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Sticky Buns Recipe : Quick and Easy!

Easy sticky buns recipe, to help you make super soft cinnamon rolls with a sticky, sweet topping with an amazing crunch of pecans.

These delightful cinnamon sticky buns make a special dessert treat. . Just As Yummy As The Classic Sticky Buns Recipe, But Done In A Quick Way!

Sticky Buns Recipe

What You will love about this easy sticky buns recipe

  • Faster One Rise Method :We don’t need to do double proofing while making this cinnamon sticky buns!And so it saves a lot of our time.
  • The resulting sticky buns are the super soft and fluffy and they are delicious with sticky toffee caramel sauce on top.
  • Super easy to make; we don’t need long strenuous kneading .Just knead until it forms into a soft, smooth dough.Its okay if our dough could not pass the “window pane” test.
  • We don’t need to seperately cook and make the caramel sauce .And so this again makes the process so much easier.
  • And if you want to make these sticky buns ahead of time,We can make them ahead of time and Bake with zero effort on the baking day.

INGREDIENTS we use in this cinnamon sticky buns recipe.

To make the bread dough

Sticky Buns Recipe
  1. All purpose flour/Bread flour: 3 cups(loosely packed) (130g x 3=390g)
  2. Milk: 3/4 Cup (180 ml)If you don’t want to add milk, you can use plain water instead.
  3. Unsalted Butter (softened): 3 tbsp or 43 g
  4. 1 Egg(at Room Temperature)
  5. Sugar: 2 and 1/2 tbsp /32g
  6. Salt :1 tsp
  7. Instant Yeast: 1tsp or if using active dry yeast, use 1 and 1/4 tsp

For the filling

Sticky Buns Recipe
  1. Soft Brown sugar: (packed cup)1/2 cup /100g
  2. Unsalted Butter(softened) :2 tbsp or 28 g
  3. Cinnamon powder: 2 tsp

For the sticky topping

Sticky Buns Recipe
  1. Soft Brown sugar (packed cup): 1/2 cup /100g
  2. Unsalted Butter(softened) : 1/4 cup /57g
  3. Heavy cream: 1/4 cup or 56 g or 60 ml
  4. Vanilla Extract : 1 tsp
  5. Chopped Pecans : 3/4 to 1 cup

HOW TO MAKE STICKY PECAN CINNAMON ROLLS

We can make this sticky buns in 5 simple steps!

This Sticky Buns Recipe is actually adapted from the original Quick and Easy Cinnamon Rolls Recipe.

1.Prepare the dough

Into a bowl add the milk,softened butter, sugar,salt,yeast and egg and combine everything together.

Make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature and the milk should be preferably warm( not hot; Ideally 95 F).

Then add in the flour into this mixture and combine them together to form a shaggy mass of dough.

If you are kneading the dough in a stand mixer, use the dough hook attachment to knead the dough.

You can use Speed 2 for optimum results and knead for 2-3 minutes.

If you are kneading the dough by hands, transfer the dough on to a clean work surface and knead the dough for a few minutes (3-4 minutes) until it form a smooth and elastic dough.

The dough may feel sticky in the beginning of kneading, thats ok, (that’s the way it should be); you may be tempted to add more flour but don’t do that.The dough will absorb the moisture and come together in about 4 minutes of kneading.

Shape it into a ball and then cover it with a bowl or kitchen towel and let the dough rest on the counter for 10-15 minutes.This is not for proofing the dough, but this is to let the dough sit for a few minutes so that the gluten strands will relax.

This resting will prevent our dough from enormous rebounding back of the dough while rolling it into a thin rectangular sheet.

This resting time will also give, time for us to prepare the filling and the topping.

Sticky Buns Recipe

2.Prepare the filling and topping

For the filling, mix together the cinnamon powder and brown sugar and keep it aside.

For the topping,Into the baking dish,(I have used 11.5X7.5-inch baking pan), add the brown sugar, butter, vanilla extract and heavy cream.And mix them all together to form a homogenous mixture.Spread the cream evenly on the baking tray.

Is it necessary to use heavy cream ?

Adding heavy cream is optional.But I highly recommend adding heavy cream which brings a beautiful toffee flavor to our topping.

Can I use Cold Heavy Cream instead of warm cream

Yes You can use cold heavy cream as well.

