Grandma's Butterscotch Tea Rolls

Author: Shelley Buchwald

It was the morning of our annual Labor Day family reunion and chicken barbeque. I woke early to the distant sound of metal grates scraping brick as my father and grandfather prepared the large barbeque pit between our houses.

The smell of charcoal was already filling the air, and my mouth began to water in anticipation of grandpa’s juicy barbequed chicken. I peered out my bedroom window and saw the men tending the pit.

Relatives arrived in groups at my grandparent’s house throughout the morning. Distant cousins spilled out of cars, eager to run and play on the grassy lawn. The men instinctively congregated around the grill pit, catching up with each other while watching the flames lick the chicken to crunchy perfection. The women carried their covered dishes into the house, heading straight for grandma’s welcoming kitchen, where they were greeted with hugs and smiles and the sweet smell of baking brown sugar.

Though it was hard work to host such large family reunions year after year, Grandma was a natural hostess and never seemed flustered or rushed. She always had time to put down her oven mitt and greet another guest with a welcoming hug.

Though the barbeque pit intrigued me and my cousins asked me to join in their games, I decline both and headed for grandma’s kitchen to find her putting the finishing touches on what was the highlight of my day: butterscotch tea rolls, better known as “Grandma’s famous sticky buns.”

Grandma has made her famous butterscotch tea rolls recipe, annually, for over 40 years. Though the chicken was juicy and tender and the potluck dishes offered the best of farm family home cooking, family reunions were never complete without grandma’s butterscotch tea rolls for dessert.

Grandma’s rolls were made of a soft, doughy yeast bread coated with a butterscotch candied glaze that was gooey in places, crunchy in others, and it was pure heaven to unroll the sweet, spiraled bread and eat my way to the center. And wonder of wonders, on reunion days no one ever set limits on how many of these buns I could eat!

When the chicken was ready and all the relatives had arrived, we all gathered in a circle in my grandparents’ cool garage, where grandpa said grace and then, to my delight, announced, “Children first!”

After lunch, I wandered outside with a full stomach and butterscotch tea rolls. As the late summer afternoon wore on, I wandered back to the tables for round two of those delicious butterscotch tea rolls.

Some days you just long for grandma’s special butterscotch tea rolls and one last sweet taste of summers long gone.

Grandma's Butterscotch Tea Rolls Recipe

Ingredients

2 1/2 C milk
1/2 C butter (or margarine)
2 packages of dry yeast
1/2 C white sugar
7 C unsifted flour
2 1/2 Tsp salt
3 C light brown sugar
1/2 C light corn syrup
3/4 C butter

Instructions

Heat 2 1/2 cups milk to simmering in saucepan; add 1/2 cup butter and remove from heat, stirring to melt butter.
In a separate bowl, combine 2 packages dry yeast with 1/2 cup sugar. When milk mixture is lukewarm, stir in yeast mixture.
Beat 2 eggs until frothy and work in along with 7 cups unsifted flour and 2 1/2 teaspoons of salt to form a soft dough.
Sprinkle dough with a little flour and shape into a ball in the bowl.
Cover and chill overnight.
Remove from refrigerator and let stand at room temperature for 3 hours before shaping into rolls.

Prepare Glaze
While dough is standing, prepare glaze by mixing 3 cups of light brown sugar, 1/2 cup light corn syrup, and 3/4 cup butter.

Grease pans (Grandma uses two 9” square pans, three 8” square pans, and one 7”x11” pan), then pour glaze in bottom of pans.

Shape Rolls
To shape the rolls, roll half the dough into a rectangle about 1/8” thick on floured surface.
Spread dough with additional soft butter and sprinkle with cinnamon.
Roll dough up into a 20” roll, then slice roll at 1” intervals.
Place in pans, cover with dishtowels, and let rise about 1 hour or until doubled in size.
Bake at 375 for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Immediately invert onto serving plates. Makes about 6 dozen.

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