Aren’t I full of surprises – making sticky buns? There must be a story behind it. The B&B guests this weekend got the usual strawberry yogurt parfait before breakfast Saturday morning and it did not go over well; I don’t like yogurt myself, so I fully understand. In that situation, instead of serving the same appetizer the next morning, last time I substituted pecan sticky buns from the Amish baker at the farmers’ market. I especially need to do a 180 if they don’t eat any of the other fruit served with breakfast, which they did not.
I didn’t make it to the farmer market in time, and tried two other farm markets around town and found no sticky buns. Why didn’t I go to a healthier and easier Plan B? Because even though humans use 100% of their brains, I often still function under the Victorian 10% myth. Finally, since I couldn’t think of any other place that would have non-processed sticky buns, I decided to make my own. Unfortunately, I also forgot I used up the eggs so my husband and son had to run out to the store again.
When I was little, my Grandma Breza often made cinnamon rolls. She would not make the cinnamon rolls into sticky buns; and I normally would not either were it not for my current tunnel vision. I’m doing an easier process here of rolling out and filling the dough and then slicing the buns. Grandma would pull off a glob of dough and roll it in the cinnamon, kind of shape it into a rectangle in her hand and make the roll shape, then dip it in an egg wash and put it in the baking pan. Old recipes often call to scald the milk; there isn’t a need to scald the milk anymore but I warm it.
Pecan Sticky Buns
Dough and Filling
1/4 C hot water
1 1/2 t active dry yeast
1 t brown sugar
1/2 C scalded milk (warm is fine)
1/4 t salt
2 1/4 C flour
1 egg
1/2 C organic coconut palm sugar
1 1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 C raisins
1 T melted butter
Sticky Sauce
1/4 C coconut palm sugar
2 T butter
1/4 C chopped pecans
Dissolve yeast and brown sugar in hot tap water. Set aside for five minutes. Meanwhile warm milk and stir in salt. Mix yeast mixture, milk, flour, and egg and knead for a few minutes until well combined in a soft dough. Cover and let rise for an hour.
Preheat oven to 375. Melt butter and sugar in a small pot over low heat and whisk to make the sauce. Pour the sauce in a sprayed 8”x8” baking pan; sprinkle the pecans evenly over the sauce.
The dough will roll out to about a 9”x17” rectangle. Combine the sugar and cinnamon. Brush the melted butter over the dough and top with the cinnamon mixture; sprinkle the raisins evenly over the dough. Roll the dough lengthwise and slice in 16 equal pieces. Arrange the pieces 4×4 on the sauce in the pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the top is starting to brown. Let rest for a minute on the stove then invert on a large plate.
Here are before and after baking pictures.
