Salted Caramel Apple Pecan Rolls

My dad has a great apple tree in his yard. It only produces apples every other year, but this was our lucky year! Baking in the Fall means apples, cinnamon, pumpkin, cloves, nutmeg. I combined apple pie and pecan sticky buns in this recipe to make a delicious new hybrid.

Salted Caramel Apple Pecan Rolls

Dough:

1 cup warm milk (between 105-115 degrees F)
1/3 cup melted butter (no margarine, that is of the devil)
1 T quick acting yeast
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 t salt
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour


Preheat oven to 400 F. In a stand mixer, (I use my Kitchen Aid) with the bread hook attachment, add the warm milk, melted butter, yeast and sugar. Set on low speed and let mix for 2 minutes. Turn mixer off and let yeast activate for 10 minutes. You might see bubbling, which is good. Very good. If your milk was too hot, you'll kill the yeast and have to start over. Good rule of thumb is to have the milk the same temp as bath water. Too hot for your fingers, too hot for yeast. After yeast has bloomed, add the eggs one at a time and let mix. Sprinkle in salt and half the flour. Let the bread work for about 2 minutes and then add the rest of the flour. Let mix for a good 5 minutes. Keeping the dough in your bowl, place dough, covered with a clean kitchen towel, in a warm area of your kitchen. I place my dough on the stove while the oven is preheating. Let the dough rise for at least an hour but up to 3 hours. 

Apple Cinnamon Filling
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4-6 large apples, peeled, cored, diced small (use a good baking apple- honey crisp, gala, fuji, granny smith, golden delicious, etc...)
3 TBSP butter
1/2 c light brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 TBSP corn starch

In a medium sized saute pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add diced apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and corn starch. Cook apples for about 10 minutes, or until slightly softened, but not mushy.  Remove from heat and allow to cool before assembly.

Caramel Sauce:

1 stick butter
1 c brown sugar
2 tsp Kosher salt
1/4 c heavy cream
1 cup toasted whole pecans, chopped

Butter a 9X13 casserole dish and set aside. In a medium sauce pan, melt the butter. Add the brown sugar and cook till sugar is completely dissolved and smooth, about 5-7 minutes. Take off heat and add the salt and heavy cream. Stir till cream is completely incorporated. Pour caramel sauce into the prepared 9X13 pan, spreading it evenly over the bottom. Sprinkle the caramel with the whole pecans and set aside.


Assembly:

Once your dough has risen for at least an hour, pour it out onto a floured flat counter. Roll dough into a 16X12 inch rectangle. Spread the cinnamon apples over the dough evenly. Roll the dough into a jelly roll. Cut dough into rolls about 3/4 inch thick. Place in the caramel sauce,  12 rolls per pan. Place rolls back in a warm area and let rise again for at least 30 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-18 minutes, or until golden brown on the edges. Remove from oven and immediately turn the rolls out onto a cookie sheet, being careful of the hot caramel sauce. Scoop any pecans and caramel out of the 9X13 pan and spread onto the rolls. Ready to eat.