TWD: Pecan Honey Sticky Buns

Anytime I see the word Sticky in a recipe, I get excited. I mean, seriously, it has to be good. Anything that is messy usually is delicious. When I found out that Madam Chow of Madam Chow's Kitchenchose Pecan Honey Sticky Buns naturally I was eager to try these. Another reason to love the chosen recipe this week was that I would get to use the rest of the brioche dough I made when we did Brioche Raisin Snails.

Instead of making the recipe early in the week as I try to do, I waited until I was home visiting my family again for the long Memorial Day weekend. But my excitement to make the buns came to a screeching sticky halt when I remembered that my youngest sister (the sous-chef from the Florida Pie) can't have nuts. She was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease a year ago and while she can eat loads more than when she was first diagnosed, there are still a few items that she can't have. Most of the women in my family have stomach issues, I was told I had Irritable Bowel Syndrome when I was my sister's age. Now they think I could have a very mild case of Crohn's but it isn't as big an issue for me as it is for my sister since I learned what I can and can't have early on when I was sick. My sister is a very picky eater so it has been a big challenge for my parents to get her back up to a somewhat normal weight. She does love to help cook so I was eager to make the buns something she could eat and participate in making.

The excitement grew again once my mother wisely suggested we make them without and sprinkle the nuts on top for those who wanted them. Well...duh...I would have gotten there eventually. Uh huh...sure Heather. When it was time to make the buns, I got my thawed brioche dough out and quickly rolled it into what I hoped was the right size.



Since it was chilled, it rolled out quickly. My middle sister, helped make the sticky sauce (and did a great job at it by the way). The youngest was MIA so I had to find a replacement.



Once the sauce was made and the dough rolled out, it was quick work getting the dough filled and rolled up. There was a debate on the way I should roll the dough up, I said using the width, my mom said we would get more if we rolled along the length. Naturally, we went the way of my mom.





Here we enlisted the help of my dad. He measured the slices to make sure that they were all even so we would get the most buns we could (we like to eat after all). He used the butter knife method to measure.



To cut the buns, I used the dental floss method I learned last time. It make cutting them clean, quick, and so easy!



The only issue I had was the rising. As with the Brioche Snails, the dough was very soft and did not seem to rise very much. I don't know if this was because I made the brioche by hand or not. I'm anxious to try the dough again now that I have my mixer to see if there was a difference. Of course, it could naturally be user error. ;)

I would like to say that there was plenty of time to take pictures but there wasn't. Since I made them the night before and they were baked for breakfast, they went fast. Everyone loved them, even my super picky youngest sister. Hers were nutless but the best part was the super sticky sauce. yum! I'm definitely putting these babies on the make again list!

Check out the other TWD Bakers for more Pecan Honey Sticky Buns! Next week will be French Chocolate Brownies chosen by Di of Di's Kitchen Notebook.



Pecan Honey Sticky Buns

Makes 15 buns

For the Glaze:
1 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
1/4 cup honey
1-1/2 cups pecans (whole or pieces)
For the Filling:
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons (packed) light brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

For the Buns:
1/2 recipe dough for Golden Brioche loaves (see below), chilled and ready to shape (make the full recipe and cut the dough in half after refrigerating it overnight)

Generously butter a 9-x-13-inch baking pan (a Pyrex pan is perfect for this).

To make the glaze: In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring the brown sugar, butter, and honey to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring frequently to dissolve the sugar. Pour the glaze into the buttered pan, evening it out as best you can by tilting the pan or spreading the glaze with a heatproof spatula. Sprinkle over the pecans.

To make the filling: Mix the sugars and cinnamon together in a bowl. If necessary, in another bowl, work the butter with a spatula until it is soft, smooth and spreadable.

To shape the buns: On a flour-dusted work surface, roll the chilled dough into a 16-inch square. Using your fingers or a pastry brush, spread the softened butter over the dough. Sprinkle the dough with the cinnamon sugar, leaving a 1-inch strip bare on the side farthest from you. Starting with the side nearest you, roll the dough into a cylinder, keeping the roll as tight as you can. (At this point, you can wrap the dough airtight and freeze it for up to 2 months . . . . Or, if you want to make just part of the recipe now, you can use as much of the dough as you'd like and freeze the remainder. Reduce the glaze recipe accordingly).

