I finally did it all on my own. I made yeasty cinnamon rolls! This is more of an accomplishment for me than it sounds. Just the thought of making anything with yeast still scares me much more than it ever should. And, I have to admit, the whole time I was making these sticky buns, I was sitting in fear that they wouldn’t rise and just be a hunk of dense dough.
Thankfully, I was proved wrong. The whole process takes a few hours, but it’s fun and totally worth it. Look at my lovely rising dough rolls!
The topping on these buns is 100% necessary- so, SO delicious. The original recipe comes from the Taste of Home Baking book. It used pecans. That was my plan, but I opened my container of Planters mixed nuts and in the entire jar I found 1.5 pecans. Way to go, Planters. Needless to say, I went with almonds, which I actually prefer anyway. They worked great and had just the right crunch.
When I was pregnant with Lizzie, I always wanted to make a bun of some kind as my little pregnancy announcement. Never happened. Well, I got another chance!! I’m 16ish weeks along with twins. Crazy, right?! We are super excited. Wish me luck, however. Lizzie is quite the little busy, busy handful herself
Almond Sticky Buns
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 1/4 cups warm water (110 to 115 degrees)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons nonfat dry milk powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 to 3 1/4 cups bread flour
Filling:
1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Sauce:
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup chopped almonds or pecans
In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the butter, sugar, milk powder, salt and 2 cups flour; beat on low speed for 3 minutes. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.
Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 to 8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; roll into a 16-inch by 10-inch rectangle. Spread with butter; sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting from a long side; pinch seam to seal. Cut into 12 slices and set aside.
In a saucepan, combine the brown sugar, butter and corn syrup; cook over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Stir in almonds or pecans. Pour into a greased 13-inch by 9-inch baking pan. Place rolls cut side down over sauce. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
Bake at 375 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown. Cool for 3 minutes. Invert onto a plate and eat up!