Sticky Buns! They’re not something you can eat every day, but occasionally you have to find a justifiable reason to bake them. Having invited some guests for brunch on the patio last Sunday seemed reason enough for me.
Growing up in the Pennsylvania Dutch area I was first introduced to sticky buns at an early age. This seems to be a staple pastry among the regional food there.
You will find them at all the bakeries, farmer’s markets, on the grocery store shelves, and in the display case in the front end of most diners and many restaurants.
Who doesn’t love brown sugar and butter, nuts and raisins, all delightfully entangled in a cinnamon laden dough? They’re best eaten warmed a bit making it nearly impossible not to lick that ooey, gooey stickiness off of every finger.
Years ago in Chicago I found a fabulous recipe out of the Tribune for sticky buns made with a yeast dough which is traditional. I made them many times, and they are sensational, large, and time consuming.
This time I was looking to make something quicker than a yeast dough, and smaller, if possible. I remembered seeing a recipe for these Easy Sticky Buns in The Barefoot Contessa’s Back To Basics Cookbook.
The secret to these is they are made with store bought puff pastry, eliminating the need to make a time consuming yeast dough. The dough is light and flaky and filled with brown sugar, toasted pecans, cinnamon and sweet raisins. Delicious and so easy!
Here you go…
Easy Sticky Buns ( Barefoot Contessa Back To Basics Cookbook)
12 tablespoons (1 and ½ sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
½ cup pecans, chopped in very large pieces
1 package (17.3 ounces/2 sheets) frozen puff pastry, defrosted
For The Filling
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup raisins
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place a 12-cup standard muffin tin on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the 12 tablespoons butter and 1/3 cup brown sugar.
Place 1 rounded tablespoon of the mixture in each of the 12 muffin cups. Distribute the pecans evenly among the 12 muffin cups on top of the butter and sugar mixture.
Lightly flour a wooden board or stone surface. Unfold one sheet of puff pastry with the folds going left to right. Brush the whole sheet with half of the melted butter. Leaving a 1-inch border on the puff pastry, sprinkle each sheet with 1/3 cup of the brown sugar, 1 and ½ teaspoons of the cinnamon, and ½ cup of the raisins.
Starting with the end nearest you, roll the pastry up snugly like a jelly roll around the filling, finishing the roll with the seam side down.
Trim the ends of the roll about ½ inch and discard. Slice the roll in 6 equal pieces, each about 1 and ½ inches wide.
Place each piece, spiral side up, in 6 of the muffin cups. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry to make 12 sticky buns.
Bake for 30 minutes, until the sticky buns are golden to dark brown on top and firm to the touch. Don’t worry if the butter and brown sugar spill over onto the top of the pan. Allow to cool for 5 minutes only.
Invert the buns onto the parchment paper (ease the filling and pecans out onto the buns with a spoon), and cool completely.
