Caramel-Pecan Rolls

From the America's Test Kitchen, comfort food at its best. "The defining element of Maryland Fried Chicken—the cream gravy—is traditionally made with milk. We swapped heavy cream for the milk to create a rich, velvety sauce with a satisfying dairy flavor. Serve the chicken with our easy skillet version of Apple Brown Betty."

• Maryland Fried Chicken with Cream Gravy
• Creamy Mashed Potatoes
• Roasted Green Beans
• Skillet Apple Brown Betty

After mixing up another pumpkin bread on a lonely Friday night, I have whipped out the laptop in front of the Food Network which is also showcasing "comfort food" (email above from Cook's Illustrated). Hmm. Wonder why? Okay, I am not going to complain because it is colder somewhere else in the world.

I will let you know how the Maryland Fried Chicken turns out when I am allow to make comfort food again (when it is warmer!).

I have been banned from making comfort food in winter as I made whole wheat, caramel-pecan rolls a couple weeks ago. Three of us dusted off the pan in 20 minutes with cinnamon, sugar and butter clinging to our teeth. I had not made these rolls in many years. I said I would not make them until the summer so we can burn them off better. Well, the final playoff games were on Sunday and I whipped up five batches of dough for pizzas and another log of caramel-pecan rolls and Brad made a pot of chicken corn soup.

I use my 10-year old Oster bread maker to make the dough. You don't "knead" the bread maker to make these rolls. Just mix the dough ingredients together to get a damp ball of dough (about 5 minutes), then knead by hand for about 10 minutes. Let rise in a warm area for a little over an hour.

Dough
1 cup water
1 egg
2 tablespoons butter, softened
3 1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
3 tsp of active dry yeast

I added about a 1/4 cup of ground pecans to the dough for fun.

Grease 13x9x2 pan. Mix the topping; 1/3 cup melted butter, 1/2 cup packed brown sugar, 2/3 cup of pecan halves and spread it in the pan.

Mix 1/2 cup sugar and 2 tsp of cinnamon. Flatten the dough with hands or rolling pin into 15x10 inch rectangle. Spread with 2 tbsp of butter; sprinkle with the sugar-cinnamon mixture. Roll up tightly, beginning at 15-inch side. Pinch edge of dough into roll to seal. Cut roll into 1-inch slices. Place in pan. Let rise in warm place for about an hour or until double.

Bake in 375 oven for about 22 to 27 minutes. Oh yeah. Immediately invert pan onto heat proof serving plate or tray and devour immediately.

The second time I made the caramel-pecan rolls, I added a tsp of vanilla, extra butter and pecans in the topping. Fantastic!