Sticky Buns
Jan 1st, 2009 by SteveB
I know. It’s hard to get excited about yet another baking blog posting a recipe for sticky buns. But before you leave here to go send those ”Happy New Year” e-mail messages to friends and family that you should have already sent (Freudian projection, anyone?), just take a few more minutes to read further. These aren’t your ordinary, run-of-the-mill, sticky buns. Taking a cue, once again, from my friend and baker extraordinaire James McNamara, these sticky buns are made with croissant dough, rather than the standard sweet dough used to make more conventional buns. The result is a sticky bun which is light, flaky, sweet, gooey and nutty. I guess I’ll just have to make going on that diet my resolution for the next New Year!
Final Dough
- 1.125 kg Croissant Dough (all of the dough made using the procedure described here)
Filling
- Cinnamon Sugar (1:4 mixture of cinnamon:sugar), as needed
- Brown Sugar, as needed
- 50 g Pecans, chopped
Caramel Glaze (from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice)
- 115 g Sugar
- 100 g Brown Sugar
- 227 g Butter, unsalted
- ½ tsp Salt
- ½ c Corn Syrup
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
The evening before the bake, the caramel glaze is made by combining the sugar, brown sugar, butter and salt, all at room temperature, in the bowl of a stand mixer. The ingredients are then creamed together using the paddle attachment at speed 5 for 2 minutes. The corn syrup and vanilla extract are then slowly added and the creaming is continued until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 5 more minutes. The resulting mixture is then refrigerated overnight.
The next day, 2 teaspoons of the caramel glaze is placed in each alternate cup of two, 12-cup muffin tins. Using a thumb, the glaze is then tamped down until a uniform thickness of glaze coats the bottom of the cups. A pecan half is then placed at the center of the glaze as shown:
After the croissant dough has undergone its final turn and rest, it is rolled out into a 16″ x 16″ rectangle. The dough is then cut in half, yielding two, 16″ x 8″ pieces. One piece is set aside for the moment and the other is coated with a layer of cinnamon sugar, brown sugar and 25 g of the chopped pecans. A narrow border is left along one of the 16″ edges, as shown below:
The exposed border is then brushed with egg wash and the dough is tightly rolled, starting at the opposite side of the rectangle…:
… until a long cylinder is obtained:
The cylinder is then cut crosswise into 2¼” lengths and each piece is placed, cut side up, into a coated muffin tin cup (the dough piece will extend above the lip of the cup):
The second piece of dough which was previously set aside is treated in the same fashion. The two muffin tins are then placed in a proof box and the dough is allowed to proof at 76ºF for 1½ hours. The muffin tins are then each placed on a cookie sheet (to catch any caramel boil-over) and the cookie sheets are placed in a 375ºF oven for 20-25 minutes. The cookie sheets are then removed from the oven, the reason for using alternate muffin tin cups now becoming evident:
The muffin tins are finally inverted over a cooling rack, allowing the sticky caramel to drip over the top of each bun. The recipe yields 12 buns.
Addendum (1/4/09): Please note that the recipe for caramel glaze yields more glaze than is needed for a single batch of sticky buns. The remainder of the glaze can be refrigerated for later use.
What can I possibly say?????? I promise to make them this weekend… they look like sticky bun heaven! You’ve obtained perfection, Steve.
Laminated sticky buns — I think sweet breakfast does not get much better than this. Happy New Year!
Oh my!!! Maybe I’m going to try to prepare some croissant dough, after all…
I’m OK to invest if you want to open a baking business that’ll make you send those sweets directly at my French breakfast table 😉
Were they ready for New year’s breakfast?
(And have YOU sent all your greeting cards?!!!)
Jane, I think you’ll really enjoy these sticky buns. Just make sure you grab one before the kids eat them all! 🙂
Susan, I have a real weakness for laminated dough pastries. Their crispy flakiness can’t be beat!
Flo, I’ll get you to make some croissant dough yet! 🙂
The buns were, indeed, ready for a New Year’s brunch (breakfast/lunch). And I finally have all my greetings sent (not bad for me… only 2 days late!).
Steve, these buns are truly gorgeous (I love the last picture where they sit in the pan like plump and proud princesses). Very professional. I am not saying that I will bake them. I myself do not have much of a sweet tooth and although my husband does, he is supposed to watch his butter and sugar intake. Which is too bad because I know because he would love to sink his teeth into one of these little beauties. Using laminated dough is indeed a great idea, surely more work but with scrumptious results…
MC, I feel for people who have to watch their intake of butter and sweets (I should probably be one of them) as much as I do for people who are gluten intolerent. I would have a very hard time finding the discipline to curtail my intake of bread and pastries. My hat’s off to all those who have!
I made these this weekend and can attest that they are every bit as delicious and decadent as they look. I ate three of them for dinner. But, as Steve says, there’s always next year for resolutions!
Thanks for the endorsement, Phyl. But I hope you had something a bit more nutritious for breakfast and lunch!
hello STEVE,la semaine derniere,j’ai fait ces petits pains feuillettes aux raisins avec une recette qui ressemble tout Á fait Á la votre mais Á la place des noix de pÁ©cans,on met des raisins secs j c’est une super idÁ©e de les avoir fait cuire dans les moules Á muffins j’y penserai pour la prochaine fois .vos pains feuillettes sont irrÁ©sistibles. christiane
Hi Steve,
these buns look amazing, definitely worth going off my “sugar free low carb” style of eating. I hope you will bring some (many!) with you next time you visit.
Aline
Aline, would you believe me if I told you that these delicate pastries can only be truly appreciated fresh from my oven? I guess you’ll just have to come up for a visit! (Didn’t buy that for a second, did you?) 🙂
Steve,
I am sure that there is nothing better then eating them hot right out of the oven. I would love to come for a visit and check it out! Yum. Maybe we can do a taste comparison, lets try them at both places and see what we think!
Hi Steve,
those buns look impossible. Almost like challenging the rules of gravity. Fantastic. I will, no I must, try to make them.
Brigitta, I forgot to mention that I’m baking in an alternate reality where the laws of physics do not apply! 🙂
You must make these buns… resistance is futile!
Hi, Steve
today I did it. I ventured to make the buns. I did not skimp, I was bold enough to make a double batch of dough – one half went into croissants (I shaped and froze them, so that I would have them ready on Friday for my coffee morning) and the rest of the dough went into the buns.
The buns rose soaring heigh in the oven. Those are kings among buns.
Thank you for sharing your recipies and experience!
Brigitta, congratulations on your success! I admire the boldness of your baking. 🙂