by Diana Rattray
These homemade sticky buns are simply amazing. The buns make a fabulous breakfast treat for a weekend or holiday morning. The rich yeast dough is filled with a buttery cinnamon and brown sugar mixture. And the dough is made in advance, a real bonus when you cherish your time with family and friends.
The dough is similar to a buttery brioche dough and rather sticky, so the mixing and kneading are best done with a stand mixer.
You might also like these bread machine cinnamon rolls.
Make Ahead Cinnamon Sticky Buns
The dough for these delicious sticky buns is made a day in advance, so all you have to do in the morning is fill, make the topping, and bake. They’re perfect for a holiday morning!
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Proof and Chill: 10 hours
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 11 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 12 servings 1x
- Category: Sweet Breads and Rolls, Cinnamon, Pecans
- Method: Bake
Ingredients
Scale
- 3 teaspoons instant yeast
- 3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons lukewarm water ( 7 1/2 ounces)
- 1/4 cup dry milk powder
- 3 cups bread flour (13 1/2 ounces)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (4 1/2 ounces)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
For the Filling and Topping
- 1 1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar (divided use)
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature (divided use)
- 1 cup pecan halves
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans, optional
Instructions
- In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, combine the instant yeast with the lukewarm water. Let stand for 5 minutes.
- Add the dry milk powder, bread flour, all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, and egg. Attach the dough hook and mix until the dough comes together and climbs up the dough hook. Knead with the machine for about 3 minutes.
- Add the butter, a few tablespoons at a time.
- It will take several minutes to incorporate the butter, and you might have to break the dough away from the dough hook with a spatula from time to time. When the butter has incorporated fully into the dough (it will be sticky and batter-like), continue kneading, adding small amounts of flour until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl. Knead for about 5 to 6 minutes longer, until smooth and elastic.
- Line a 9-by-13-by-2-inch baking pan with parchment paper. Press the dough into the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 45 minutes. Refrigerate overnight.
- Next morning, butter a 9-by-13-by-2-inch baking pan.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it stand at room temperature for a few minutes, or just enough time to take the chill off.
- Combine 1 cup of brown sugar and 1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and continue boiling for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the 1 cup of pecan halves. Pour into the buttered baking pan.
- In a small bowl, combine the remaining 1/2 cup of brown sugar and the cinnamon, along with the finely chopped pecans, if using.
- Roll the dough out to a rectangle roughly 15 inches in length and 9 inches in width. Spread the remaining 1/2 cup of butter over the dough to within about 1/2 inch along the long ends.
- Sprinkle with the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture. Starting at a long end, roll the dough up, jelly-roll style. Cut the roll into 12 rounds. Place the slices atop the butter-pecan mixture in the baking pan. Cover the dough with a kitchen towel and let rest for 30 minutes.
- Heat the oven to 350 F.
- Bake the buns for about 45 minutes, or until golden brown. Let stand for 5 minutes. Carefully invert onto a large platter or a large shallow baking pan, such as a jelly roll pan.
- Spoon any syrup left in the pan over the buns. Pull apart and serve warm.
