Cooking in Quarantine- Simple Sticky Buns

I have been dying to bake some sticky buns for a couple of weeks, but yeast has been non-existent in the stores. I know everybody is baking bread, but jeez! I found this riff on sticky buns in one of my Ina Garten books, added a couple of twists, and I may never need yeast again…This is seriously as easy as it gets for a sticky bun recipe.

Gooey Deliciousness!

Ingredients:

Buns-

• 12 tablespoons (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/3 cup dark brown sugar (original called for light, but I have not been able to buy it for over a month)
• 1/2 cup pecans, chopped in very large pieces
• 1 package (17.3 ounces/2 sheets) frozen puff pastry, defrosted

Filling-

• 2/3 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 cup pitted dates, chopped

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place a 12-cup standard muffin pan on a baking sheet  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. Put one scoop of the mixture in each muffin cup, evenly distributing. Distribute the pecans evenly among the 12 muffin cups on top of the butter and sugar mixture.

• Lightly flour a surface- I used my countertop. Unfold one sheet of puff pastry with the folds going left to right. Brush the whole sheet with half of the melted butter. Combine brown sugar, and cinnamon and sprinkle each sheet with 1/2 of mixture. Spread the chopped dates across the sheets.
• Roll up the pastry sheets as tightly as you can, finishing with the seam side down. Trim the ends and discard. Slice the roll in 6 equal pieces. 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. Allow to cool for 5 minutes only, invert the buns onto the parchment paper. You will probably need to use a spoon to gather the filling still in the cups and redistribute on top of buns.

My husband mistakenly grabbed them a little too quickly and burned his tongue…it will be hard, but you may want to let them cool slightly 🙂 Yum, Yum!

Stay Safe and Bake On!

Other Posts in the Quarantine Series:

• Easy Mu Shu Pork
• Easy Pasta & Meatballs
• Lime Berry Blast Scones
• One Pan Enchiladas Rojo
• One Pan Enchiladas Verde
• Guide to Professional Chefs social media cooking shows & Pantry Stockers
• Roasted Pork al’Diavolo with Rutabaga Mash
• Blueberry Lemon Scones
• Roasted Shrimp & Orzo Salad
• Easy Apple Cake
• Cookies & Curry in a Hurry
• Baking with Booze
• Best Caprese Salad Ever