Caramel Banana Cinnamon Rolls

Caramel Banana Cinnamon Rolls are fun, delicious, and easy! Grey and I had a great time making and eating these!

Greyson and I had a baking day! It was so fun to have him help me bake. We love bananas but we got some that went ripe a little sooner than we thought they would.

We needed a good banana recipe. Grey said he wanted cinnamon rolls, which shocked me because he never eats them normally. We had fun! Give them a try!

Caramel Banana Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients

Dough

• 1 cup whole milk
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 packet instant dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup pureed banana
• 2 3/4 -3 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Filling

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/3 sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Caramel

• 1 stick butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup honey

Caramel Banana Cinnamon Rolls

Directions

1. DOUGH: In a large mixing bowl, heat the milk and butter in the microwave in 30-sec increments, until warm and melted (never reaching boiling). Let cool to 110 degrees (43 C) – the temperature of bathwater. It should be warm but not too hot or it will kill the yeast. 
2. Sprinkle on yeast and let activate for 10 minutes. Then add sugar and salt and stir. Next, add in pureed ripe banana and stir, I used a stand mixer. Add flour 1/2 cup at a time, mixing as you go. The dough will be sticky. Keep adding flour as needed, until the dough pulls away from the bowl and is a loose but still springy ball. Only use as much flour as it takes to reach this point.
3. Rinse out your mixing bowl, coat it with olive oil, and add your dough ball back in seam side down. Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm place to rise for about 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
4. FILLING: On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a long rectangle ~1/4 inch thick (the dough should measure roughly 12 x 20 inches). Brush with melted butter and top with sugar and  1 Tbsp cinnamon. 
5. Slowly and tightly roll up the dough and situate the seam side down. With a serrated knife or a string of floss, cut the dough into 1 1/2 – 2 inch sections.
6. CARAMEL: In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter, brown sugar, salt, vanilla, and honey. Keep stirring to prevent the sugar from sticking to the pan. Bring to a gentle boil, then remove the pan from the heat.
7. Pour the caramel sauce into a 9×12-inch baking dish and you can sprinkle the walnuts on top of the sauce (I did not because they give me cankers.) Arrange the rolls in the dish so there are 3 rows of 4 rolls.
8. Cover with plastic wrap and let the rolls rise for 15 minutes, in a warm place.
9. Preheat the oven to 350˚F (180˚C).
10. Remove the plastic wrap and bake the cinnamon rolls for 40 minutes, or until light golden brown.
11. Let cool for 20 minutes, then invert the rolls onto a serving platter. Leftover cinnamon rolls can be stored for up to 5 days in the refrigerator. Reheat in the microwave or oven.

CINNAMON ROLL RECIPES

This Cinnamon Roll Cheesecake Dip is a decadent, crazy simple dessert or breakfast! It only takes about 30 minutes from start to finish!

This is something special! It just makes you think of home and your family when you have a pan of these gems! We have tried different recipes but we keep coming back to this one. The buttermilk makes all the difference!

This recipe is simple! It makes 3 loaves, so there is some to share if you would like. I hope you enjoy this as much as we did!