This is my all-time favorite sweet breakfast food – upside down sticky buns made with frozen dinner rolls.
My mom makes them all the time for tailgates (they make those early mornings for noon-kickoff games much more bearable!) and they are perfect for when you have overnight guests.
The best part is they are ridiculously easy! You start with frozen dinner rolls – the kind that are just bread dough that you have to let rise (I use Rhodes). Put 24 of them in a greased 9×13 pan and sprinkle generously with cinnamon. Then combine a small package of cook-n-serve vanilla pudding mix and 3.5 tablespoons of milk. Add to that 1.5 sticks of melted butter and 1.5 cups of brown sugar. (Hey, I never said this was low calorie! Go big or go home!)
Pour the pudding mixture over the rolls, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let it sit at room temperature overnight.
The next morning, the rolls will have risen to enormous proportions!
Carefully remove the plastic wrap and bake the rolls for 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven.
Now here’s where you’ve got to be quick – within two minutes of taking them out of the oven, flip them upside down onto a foil covered baking sheet. Watch the gooey goodness ooze all over the sticky buns…yummmm!
Make sure to serve them while they’re hot! (If you are taking them tailgating or to a brunch somewhere, cover with foil and they’ll stay warm for an hour or so.)
Here is a pinable graphic of the whole recipe, start to finish!
This is a recipe you won’t be able to keep to yourself – I guarantee anyone that tries it will want a copy of it for themselves!
Ingredients
24 rolls of frozen bread dough (Rhodes)
1.5 sticks butter
1.5 c. brown sugar
1 package cook and serve vanilla pudding
3.5 T. milk
cinnamon
nuts (optional)
Instructions
- Spray 13 X 9 pan and place rolls evenly though pan.
- Sprinkle generously with cinnamon.
- Mix pudding mix with milk
- Melt butter, add brown sugar and pudding/milk mixture
- Pour mixture over dough
- Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise overnight (If risen excessively, pierce with tines of fork to
- deflate).
- Bake @ 350 degrees for approx 30 minutes.
- Flip over on foil covered cookie sheet within 2 minutes of taking out of oven.
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What size pudding mix???
I believe she stated a small box of pudding mix which would be the 3 oz size
I used 3 loves of Rhodes frozen bread thawed and rolled out. I spread butter on it and sprinkled cinnamon and brown sugar then rolled it up. I sliced it and put it in a 13 x 9 pan and let it raise. I made the goo recipe from your instructions and let cool while my rolls were raising. Then I poured it over and baked for 38 minutes. The rolls really raised a lot more and was over flowing the pan. Luckily I had put a cookie sheet under it and the over flow was contained. I would put 3 less rolls in next time. However it was the best sticker buns I have ever made in my life. They were gooey and not granulated like mine usually get. Roses makes really good dough and it was perfect for this recipe. I cannot wait to try your recipe with the Rhodes rolls.
do I let the rolls unthrew first because they are frozen together
Hi Shirley, nope, put them in the pan frozen! If they’re stuck together, I can usually get them apart with a butter knife. They’ll thaw and rise overnight before you bake them.
Sprinkle pecans abundantly over pan before putting rolls in. They are you die for.
We aren’t nut lovers in this house…but that’s the way my aunt makes them! She loves them that way too!
Turned out perfect! Easy peazy. My new go to caramel roll recipe. Like much better in 9×13 than a bundt pan.
Glad to hear it! It’s definitely my go-to as well :-)
So leaving the milk out overnight room temp wont make you sick? Can i put them in the fridge instead? Just worried about getting sick lol.
You can put them in the fridge but the rolls won’t rise as much. Up to you. I’ve never had a problem with the milk and have made this at least twenty times.
My recipe is an old one and very similar but I’m going to try yours next time I make them. Adding the pudding to all the ingredients and not having to bring sugar and butter to a boil seems much easier.
Why are you using vanilla pudding? What does it do? I mix my butter and sugar together over heat and then pour it over the buns, cover, let rise. Then bake!
This is our Christmas morning tradition! Thanks!
Do you use the pudding mix dry and then add the 3.5 Tablespoons of milk. Or do you prepare the pudding mix directions on the box and then add 3.5 tablespoons of milk?
Right, don’t prepare the pudding mix as directed…just mix the dry pudding mix plus the 3.5 tablespoons of milk
Are the rolls good the day after? I need to bake the night before and then serve in the morning. Not enuff room in the oven the day of the event.
They’re pretty good leftover, but really nothing compared to fresh out of the oven. So these may not be best for that.
[…] rolls for Christmas morning. Need a super easy, super delicious recipe, check this one out – Upside down sticky buns We usually make a half of batch, as my daughter prefers the made from scratch cinnamon rolls. […]
These are absolutely delicious! Made them and they are better than the butterscotch pudding one in a bundt pan! Just make them…everyone will LOVE them! Thanks for the recipe!
I made these for Christmas morning. My boys and husband loved them!! Super easy to make. I put pecans under half the rolls, since one son isn’t a fan of nuts. These will be our new Christmas morning tradition. Highly recommend for an easy and delicious sweet treat. Thank you for sharing!
Oh no I used instant by mistake 3 pans are raising now. What can I expect?
Can you use butterscotch pudding instead of vanilla or is vanilla better?
Yes!! Butterscotch can be harder to find but I stock up when I see it because I always prefer making this with butterscotch – it adds such yummy flavor!
Made this kinda sorta, always tweek a recipe. Made in a bunt pan 1 and 1/2 layers of rolls that have been rolled in butter, then cinnamon sugar. Put dry butterscotch cook n serve pudding and then brown sugar. Pour melted butter over all. Add nuts if you like on bottom. Sometimes I put brn sugar, butter, a bit of Almond milk, (heate)in the bottom w/nuts. Got raves at SUPER BOWL PARTY.
Meredith,
I have made these in the past but now the carmel is hardening almost immediately to the point they are hard to eat. It almost turns to candy. I tried adding a little bit of corn syrup because I read that they are leaving corn syrup out of pudding mixes now, but it still turned hard. Any suggestions to combat this?
Are you sure you’re using cook and serve pudding, and not instant? I’ve something similar happen with I accidentally used instant pudding mix by mistake. I haven’t made these in a while, so if there’s been a change in pudding mix ingredients I suppose that could be it…and that would be really sad :-( Maybe try a different brand of pudding to see if that helps? Keep me posted!
We have made these for years but we use butterscotch pudding. I’m sure vanilla is just as yummy.