I have used warm heavy cream and so the butter will blend easily and the base of our baking tray will be warm and it will help the easy proofing or rising.

As our butter is soft or at room temperature (for the easy blending) and if the heavy cream is taken right out of the fridge, you may see slight “curdling”, when the cold cream is mixed with soft butter.Don’t worry,It is normal and it will get resolved once it is taken into the oven.

When using cold heavy cream, the topping mixture will not be runny and it will be cold and creamy in consistency and so this can slow down the rising or proofing and so if the cream is cold we may need 90 minutes of proofing.

Top the cream layer with some chopped nuts.Here I have used pecan nuts.

Is it necessary to toast the pecans?

I have made them with both toasted pecan nuts and raw pecan nuts.

The toasted pecans have an enhanced flavor and taste but I noticed a kind of light bitterness from the outer skin, when the pecans are toasted.

The toasted pecans become more soft when soaked in the sticky caramel sauce.Me and my kids enjoyed the sticky buns topped with non toasted raw pecans but my husband enjoyed the one made with toasted pecans more.

I think it’s our personal preference to toast them or not; both of them has a unique taste and both were great.

Its so easy to toast the pecans.We can do it either in oven or on stove top.Read the blog post to see how to toast pecans.

3.Roll ,shape and divide the dough

So for the next step of shaping the rolls, first we need to roll the dough into a thin sheet (1/ 4th inch thickness).

Pat, stretch and roll out the dough to form approximately 17 X 15 inch rectangle, with long edge nearest you.

Then spread very soft butter all over the surface.

Then sprinkle on the cinnamon sugar as evenly as possible.

We can skip spreading the butter on top the sheet as well..but in that case I found it difficult to spread the cinnamon sugar evenly.

Starting with long edge nearest you, roll the dough into a cylinder. 

While rolling, keep in your mind not to roll them tightly as they need some room for them to expand while proofing and while baking.

Mark gently with a knife/scraper to create 12 equal portions. For the cleanest cut, slice by holding a thread or strand of dental floss underneath the cylinder, and cross ends of the floss over each other and pull. Slice cylinder into 12 portions (about 4-5 cm each).

Transfer to a baking pan(I have used 11.5 X 7.5-inch baking pan), that’s been spread with sugar,butter,vanilla extract and chopped pecans .

Slight variation in size of baking pan is not an issue.

Sticky Buns Recipe

4.Proof the rolls

Cover the pan loosely with plastic wrap and allow the rolls to rise until puffy and the rolls are touching one another.

So keep the baking tray in a warm environment for 60 minutes.

If your place is cool then you may need more proofing time( 90 minutes) or if we use cold cream instead of warm cream, then the rolls may take more time to rise and proof well (90 minutes or so) . 

5.Bake the sticky buns

Then bake them @ 350 F for around 30 minutes.

Remove pan from oven and let cool 7-10 minutes, then place a large serving tray or sheet pan over the top of the baking dish. Carefully, hold onto both the tray and the dish and flip it over to invert the rolls. Lift up the baking dish and set aside.  

Make sure you let the buns rest after baking before you try to invert the pan. 7 minutes or so is all it takes, but if you don’t let it rest, the caramel will be too runny and you won’t have much left on top after you flip them.And if we wait for long there are chances that the topping may get too sticky.

EASY STICKY BUNS RECIPE VIDEO

WHAT TYPE OF YEAST CAN BE USED FOR MAKING QUICK CINNAMON ROLLS

You can use both active dried yeast or instant yeast or fresh yeast to make this quick homemade cinnamon rolls.

1 teaspoon instant (bread machine) yeast = 1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast.

1 teaspoon instant yeast (3 grams) = 1/2 block (0.6 ounce size) fresh yeast.

If you are using active dried yeast, add the active dried yeast into the liquid mixture, just as we added instant yeast in the video.Then wait for the yeast to get dissolved into the liquid mixture and to get activated, before adding the flour.The liquid mixture will become slightly foamy in about 10 minutes of adding yeast; then proceed with the recipe by adding flour.

Sticky Buns Recipe

CAN I SKIP ADDING EGG IN THIS STICKY BUNS RECIPE

Yes you can skip adding egg in this sticky buns recipe.

