Perfect Saturday morning treat.

 

Granted these things are hard to come by any more with a newborn in the house.

It’s a good thing I made a whole batch of these before I had Liam and put them in the freezer for safe keeping eating. 😉

They are sticky, gooey, and decadently sweet. Plus, the added crunch and protein of the pecans makes these superb.

Heavens to betsy, these are so good. You must make them…pronto.

I’m off to do the usual…feed, change, rock to sleep, repeat with Liam, while squeezing in the occasional house chore and a nice long walk (with the babe in the stroller).

Whole Grain Sticky Buns

adapted from My Kitchen Addiction

Ingredients

For the buns:

• 2 cups unbleached bread flour, divided
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup reduced fat milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• unbleached all-purpose flour, for kneading and dusting

For the caramelized topping:

• 1/3 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup pecans pieces

For the filling:

• 2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons lightly packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

How-To

1. Prepare a large bowl by spraying it with canola oil. Set aside. This will be where the dough rises.
2. In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup of the bread flour, sugar, yeast, and salt together.
3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, heat the milk, water, and butter together for about 1 minute, until it reaches 120°F. The butter doesn’t need to be melted, it will melt on it’s own.
4. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry (medium bowl), add in the egg, and beat with an electric mixer on low speed, for about 2 minutes.
5. Next, add in the remaining cup of bread flour and whole wheat flour. Beat until blended and starts to come together. Then, using your hand, knead the dough in the bowl until you can form a ball. This is where you may need to add in some of the all-purpose flour, so it doesn’t stick to your hands.
6. Form the dough into a ball, roll it quickly around in the greased bowl from step 1, just to coat the ball. Cover and put into a draft-free, warm place to rise for at least one hour (I let it rise for 3 hours while I did housework), until it doubles in size.
7. Once the dough has risen, spray a 13″ x 9″ pan with canola oil. Set aside.
8. Combine the caramelized topping ingredients (except for the pecans) together in a small bowl. Microwave it for 1 minute. Stir until combined. Pour it into the 13″ x 9″ pan until it coats the bottom evenly. Sprinkle evenly with the pecans.
9. In another small bowl, microwave the butter for less than 30 seconds until melted.
10. In yet another small bowl, combine the sugars and cinnamon. Set aside.
11. On a lightly floured surface, turn the dough out. Sprinkle the top with a little bit of flour and roll the dough into a 12″ x 15″ rectangle.
12. Using a pastry brush, brush the butter all over the dough.
13. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture over the butter.
14. Rolling along the long side, roll the dough up tightly, pinching the edges to seal it.
15. Using a pastry cutter, cut the dough into 12 even pieces. I cut off the tiny bit of end on each side because it didn’t contain any of the butter or sugar and discarded it.
16. Evenly place the buns on top of the caramelized pecan mixture in the pan. I did 3 rows of 4.
17. Cover and let rise for at least 40 minutes, until the edges are slightly touching and when you lightly touch the dough, your finger leaves a slight indentation.
18. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F.
19. Bake the buns for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown. Mine took 27 minutes.
20. Covering the top with foil and a wire rack, flip the pan over but don’t remove the pan.
21. Let sit for 1 minute to let all of the caramelization to seep over the buns.
22. Remove the pan and allow the buns to cool.
23. Serve slightly warm, or cool completely and freeze them for a rainy day! I ended up separating the buns, placing them on a baking sheet, and freezing them. Then I transfered them to either a freezable container or gallon sized bag. You may have to line with parchment paper to keep from sticking. Then, when you need a quick breakfast, just pull one out and microwave it!

Servings: 12 buns