caramel-pecan sticky buns

Bread, butter, sugar, cinnamon, and ooey-gooey caramel-covered pecans. What’s not to like?

What I wanted was something warm and cinnamon-y and that’s what I got. It doesn’t get cold here, but it definitely cools down, and the lack of insulation in the buildings make our apartment chilly after sunset. In fact, it took this dough three hours to double in size because our kitchen was so cold. Luckily, I was rewarded with caramel rolls which were worth the wait.

Submitted to YeastSpotting

Because the dough took so long to rise, I prepped these at night and threw one of the prepared pans in the fridge and the other in the freezer – I just slid the whole pan into a plastic freezer bag. In the morning, I took the refrigerated pan out and let it warm up and proof for about two hours. We ended up running errands and were gone longer than I had planned, so mine were really puffy when I baked them. Adding a steam pan gave them major oven spring and I was afraid I would have caramel oozing all over my oven! Luckily, it was just perilously close. The sliced dough rolls were only an inch thick, so they puffed considerably.

I used the same dough recipe as for cinnamon rolls but adapted it for a caramel topping. After looking at a few different options, I cobbled together my own caramel from those ideas. It turned out just fine. One of my favorite parts of this recipe is the filling. The butter and sugar melt together into a delicious goo, but using room-temperature butter makes it so easy to assemble. And delicious.

Rolls can be prepped in advance then baked later, or baked and frozen for later distribution. Just wrap them tightly in waxed paper and aluminum foil, then place them in freezer bags. This also helps prevent eating the whole batch in two days. I’ve heard rumors. Secondhand. Yup.

Caramel Pecan Sticky Buns

Makes about 18 buns

Dough
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 1/2 cups (or more) unbleached all purpose flour, divided
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 1/4 teaspoons rapid-rise or instant yeast (from 1 envelope yeast)
1 teaspoon salt
Nonstick vegetable oil spray

Filling
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
Pinch of salt

Topping
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons corn syrup — or, since I was out, I used pancake syrup and it worked!
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2-1 cup chopped pecans

Directions:
For dough: Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat, then add milk and warm to 120°F to 130°F, or combine milk and butter in a microwave-safe container and heat about 30 to 45 seconds. Pour into stand mixer bowl with paddle attachment. Add 1 cup of the flour, sugar, egg, yeast, and salt. Beat 3 minutes on low speed, stopping occasionally to scrape down sides of bowl. Add additional 2 1/2 cups flour. Beat on low until flour is absorbed and dough is sticky. If sticky, add more flour by tablespoonfuls until dough begins to form a ball and pulls away from sides of bowl. Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, adding more flour if sticky, about 8 minutes (or use a dough hook).

Form dough into ball. Lightly oil large bowl, add dough to bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, then a kitchen towel. Let dough rise until doubled in volume, about 2 hours.

For topping: Cream butter until smooth. Add sugars and beat until fluffy. Add vanilla, syrup, and salt. Mix well. Spread evenly in the bottoms of two 8-inch square (or 9-inch round) baking dishes. Sprinkle pecans over topping.

For filling: Mix brown sugar, cinnamon and pinch of salt in bowl.

Press down dough. Transfer to floured work surface. Roll out to 15×11-inch rectangle. Spread butter over dough, leaving 1/2-inch border. Sprinkle cinnamon mixture evenly over butter. Starting at the longer side, roll dough into log, pinching gently to keep it rolled up. With seam side down, cut remaining dough crosswise with sharp serrated knife into 18 equal slices (each about 3/4 to 1 inch wide).

Divide rolls evenly between the baking dishes with the prepared topping with almost no space between rolls. Cover baking dishes with plastic wrap, then kitchen towel. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until almost doubled in volume, 40 to 45 minutes.

Position rack in lower third of oven and preheat to 375°F. Put a shallow pan on the bottom rack. Pour 1 cup of boiling water into that pan when placing rolls in the oven. Bake rolls until tops are golden, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes. Invert onto wire rack with waxed paper underneath to catch dripping caramel.

Tagged as: baking