A few months ago, my brother-in-law walked in our front door at about 9 p.m. on a Sunday. We didn’t know he was coming but this is really not all that strange since he is my husband’s best friend in the whole world and was my very good friend many years before I even started dating my husband.  And, to boot, he lives around the corner!  So a “drop in” from Jason is always a welcomed surprise!  He came through the front door and declared that he had a special delivery, “My lady made me bring these over to you!”  It was a cold, snowy evening in January (imagine that this winter!!) and we’d already gotten the call that there’d be no school the next day.  My sister-in-law, so thoughtfully, sent us a plate of her homemade uncooked Stick Upside Down Cinnamon Rolls.  What a lovely treat!  She texted me the baking directions for the morning and Oh My Lord were they good and gooey and sweet and sticky and sugary.  She and I agreed that this would be a great recipe to post just before Easter.  So, I know we’ve got a few weeks until Easter but here is the recipe for these fairly easy, delicious, prep-the-night-before, homemade, indulgent Sticky Upside Down Cinnamon Rolls (complements of my sister-in-law, Amy).  Let them bake while your kids run around the house hunting for their Easter baskets and Easter eggs.  What’s a little more sugar before Church?

Sticky Upside Down Cinnamon Rolls (Serves 8-10)

1 loaf Rhodes frozen bread dough, thawed

1 cup brown sugar

1 stick (1/2 cup butter)

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup pecans or other nuts (optional)

spreadable butter

1/4 cup white sugar

1-2 Tbsp cinnamon

Directions (be advised that these need to rise for about 2 hours before baking or can be made the night before baking):

Grease a round 8 inch cake pan and set aside.  In a small saucepan, bring the stick of butter, 1/4 cup water and 1 cup brown sugar to a boil.  If using nuts, this is where you should add them.  Once  the butter/brown sugar mixture has reached a “rolling boil,” continue boiling for exactly 5 minutes.  While mixture is boiling, roll out dough to 11×14 inch rectangle (or something close to that).  Spread a thin layer of butter on the dough.  Sprinkle buttered dough with white sugar and cinnamon.  Roll the dough up lengthwise and cut in approximately 2 inch pieces.  When the 5 minute timer goes off, promptly remove the butter/brown sugar mixture from the heat and pour into greased round cake pan.  Add the already rolled and cut dough pieces into the sauce.  Let the rolls rise for about 2 hours until they rise up and out of the pan a bit.  Then bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes  (watch for them to brown a little on top and puff up).  You can also refrigerate them or freeze them until ready to bake (but be sure to bring them to room temperature before baking).  Once they are baked and cooled off just a bit (just a few minutes), flip them onto a plate and let the sauce fall over top of the rolls.  Serve immediately.

 

Adapted from a 1980s Southern Living recipe.

*Typically Rhodes Bread Dough comes in a 5 loaf pack.  Find it in the freezer section.  Store the extra loaves in the freezer.  Use for my Classic Stromboli and/or Lightened Up Monkey Bread (just place a loaf of dough in an opened zip lock bag in the refrigerator the night before you want to use it and it will de-thawed by the next day).