stick butter, softened
- brown sugar
- cinnamon
Caramel Topping
- 2 sticks butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups vanilla ice cream
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup white sugar
Instructions
1. Dissolve yeast in the water and let it sit for a few minutes until foamy.
2. Add the sugar and salt to the yeast water, then stir.
3. Add the oil, the eggs, and 2 cups of the flour. Mix with a mixer until smooth.
4. By hand, stir in 3 more cups of the flour.
5. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead 8-10 minutes, gradually adding the rest of the flour until the dough is no longer sticky.
6. Work dough into a ball, and let it rest on your counter for 20 minutes.
7. While your dough is resting, start your caramel. Melt the butter and ice cream in a saucepan, and then stir in the sugars.
8. Bring this caramel mixture to a boil, let it boil one minute. Take it off heat and set aside.
9. After your dough ball has rested 20 minutes, use a rolling pin to flatten the ball of dough into a large rectangle.
10. Spread with soft butter, then toss a couple handfuls of brown sugar and a healthy dusting of cinnamon on top of the dough.
11. Roll the dough up into a log shape, slice into 24 rolls.
12. Grease the bottom of two 9×13 pans. Pour the caramel in the bottom of the pans (it is okay if it's still hot) and set the rolls in on top of the caramel.
13. Let the rolls rise in the caramel for 45 minutes.
14. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350.
NOTE: When the rolls come out of the oven, turn the pan over onto a cookie sheet. The caramel rolls will come out and the caramel will be on the top of the roll.
Spending the day in the kitchen? Check out a few of my other favorite recipes…
Crusty Round Loaf: Simple and Delicious
Easy Homemade Noodles From Scratch
Oh wow, those look exceptionally soft, sweet and yummy….I’m going to have to try them lol. Thanks for the recipe!
This looks like a real time saver compared to my caramel roll recipe. It will inspire me to make them more often! They look scrumptious and I’m ready to try them. Thanks so much for the visual recipe!
I made these at work this am for my Medic partner. Omg were they awesome. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Am going to try tomorrow. Wish I could have printed the recipe instead of writing it out on paper. Did I miss something?
I don’t have it set up on my site yet to have a printable recipes. You didn’t miss anything. 😉
Copy and paste it into a Word document, then print it.
There is a printable version on the site now at the bottom of the post. 🙂
Oh my these looks so good! Thanks for the awesome recipe! I know my boys will love these!
How would you freeze these so they would come back good?
I’ve never tried freezing them – they don’t last long enough to get any in the freezer. You’ve given me a challenge though…I’ll try it out and let you know. (And if you get to it first, you do the same?)
The caramel sauce is absolutely amazing. Easy and delicious! Versatile to use in other recipes that call for caramel. My son is asking for caramel apples!
This recipe didnt take long, it was my first time making something with yeast that actually rose! The directions were clear and easy to follow. The caramel sauce is delicious, the rolls are still baking. I love that this recipe makes two pans! Thanks
Can these be made the night before and put in the frig overnight to be baked in the morning?
I’ve never done that; generally speaking to do rolls the next morning you have to take them out of the fridge to let them “warm up” and continue rising before they can bake, which can take 2-3 hours, which ends up being longer than the amount of time for the original same day recipe. However, if you’re trying to save “mess” in the morning, you can read through this recipe for some tips about making rolls at night but baking them in the morning: https://www.melskitchencafe.com/how-to-make-cinnamon-rolls-ahead-of-time/
However, that recipe is for cinnamon rolls, so I’m not sure how waiting overnight would affect the caramel in the bottom of the pan for my recipe. 🙂 If you try it let us know how it works!
Made these for our Thanksgiving breakfast. They turned out perfectly. Thanks for the reliable recipe and helpful pictures.
I want to make these and have the caramel in the bottom of the pan before baking. How would I do this if I’m using frozen cinnamon rolls? I’m thinking put the rolls in pan still in their frozen state, let rise overnignt, turn the pan over the nex and morning and carefully let the rolls fall onto the counter while keeping them in the rectangular shape, pour the caramel in the pan and put the rolls back in the pan on top if the caramel then bake??? Or, the night before, can I put the caramel in the pan, then lay the frozen rolls on top of caramel, let rolls rise over night and bake the next morning?? If I do it this way, would my caramel need to be cool before i placed the frozen rolls on top of it??
I’ve not done this with frozen dough so I’m unsure of the process. If you try it with success, come back and let us know!
I’m happy to find this recipe, it’s just the same as one that I made, many times, years ago when my two sons were still home…25 years ago,❤️ The ice cream caramel is awesome and I put it on the bottom of the pan as you suggested! I like soft, gooey rolls! Frozen bread dough or pizza dough from the grocery store bakery works great, too, if you’re in a hurry or company is there for breakfast!
Made them today…my oldest son is coming 🥰 Thank you for sharing!