• *Please be careful when making caramel. It doesn't look like it's too hot but it really is. Keep kids away and don't try the caramel sauce until it has cooled down a bit.*

For the dough

• Mix the lukewarm milk, eggs, vanilla extract and melted butter.
• Mix all the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and make a hole in the centre and add all the wet ingredients in the center.
• Mix everything until you have a uniform dough. It’s really sticky so don’t worry, that’s just the way this dough is! That makes them gooey at the end instead of bread-y and hard.
• Let the dough rest to proof for 1 hour covered in cling film or until it doubles in size. If it’s too cold, place it in the oven with the light on and no temperature setting.

Assembly

• Dust flour on a clean tabletop and roll the dough. Every couple of rolls make sure it’s not sticking and dust more flour underneath and on top. Roll it out to a large rectangle (30x40cm or 12x17in). Try to keep it as rectangular as you can. At the very end make sure it’s not stuck and dust more flour if necessary so you can roll it with ease.

For the filling

• Paint the melted butter on top of the dough evenly and reach every edge.
• Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon and spread it out as evenly as possible. Sprinkle it first and then spread out any mountains of sugar by gently brushing them with your hand. Then sprinkle the chopped pecans as well.
• Start rolling: first do it carefully so it’s nice and tight and once you have the first 2 complete rolls, you can just push it (still very tightly) so it rolls to the end.
• Cut the rolls (I did mine 3 fingers thick) and place them in a baking pan lined with baking paper at the bottom (this will help later so the sugar doesn’t stick, you’ll thank me!) and arrange them nicely. Keep a decent amount of space between them so that they can rise during proofing and after in the oven without becoming square.
• Let them proof for 30min*** (again, it helps if they’re in a warm environment) and then they go in the oven at 180°C/350°F for 20-30min or until they're lightly golden on top.

For the salted caramel sauce

• Make a thin layer of sugar on a large pan and place it over medium heat.
• Let it become a nice pale gold colour and don't use any utensil to mix at this point, only move around the sugar by tilting the pan.
• Once golden, add the cream and salt and stir vigorously. Be really careful because it's really hot and it will bubble up.
• Remove the pan from the heat, add the butter and stir. Add the pecans.
• Pour the salted caramel on top of the cinnamon rolls and let them cool down for a few minutes before removing them from the pan.