Seeing the word ‘vinegar’ in the name of a dessert might give you pause, but think of it like this — Good food is all about balance, and desserts that bring their sweetness into balance with a little tang are often the best ones. And besides, when you’re out of lemons, what’s the next best thing? Vinegar. It all makes sense. You’ll see.

Vinegar Rolls are in the category of recipes that do a lot with very little. Like many old recipes that came out of the Depression era, this one looks to the pantry to make a comforting and delicious dessert when there’s not a lot to work with. Using pie crust rather than yeasted dough, cinnamon and sugar kissed rolls simmer in a sweet and slightly tangy vinegar sauce that’s as sticky as it is delicious.

What Ingredients Do You Need for Vinegar Rolls?

Not a lot! You’ll need:

• Pie crust. Store-bought or your favorite recipe.
• Butter.
• Brown sugar.
• Cinnamon.
• Apple cider vinegar.

Oh, and some water. That’s it.

Some versions call for white vinegar, but I prefer the flavor of apple cider vinegar. Either will work!

How Do You Make Vinegar Rolls?

The first step is to make that vinegar sauce. All that entails is bringing some water, brown sugar, cinnamon, and that vinegar together in a saucepan and cooking it just long enough for the sugar to dissolve. You don’t need to worry about reducing it at all.

Next, you roll out your pie dough into a rectangle and brush it with butter. Sprinkle that with a mixture of cinnamon and sugar and then roll it up into a log. Slice that log into 12 rounds; they’ll be two-bite-sized. (If you’ve made cinnamon rolls before, this will look familiar, just much easier.)

Place those little spirals in a baking dish and then top each one with a dot of butter. Pour the hot vinegar mixture over and around the rolls. Scary, I know, but just trust it.

The whole pan goes into the oven for about a half-hour and here’s what happens:

The rolls puff up into tender and flaky spirals while the sauce caramelizes and reduces so you end up with something much more sticky and syrupy than you started out with. You’ll find crackly little crystals of sugar on the tops of the rolls, where the oven has caught the edges, and they’ll crunch between your teeth. But best of all, each bite comes with a sticky sweet and tangy pop that’s kissed with cinnamon. Yum!