With a chef's knife, using a gentle sawing motion, trim just a tiny bit from the ends of the roll if they're very ragged or not well filled, then cut the log into 1-inch thick buns. (Because you trim the ragged ends of the dough, and you may have lost a little length in the rolling, you will get 15 buns, not 16.) Fit the buns into the pan cut side down, leaving some space between them.
Lightly cover the pan with a piece of wax paper and set the pan in a warm place until the buns have doubled in volume, about 1 hour and 45 minutes. The buns are properly risen when they are puffy, soft, doubled and, in all likelihood, touching one another.

Getting ready to bake: When the buns have almost fully risen , center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Remove the sheet of wax paper and put the pan on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat. Bake the sticky buns for about 30 minutes, or until they are puffed and gorgeously golden; the glaze will be bubbling away merrily. Pull the pan from the oven.

The sticky buns must be unmolded minutes after they come out of the oven. If you do not have a rimmed platter large enough to hold them, use a baking sheet lined with a silicone mate or buttered foil. Be careful - the glaze is super-hot and super-sticky.

What You'll Need for the Golden Brioche Dough (this recipe makes enough for two brioche loaves. If you divide the dough in half, you would use half for the sticky buns, and you can freeze the other half for a later date, or make a brioche loaf out of it!):

2 packets active dry yeast (each packet of yeast contains approx. 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1/3 cup just-warm-to-the-touch water
1/3 cup just-warm-to-the-touch whole milk
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature but still slightly firm

What You'll Need for the Glaze (you would brush this on brioche loaves, but not on the sticky buns):
1 large egg
1 tablespoon water

To Make The Brioche: Put the yeast, water and milk in the bowl of a stand mixer and, using a wooden spoon, stir until the yeast is dissolved. Add the flour and salt, and fit into the mixer with the dough hook, if you have one. Toss a kitchen towel over the mixer, covering the bowl as completely as you can-- this will help keep you, the counter and your kitchen floor from being showered in flour. Turn the mixer on and off a few short pulses, just to dampen the flour (yes, you can peek to see how you're doing), then remove the towel, increase the mixer speed to medium-low and mix for a minute or two, just until the flour is moistened. At this point, you'll have a fairly dry, shaggy mess.

Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula, set the mixer to low and add the eggs, followed by the sugar. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for about 3 minutes, until the dough forms a ball. Reduce the speed to low and add the butter in 2-tablespoon-size chunks, beating until each piece is almost incorporated before adding the next. You'll have a dough that is very soft, almost like batter. Increase the speed to medium-high and continue to beat until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 10 minutes.

Transfer the dough to a clean bowl (or wash out the mixer bowl and use it), cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature until nearly doubled in size, 40 to 60 minutes, depending upon the warmth of your room.

Deflate the dough by lifting it up around the edges and letting it fall with a slap to the bowl. Cover the bowl with the plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator. Slap the dough down in the bowl every 30 minutes until it stops rising, about 2 hours, then leave the uncovered dough in the refrigerator to chill overnight. (After this, you can proceed with the recipe to make the brioche loaves, or make the sticky buns instead, or freeze all or part of the dough for later use.)

The next day, butter and flour two 8 1/2-x-4 1/2-inch pans.

Pull the dough from the fridge and divide it into 2 equal pieces. Cut each piece of the dough into 4 equal pieces and roll each piece into a log about 3 1/2 inches long. Arrange 4 logs crosswise in the bottom of each pan. Put the pans on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat, cover the pans lightly with wax paper and leave the loaves at room temperature until the dough almost fills the pans, 1 to 2 hours. (Again, rising time with depend on how warm the room is.)

Getting Ready To Bake: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

To Make the Glaze: Beat the egg with the water. Using a pastry brush, gently brush the tops of the loaves with the glaze.
Bake the loaves until they are well risen and deeply golden, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer the pans to racks to cool for 15 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the pans and turn the loaves out onto the racks. Invert again and cool for at least 1 hour.