Swirly Sticky Buns Recipes

FLOUR'S FAMOUS STICKY BUNS

Steps:

• First, make the goo. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the brown sugar and cook, stirring, to combine (it may look separated, that's ok). Remove from the heat and whisk in the honey, cream, water, and salt. Strain to remove any undissolved lumps of brown sugar. Let cool for about 30 minutes, or until cooled to room temperature. You should have about 3 cups. (The mixture can be made up to 2 weeks in advance and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.)
• Divide the dough in half. Use half for this recipe and reserve the other half for another use.
• On a floured work surface, roll out the brioche into rectangle about 12 by 16 inches and 1/4-inch thick. It will have the consistency of cold, damp Play-Doh and should be fairly easy to roll. Position the rectangle so a short side is facing you.
• In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and half of the pecans. Sprinkle this mixture evenly over the entire surface of the dough. Starting from the short side farthest from you and working your way down, roll up the rectangle like a jelly roll. Try to roll tightly, so you have a nice round spiral. Trim off about 1/4- inch from each end of the roll to make them even.
• Use a bench scraper or a chef's knife to cut the roll into 8 equal pieces, each about 1 1/2-inches wide. (At this point, the unbaked buns can be tightly wrapped in plastic wrap and frozen for up to 1 week. When ready to bake, thaw them, still wrapped, in the refrigerator overnight or at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours, then proceed as directed.)
• Pour the goo into a 9 by 13-inch baking dish, covering the bottom evenly. Sprinkle the remaining pecans evenly over the surface. Arrange the buns, evenly spaced, in the baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and put in a warm spot to proof until the dough is puffy, pillowy, and soft and the buns are touching-almost tripled in size, about 2 hours.
• Position a rack in the center of the oven, and heat to 350 degrees F.
• Bake until golden brown, about 35 to 45 minutes. Let cool in the dish on a wire rack for 20 to 30 minutes. One at a time, invert the buns onto a serving platter, and spoon any extra goo and pecans from the bottom of the dish over the top.
• The buns are best served warm or within 4 hours of baking. They can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 day, and then warmed in a 325 degree F oven for 10 to 12 minutes before serving.
• 1 3/8 cups (2 3/4 sticks; 310 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into 10 to 12 pieces
• Using a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the all-purpose flour, bread flour, yeast, sugar, salt, water, and 5 of the eggs. Beat on low speed for 3 to 4 minutes, or until all the ingredients are combined. Stop the mixer, as needed, to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure all the flour is incorporated into the wet ingredients. Once the dough has come together, beat on low speed for another 3 to 4 minutes. The dough will be very stiff and seem quite dry.
• With the mixer on low speed, add the butter, 1 piece at a time, mixing after each addition until it disappears into the dough. Continue mixing on low speed for about 10 minutes, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. It is important for all the butter to be thoroughly mixed into the dough. If necessary, stop the mixer occasionally and break up the dough with your hands to help mix in the butter.
• Once the butter is completely incorporated, turn up the speed to medium and beat until the dough becomes sticky, soft, and somewhat shiny, another 15 minutes. It will take some time to come together. It will look shaggy and questionable at the start and then eventually it will turn smooth and silky. Turn the speed to medium-high and beat for about 1 minute. You should hear the dough make a slap-slap-slap sound as it hits the sides of the bowl. Test the dough by pulling at it; it should stretch a bit and have a little give. If it seems wet and loose and more like a batter than a dough, add a few tablespoons of flour and mix until it comes together. If it breaks off into pieces when you pull at it, continue to mix on medium speed for another 2 to 3 minutes, or until it develops more strength and stretches when you grab it. It is ready when you can gather it all together and pick it up in 1 piece.
• Put the dough in a large bowl or plastic container and cover it with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap directly onto the surface of the dough. Let the dough proof (that is, grow and develop flavor) in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours or up to overnight At this point you can freeze the dough in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

STICKY BUNS

Steps:

• For the white trash dough: Mix together the sugar, yeast and 1 cup very warm water (not hot) in a measuring cup and proof to test the liveliness of the yeast. When this bubbles and looks healthy, hopefully in 5 minutes or so, transfer to a mixing bowl and add 1 1/2 cups warm water, the milk, honey, olive oil and 5 cups of the flour. Mix this by hand or in a mixer until it just barely comes together, and then cover and let rest for 20 minutes or so. This is referred to as an 'autolyze' or resting period, and it allows the flour to absorb the moisture without the salt hampering the process.
• After the time is up, stir in the salt and an additional 1 cup flour. The dough should be coming together now and may need the addition of up to 2 more cups of flour. It should be a medium-soft dough that stands up to kneading but is not too firm. Knead until silky in texture and thin bands form when pulling it apart. Let rise, covered, until doubled in bulk. (This recipe makes double the amount of dough needed for the sticky buns. After rising and dividing the dough, reserve the other half of the dough for another use.)
• In the meantime, oil a 9- by 13-inch baking pan and line with parchment paper. Now is a good time to make the sticky goo, as we so affectionately call it.
• For the sticky goo: In a 3-quart saucepan, melt the butter and pour off about 2 tablespoons into a glass bowl and set aside. To the butter in the pan, add the brown sugar, honey, granulated sugar, heavy cream and salt. Whisk together over medium heat until smooth. Pour into the prepared baking pan and sprinkle with the pecan halves.
• Once the dough is ready, turn it out onto a floured board but do not knead! Just spread it out in all its flattened glory. Divide the dough in half. (Knead together one half and put it into a loaf pan for sandwich bread or something; you won't need it for this.) Take the other half and roll it out on your floured board to a rectangle about 12 inches by 20 inches. Brush with the reserved melted butter.
• For the topping: Sprinkle on the brown sugar and cinnamon and roll it longways into a tidy log. Cut the log into 12 equal pieces and place the pieces cut side up in the pan over the pecan mixture of love. Let rise, covered, in a warm place, about 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Bake until an instant-read thermometer placed in the buns registers 200 degrees F, about 45 minutes. Once you pull the buns from the oven--and this is important--let them sit in the baking pan for 5 minutes or so to cool before dumping them out upside down onto a tray. This will allow the caramel to thicken slightly and it won't all just run off. You will be greatly rewarded for your patience!

STICKY BUNS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
• Combine the yeast mixture with the buttermilk, eggs, 2 1/2 cups flour, 1/4 cup softened butter, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder and salt; stir well to combine. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition. Dough should remain soft and slightly sticky. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.
• Divide dough in half and roll each half into a 12x7 inch rectangle. Spread each half with 1 tablespoon softened butter and sprinkle with 1/4 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Roll up halves, beginning at wide side. Seal well by pinching the seams. Cut each roll into 12 slices.
• Coat two 9 inch round cake pans each with 1/4 cup melted butter, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 2 tablespoons raisins and 1/2 cup chopped pecans. Place 12 dough slices in each pan, leaving a small space between slices. Cover and let rise until doubled.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Bake in a preheated oven for about 30 minutes. Invert pans onto plates and serve.

MOM-MOM'S STICKY BUNS

Steps:

• Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water in a large bowl. Set aside for 5 minutes. Stir flour, eggs, warm milk, 1/2 cup white sugar, 1/2 cup melted butter, and salt into the yeast and water until the mixture is a moist and sticky dough.
• Put dough in a greased bowl and cover with a wet towel. Set aside in a warm place until dough doubles in size and holes poked into dough with a finger stay indented, about 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours.
• Stir brown sugar, 1/2 cup butter, honey, and corn syrup together in a saucepan over medium heat; cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves. Pour the topping mixture into the bottom of 2 9x13-inch non-stick baking dishes. Sprinkle 1 cup raisins and walnuts evenly onto the topping mixture.
• Punch down dough and roll into a rectangle shape 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick.
• Brush 1/4 cup melted butter over the dough rectangle. Stir 3/4 cup white sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl; sprinkle over the butter. Sprinkle 1 cup raisins evenly over the dough. Roll dough around the filling into a cylinder; cut into 3/4-inch slices and arrange into the baking dishes. Set aside to rest for 20 minutes or up to overnight in the refrigerator.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Bake rolls in preheated oven until no longer doughy in the middle, about 25 minutes. Immediately flip onto a serving platter, transferring topping onto rolls, and serve warm.