HOW CAN I SUBSTITUTE EGG IN THIS EASY STICKY BUNS RECIPE

I have made pecan sticky rolls using this same recipe skipping egg.I added the same volume of liquid (milk/water) for 1 egg.You can add 45-50 ml milk/water instead of 1 egg in this cinnamon roll recipe.The cinnamon sticky rolls turned out soft and delicious, when I tried this way.

CAN I MAKE STICKY BUNS AHEAD OF TIME

Sticky Buns Recipe

Yes you can make this cinnamon sticky buns ahead of time.

HOW CAN I MAKE THIS STICKY ROLLS AHEAD OF TIME

Just follow the first four steps.After Proofing the shaped dough, we can keep the baking tray covered with plastic wrap, in the fridge.

The sticky rolls will not rise further when kept inside the refrigerator.

We can keep it in fridge for up to 2 days / 48 hours.

The next day morning or when you want to bake the cinnamon sticky buns, you can take the tray out and keep it on the kitchen counter.Let the rolls come to room temperature.

Start preheating your oven to 350F.

In about 15-20 minutes, oven will be ready and the rolls are ready to go into the oven.

So bake for around 25-30 minutes at 350 F.

You can enjoy,Oven fresh, sticky buns with zero effort on the baking day!

These pecan cinnamon rolls are best when they are fresh and warm out of the oven.

HOW TO STORE ANY LEFTOVER CINNAMON STICKY BUNS

 Sticky Buns can be stored at room temperature for about 2 days, covered tightly to prevent them from drying out too much.

We can keep them in the same baking dish covered with a plastic wrap.

For longer storage, its better to keep them refrigerated, also covered tightly, for up to a week.

And just before serving, rewarm the rolls and you can enjoy the sticky rolls just as they are freshly baked.

HOW TO REHEAT THE PECAN STICKY BUNS

To reheat them, I simply spray the rolls with some water and then pop them in a 350°F oven for a few minutes (8-10 minutes) until they are warm and toasty or for a few seconds in the microwave.

Sticky Buns Recipe

CAN I FREEZE THE BAKED CINNAMON STICKY BUNS

Yes ,You can.The baked cinnamon sticky buns can be frozen for 2-3 months. Make sure to wrap them tightly with foil and place in an airtight container for freezing.

Thaw them overnight in the refrigerator, then warm them up and enjoy!

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CINNAMON ROLL AND STICKY BUN

  • The major difference is the topping :The basic bread dough and the filling for making both rolls are same but cinnamon rolls are mostly topped with cream cheese frosting or some vanilla icing glaze.Sticky buns are usually topped with caramel and nuts.
  • For sticky buns, we add the topping to the bottom of the baking dish and then after baking we invert the pan to get that beautiful sticky topping.But for cinnamon rolls the frosting is added after the rolls are baked.

CAN I USE WHITE SUGAR FOR FILLING THE STICKY ROLLS

Yes you can use regular white sugar instead of brown sugar as filling.

WHICH BROWN SUGAR IS TO USE IN THIS STICKY BUNS RECIPE

Though we can use soft dark brown sugar or soft light brown sugar in this sticky buns recipe,I prefer using light brown sugar for best results.

I have tried making sticky buns using both light and dark brown sugar and I prefer the lighter golden color and lighter flavor to the sticky caramel sauce.

Sticky Buns Recipe

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LIGHT BROWN SUGAR AND DARK BROWN SUGAR

The difference between light and dark brown sugar is simply the amount of molasses each contains.

Light brown sugar has less molasses per total volume of sugar (about 3.5% according to Rose Levy Beranbaum) while dark brown sugar has more (6.5%). And so the dark brown sugar is more darker in appearance and has slightly more complex flavor to it.

Sticky Buns Recipe

Easy Sticky Buns Recipe

Easy sticky buns recipe to help you make soft and fluffy cinnamon rolls with sticky toffee flavored caramel sauce in less than 2 hours.
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 28 minutes
Proofing time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 58 minutes
Course Breakfast, Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 12 Sticky Buns

Ingredients
  

For Preparing The Bread Dough

  • 390 g All purpose flour/Bread flour 3 cups(loosely packed)
  • 180 ml Milk 3/4 Cup If you don't want to add milk, you can use plain water instead.
  • 43 g Unsalted Butter (softened) 3 tbsp
  • 1 Egg (at Room Temperature)
  • 32 g Sugar 2 and 1/2 tbsp
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 1 tsp Instant Yeast or if using active dry yeast, use 1 and 1/4 tsp

