4: Easy Sticky Buns

Because I don't get to post as often as I'd like, I've decided to make my time on the computer count. Today I've posted six awesome breakfasts that, since making them the first time, I have craved over and over again. My favorite of the six has to be the breakfast puff pastry. It is super easy and delicious, and I probably make it twice a week because I love it so much. Enjoy!


Recipe from: Barefoot Contessa, Back to Basics
By: Ina Garden

Cook time, including prep:
Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:

- 12 T (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup pecans
- 1 package (17.3 oz / 2 sheets) frozen puff pastry, defrosted
---For the filling---
- 2 T unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 2/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 3 t ground cinnamon
- 1 cup raisins (I left these out because I’m not a huge raisin fan)


Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Place a 12 cup standard muffin tin on a sheet pan 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. Place 1 rounded tablespoon of the mixture in each of the 12 muffin cups. Distribute the pecans evenly among the 12 muffin cups on top of the butter and sugar mixture.

Lightly flour a wooden board. Unfold 1 sheet of puff pastry with the folds going left to right. Brush the whole sheet with half of the melted butter. Leaving a 1-inch border on the puff pastry, sprinkle each sheet with 1/3 cup of the brown sugar, 1 ½ t of the cinnamon, and ½ cup of the raisins.

Starting with the end nearest you, roll the pastry up snugly like a jelly roll around the filling, finishing the roll with the seam side down. Trim the ends of the roll about ½ inch and discard. Slice the roll in 6 equal pieces, each about 1 and ½ inches wide. 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 and dark brown on top and firm to the touch. Allow to cool for 5 minutes only, invert the buns onto the parchment paper (ease the filling and pecans out onto the buns with a spoon), and cool completely.

Just a little note, when these cool the topping hardens and becomes that sort of crunchy, sticky yumminess that is ideal for loosening the fillings and crowns so lovingly placed by your dentist. So be ware.