Caramel Pecan Roll (Pizza Dough)

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This Caramel Pecan Roll is so fun to bake on a lazy weekend morning. It’s one big spiral of twisted dough baked in a cast iron skillet, with cinnamon sugar and toasted pecans folded all the way through. I’m cheating a little with store-bought pizza dough, rolled out and filled the way you’d fill a cinnamon roll. A brown sugar glaze goes over the top while it’s still hot, soaking down into every cinnamony twist. It’s absolutely delightful.

A close-up of a fork holding a piece of caramel pecan roll with chopped nuts on top.

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Y’all, I am making this darn caramel roll every single weekend. It is SO good. Gooey caramel center with crunchy pecans (which you can omit if you’ve got a picky eater), surrounded by this buttery crust — I don’t know why, but it makes me feel like fall, football games, and the holidays all wrapped up in one little skillet treat.

Testing results for caramel pecan roll

Alright, so some of y’all know how it is when there’re a bunch of kids running around. I got distracted by grandbabies and left my caramel pecan roll in the skillet too long, and I learned that when that happens, it sets tightly against the sides and it is not flipping out. Warming the pan in the oven for a minute or two loosened it, but now I lift the roll out while it’s still warm.
Cutting and twisting the strips made a mess of my counter, and some of the filling squeezed out at the cut edges along the way. I suggest doing this part over parchment paper.

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I hope you make this recipe. I think you’ll love it!

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A gold fork holds a bite of caramel pecan roll topped with caramel sauce and pecans on a white plate, with a cinnamon stick and napkin in the background.

Ingredient notes

Here are a few things to know about the ingredients in this recipe.

➡️➡️➡️ The full ingredient amounts and instructions are listed below on the printable recipe card. Scroll below the recipe card for frequently asked questions and tips for success.

Pizza dough: One pound of refrigerated dough. I grab the one in the deli at Publix, but you could also use the Pillsbury kind.

Cream cheese: Three ounces, softened, from the full-fat block rather than the whipped tub. You can use the leftovers to make a Cream Cheese Danish for the next day.

Pecans: A half cup, chopped and toasted. Toast them yourself on a parchment-lined sheet pan at 350 degrees F for 7 to 8 minutes, or buy them already toasted.

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How to make caramel pecan roll

Grease the skillet and dust the bottom of it with brown sugar so the roll releases cleanly.
Stir the cream cheese and butter together in one bowl, and combine the pecans, cinnamon, salt, and brown sugar in another.
Roll the dough into a large rectangle, spread the cream cheese mixture over half of it, scatter the cinnamon sugar over that half, and fold the bare side over.
Cut the folded dough into strips, twist each one, and coil them into a spiral in the skillet starting from the middle. Cover it and let it stand in a warm place.
Bake until golden, then boil the glaze on the stovetop and pour it over the warm roll.

Filling and twisting the dough

You’ll need the dough at room temperature to make the rounds; otherwise it will be too difficult to work with. Cold gluten is tight, and a cold round will spring back toward the middle of the counter faster than you can roll it out, leaving you several inches short of the rectangle this needs. Set the dough out well ahead and let it come fully to room temp before you touch it. While you can certainly make my Easy Homemade Cinnamon Rolls with scratch yeast dough, the pizza dough makes this caramel pecan cinnamon roll so easy.

The filling goes on only half the dough. Spread the cream cheese and butter over one side, scatter the cinnamon sugar and pecans across it, then fold the bare half over like closing a book and press it down. That fold is where a caramel pecan cinnamon roll recipe parts company with the standard roll-it-up method, since the filling is sealed between two sheets of dough before anything gets cut.

Cut the folded dough lengthwise into 6 strips and twist each one along its length. It gets messy. I lay some parchment paper on the work area and use a pizza cutter to cut the strips.

Start the first twist in the center of the skillet and coil the rest around it, pinching the ends together where they meet. One roll fills a 10-inch skillet from the middle out to the edge.

Variations

Caramel sauce instead of the glaze. Skip the cooked brown sugar glaze and warm up my Homemade Caramel Sauce to pour over the roll instead.
A stronger cinnamon flavor. Take the ground cinnamon up to 2 teaspoons. That turns it into more of a cinnamon pecan roll recipe, with the spice out front and the caramel behind it.
Walnuts in place of pecans. Use the same half cup, chopped and toasted the same way.
A cake pan instead of the skillet. A 10-inch round cake pan works, buttered and sugared exactly like the skillet.

Make-ahead and storage

Make ahead. You can freeze this homemade pecan roll before it ever sees the oven. Shape the spiral right in the baking pan, cover it with plastic wrap and then a layer of foil, and freeze it for up to 2 months. Thaw it completely, then cover it and let it stand in a warm place for 45 minutes before baking. I like to use a disposable aluminum cake pan if doing this.

Freezing after baking. Cover the baked roll completely with plastic wrap, then cover it with foil, and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw on the counter, then warm it in the oven at 350 degrees F for 5 to 7 minutes.

Storage. Keep leftovers covered in the refrigerator. Reheat a wedge in the microwave at 50 percent power for about 30 seconds.

What to serve with caramel pecan roll

This is a sweet roll, so I like to pair it with something salty or savory. I put out a sheet pan of Oven Baked Bacon and a pot of coffee, and sometimes my Cheese Grits Casserole. If you’re feeding a houseful over the holidays, add eggs in some form (like an Easy Tater Toe Breakfast Casserole) so everybody gets something to fill up on before they start in on the sugar.

Caramel sauce is being poured from a white pitcher onto a slice of caramel pecan roll on a white plate, with a gold fork and cinnamon sticks nearby.

If you make this recipe, please leave a comment and ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below!

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Questions and tips

Storage

Keep leftovers covered in the refrigerator. Reheat a wedge in the microwave at 50 percent power for about 30 seconds. Freeze before or after baking for up to 2 months.

Can I use crescent roll dough or biscuit dough instead of pizza dough?

No, because of how the dough is cut. Pizza dough is stretchy enough to slice into strips and twist without tearing, while crescent and biscuit doughs are more likely to come apart.

How do I know when the center is done?

Golden brown across the top is the cue, but look at the middle before you pull the skillet. The strands where the coil starts should look baked through, not pale and doughy.

How many servings does this make?

This pecan roll recipe makes 8 to 10 servings from one 10-inch skillet. Cut it into wedges like a pie, straight out from the center, rather than trying to pull the coil apart along the twists.

Can I use salted butter instead of unsalted?

You can. Cut the added salt back to a pinch in the filling and a pinch in the glaze, since each already has a quarter teaspoon.