For The Filling

  • 100 g Brown Sugar 1/2 cup We can use regular withe sugar as well.
  • 2 tsp Cinnamon Powder
  • 28 g Soft Unsalted Butter 2 tbsp

For the Topping

  • 100 g Brown Sugar 1/2 cup
  • 57 g Soft Unsalted Butter 1/4 cup
  • 60 ml Warm Heavy Cream or 56 g or 1/4 cup
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 120 g Chopped Pecans around 1 cup

Instructions
 

1.Prepare The Bread Dough

  • Into a bowl add the milk,softened butter, sugar,salt,yeast and egg and combine everything together.
    Make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature and the milk should be preferably warm( not hot; Ideally 95 F).
    Then add in the flour into this mixture and combine them together to form a shaggy mass of dough.
    Now we need to knead the dough.
    If you are kneading the dough in a stand mixer, use the dough hook attachment to knead the dough.
    You can use Speed 2 for optimum results and knead for 3-4 minutes.
    If you are kneading the dough by hands, transfer the dough on to a clean work surface and knead the dough for a few minutes (4-5 minutes) until it form a smooth and elastic dough.
    The dough may feel sticky in the beginning of kneading, thats ok, (that’s the way it should be); you may be tempted to add more flour but don’t do that.The dough will absorb the moisture and come together in about 4 minutes of kneading.
    Shape it into a ball and then cover it with a bowl or kitchen towel and let the dough rest on the counter for 10-15 minutes.This is not for proofing the dough, but this is to let the dough sit for a few minutes so that the gluten strands will relax.
    This resting will prevent our dough from enormous rebounding back of the dough while rolling it into a thin rectangular sheet.
    This resting time will also give, time for us to prepare the filling and the topping.

Prepare The Filling and Topping

  • For the filling, mix together the cinnamon powder and brown sugar and keep it aside.
    For the topping,Into the baking dish,(I have used 11.5X7.5-inch baking pan), add the brown sugar, butter, vanilla extract and heavy cream.And mix them all together to form a homogenous mixture.
    Adding heavy cream is optional.But I highly recommend adding heavy cream which brings a beautiful toffee flavor to our topping.
    As our butter is soft or at room temperature (for the easy blending) and if the heavy cream is taken from the fridge, you may see slight "curdling", when the cold cream is mixed with soft butter.Don't worry,It is normal and it will get resolved once it is taken into the oven.
    Top the cream layer with some chopped nuts.Here I have used pecan nuts.

Roll,Divide and Shape the dough

  • So for the next step of shaping the rolls, first we need to roll the dough into a thin sheet (1/ 4th inch thickness).
    Pat, stretch and roll out the dough to form approximately 17 X 15 inch rectangle, with long edge nearest you.
    Then spread very soft butter all over the surface.
    Then sprinkle on the cinnamon sugar as evenly as possible.
    Starting with long edge nearest you, roll the dough into a cylinder. 
    Mark gently with a knife/scraper to create 12 equal portions. For the cleanest cut, slice by holding a thread or strand of dental floss underneath the cylinder, and cross ends of the floss over each other and pull. Slice cylinder into 12 portions (about 4-5 cm each).
    Transfer to a baking pan(I have used 11.5 X 7.5-inch baking pan), that’s been spread with sugar,butter,vanilla extract and chopped pecans .

Proof the Sticky Buns

  • Cover the pan loosely with plastic wrap and allow the rolls to rise until puffy and the rolls are touching one another.
    So keep the baking tray in a warm environment for 60 minutes.
    If your place is cool then you may need more proofing time( 90 minutes) or if we use cold cream instead of warm cream, then the rolls may take more time to rise and proof well (90 minutes or so) . 

Bake the Sticky Buns

  • Then bake them @ 350 F for around 30 minutes.
    Remove pan from oven and let cool 7-10 minutes, then place a large serving tray or sheet pan over the top of the baking dish. Carefully, hold onto both the tray and the dish and flip it over to invert the rolls. Lift up the baking dish and set aside.  
    Enjoy!

Video

Keyword cinnamon sticky rolls, pecan sticky rolls, Sticky Buns, sticky rolls

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