Pecan Sticky Buns

These heavenly Pecan Sticky Buns are going to be your new favorite recipe! We loved the caramelized pecan topping and perfectly cooked rolls. If you love sticky buns but are short on time, try my Easy Sticky Buns version!

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Pecan Sticky Buns

This recipe just happens to be based on The Pioneer Woman’s Sticky Buns recipe currently being served at her Mercantile! (I made some changes to the topping and method) But let me tell you, these sticky buns are BEYOND delicious and loaded with texture and sweetness. It seemed a bit intensive at first, but it is really just a few easy steps divided over a few hours. Make sure you knew when you want your sticky buns to be served so that you can plan accordingly.

Should you want to break up the steps a bit, you can chill the dough overnight. In #8 of the instructions, it says “Cover and chill for 1 hour.” Instead of chilling for 1-hour, you will chill overnight. Don’t prepare the filling or topping until the next morning.

How to Make Pecan Sticky Buns

First off I just have to apologize for how intense this blog post is! Not only were these sticky buns so fun to bake and take pictures of, but there are a lot of steps in the process so I want to make sure anyone that is wary of working with yeast feels comfortable.

There are three main components to this recipe:

• Dough
• Dough Filling
• Topping

Dough

In a medium bowl add milk and heat in the microwave for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes, or until it reaches 110°F. Add in the oil, sugar, and stir until dissolved. Sprinkle the yeast on top and let it sit for 1 minute.

In a large bowl (if you use a very large bowl you can knead the dough right in the bowl!) add 4 cups of all-purpose flour. Pour the milk mixture over the flour and stir with a spatula. It will be warm and sticky. Cover the bowl with a dishtowel (or two towels if your bowl is really big!) and let it sit for 1 hour. After the hour is up the dough will look the same, as in it should not have changed size at all.

Now add in the remaining 1/2 cup of flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. In the bowl (or on the counter if you don’t have a big bowl) use your hand to knead the ingredients together. (This took me about 2 minutes.) Once they are all incorporated, cover the bowl again and chill for 1 hour.  Because my bowl was too big for the refrigerator, I set the covered bowl in the cool pantry (about 50°F) for the hour. The dough size should increase a bit, but it will not be doubled in size.

Making the Sticky Buns

After the hour of “chilling” place dough on a floured surface and roll a large rectangle. It should be about 30×10 inches. Try to keep it as much of a rectangle as possible. When I roll out round dough into a rectangle I start by using my rolling pin to make a plus sign in the dough. Then starting at the first corner, roll that corner out and away from the center of the dough. Move to each corner of dough and press out and away from the center of the dough. This will get you a pretty darn even square and from there you just keep rolling from the center to increase the length. You may need to stop and check to make sure the dough isn’t sticking to your counter.

Spread the Filling Ingredients

One of the most fun steps! Once your dough is rolled out into the 30×10 rectangle, spread the butter over the dough. I like the butter very soft and use a clean hand to spread it over every nook and cranny of the dough. Now sprinkle your sugar over the entire surface of the dough. Now sprinkle the cinnamon. (You can also stir the brown sugar and cinnamon together before sprinkling, but I didn’t want to dirty another bowl.)

Starting with the longest side, roll up the dough in a tight log like you would a jelly roll. Once rolled, cut into 16 individual rolls. I use a very sharp knife, but you can also use the floss method, which is sliding the floss under the dough log and then crossing the floss and pulling through.

It is a fairly thin dough, so each individual roll will be tightly compact.

Now get your hot skillet out of the oven (you may have already removed it at this point) and start to carefully place the buns into the hot bubbling pecan and sugar mixture.

Sixteen rolls fit perfectly in the 12-inch skillet.

Cover the buns with a kitchen towel and let them sit for 20 minutes on the counter. (Not the oven!) They should rise a bit.

After 20 minutes, place the skillet back into the oven for 30-40 minutes. I placed a loose tent of foil on the buns for the first 15 minutes.

Once they are done baking, remove them from the oven and allow them to sit for 10 minutes.

Place a large serving platter on top and quickly flip the platter and skillet over so that the buns are now right-side-up on the platter. Lift up the hot skillet and be sure to let all of the sugared bits and pieces fall onto the buns!

How to Serve Sticky Buns

I happen to have a large round serving platter that worked perfectly for these sticky buns. It is 16-inches in diameter which meant that glorious sweet pecan sauce could spill down over the rolls and not make a big mess!

Can you use a 9×13 dish for this recipe?

You can. Although I have not tested it (I love my skillet!) it will work. I would still use the foil-lined baking sheet underneath the 9×13 dish just in case there is spillage.

Can you Freeze Sticky Buns?

If you want to plan ahead and freeze the buns, you sure can. I prepare the rolls up to the point where they are cut into individual buns. Place them into a baking dish lined with parchment and then cover the buns with plastic wrap (pressing down gently to remove as much air as possible) and then cover the dish with foil. Place in freezer. When you are ready to use them, remove them from the freezer and allow them to warm up to room temperature, about 12 hours or overnight. Then prepare the topping and follow the rest of the instructions.

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