Sticky Buns (easy!)
I pulled these sticky buns together in less than 15 minutes one Sunday morning. Yes, really! After a quick 25 minutes in the oven, they were ready. Ooey, gooey and exactly what I wanted in my belly with a cup of coffee. The hardest part of this recipe was remembering to take the dough out of the freezer the night before.
Sticky buns and cinnamon rolls are not the same thing, did you know? I grew up with soft, yeasty cinnamon rolls. Sticky buns are um, really sticky. The caramel bottom, which becomes the top after flipping, is messy and can become too firm if not eaten warm. Sticky buns are also dough-ier and gooey-er (are these words?). This concludes today’s pastry and vocabulary lessons.
I stole this recipe idea from The Barefoot Contessa. The next thing I’m going to steal from her is her easy-going lifestyle in the always perfect, always relaxed Southampton. I want to believe she would serve her breakfast guests sticky buns made from store-bought puff pastry, but I’m slightly more inclined to think she would stay up late the night before to make it from scratch. But, welcome to my life: I work full-time, blog, WRITE and I’m planning a wedding. Store-bought dough is a big part of my life these days.
I used a Texas-sized muffin pan here. I believe they call these ‘giant’ or ‘over-sized’ muffin pans in other states? If you use a regular muffin tin, cut the dough into 6 sticky buns instead of 4.
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ⅓ cup + 2 tablespoons light brown sugar (divided use)
- 3 tablespoons chopped walnuts or pecans
- 1 sheet puff pastry, defrosted in fridge
- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- First, preheat the oven to 375. Have ready an over-sized or Texas-sized muffin pan*.
- In a small bowl, stir together 4 tablespoons of the room temperature butter and 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar. Mix it very well. Divide the mixture evenly and dollop it into the bottom of 4 muffin cups. Sprinkle the nuts evenly on top.
- Next, unfold the puff pastry gently. Melt the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter, then brush it evenly on the surface of the dough. Combine the remaining ⅓ cup brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle it over the dough. Begin rolling up the dough with the side nearest to you, rolling tightly and gently. Slice the dough into 4 even pieces, then place them in the muffin cups. Press the dough slices down slightly.
- Bake for 24-29 minutes, or until the buns are brown and the caramel is bubbling. Let cool for 5 minutes before inverting the pan. Use a knife to help get the buns out if necessary.
- Serve immediately. The caramel hardens if allowed to cool too long.
I’ve been wanting to try her recipe for weeks now! I’m glad tkniw they turn out so perfectly
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Love this! And you are spot on defining sticky buns vs. cinnamon buns. They are both so different but both so good:-)
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I think I’m more of sticky bun than a cinnamon bun person, look at all that sticky caramel deliciousness!
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I love sticky buns! They are so gooey and soft and great fresh out of the oven! These look awesome!
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I love your buns
GREG
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Per usual, you continue to amaze me. I love this recipe! It’s so simple but still feels homemade. Plus zero leftovers means zero chance to binge later in the day. Awesome!
Also, congrats on the writing gig! Is that new?
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You got that from one sheet of puff pastry?! Wow. The stuff over here in Germany must be way smaller than the stuff in the US. Anyway, they look amazing! I love the gooiness. You can never go wrong with gooey.
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Puff pastry?? You made sticky buns from puff pastry???
You’re a genius.
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This looks fabulous! What a treat
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I absolutely love the ease of these! They look so delicious and simple. I will certainly be trying them this weekend… or tomorrow… Or now!!!
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Aww, sticky buns in a muffin pan is adorable and genius! The second I read it took you 15 minutes to make these, my eyes lit up and I made an easy decision to make these ASAP. Looking great!
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I love that this uses puff pastry! Sometimes there’s just not enough time in the day to make everything from scratch!
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I should be eating these right now instead of looking at them.
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If I had of known you wereSeguing these for breakfast I would have grabbed my coffe and rushed over to join you
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Sorry, please correct Seguing to read “serving”. Typed comment on my iPad and should have enlarged the screen before hitting publish!
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I’m not sure that I’ve ever tried a sticky bun…but I think I need to change that immediately! Thank goodness your recipes are scaled down – for single girls like me, “eating the whole batch” isn’t such a bad thing.
Thank you for another great recipe!
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These look absolutely amazing! I cannot wait to make these! Plus, your blog is wonderful- what a great concept and tasty looking recipes! Haha I don’t know how you’ll top this!
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I saw this on barefoot too…one of my favorite shows! I have been wanting to try these & happy to see they really are that easy!
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I looooove sticky buns. They were my favorite growing up!
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These are making my mouth water this morning! Yummmm!!!
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What a great idea to make these in a muffin pan! I definitely need to try these out- love making cinnamon rolls, but they’re so time consuming. Sticky buns it is!
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so simple and creative. looks yummy.
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I like easy. Easy is how I live lately
These look divine.
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great idea, love anything from Ina….
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