Sticky Buns

I pored over a dozen sticky bun recipes to get to this one.    There are so many variations.   Ultimately, I started with the recipe from my old standby, the Joy of Cooking, tweaked it and added orange zest and juice.

Most sticky bun recipes call for brioche dough.  I wanted to make this easy by using pizza dough that can be purchased from your local pizza shop, or a store like Whole Foods.  They’ll be a little sturdier than those made with brioche, but irresistible nonetheless.

 

9 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 ¼  cup light brown sugar

¼   cups honey

1 orange, zested and juiced—(zest used in the filling)

1 ½  cups toasted pecans chopped

½  cup light brown sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

4 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature

½ cup toasted pecans, chopped

Finely grated zest of 1 orange

1 pound pizza dough

Flour for rolling the dough

Course sea salt

Use 1 tablespoon butter to butter a 9 X 13 inch pan.

In a saucepan, bring the 1 ½  cups brown sugar, 8 tablespoons butter and the honey to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer until the sugar has dissolved.  Remove from the heat and add the orange juice.  Pour into the buttered pan.  Sprinkle 1 ½ cups of pecans evenly over the top.  Sprinkle with a little sea salt.
In a mixing bowl, beat ½ cup brown sugar with the cinnamon, soft butter and orange zest.
On a floured counter top, roll the dough out into a 16 x 14-inch rectangle  Spread the cinnamon mixture evenly over the dough.  I like to use an off-set spatula.  Sprinkle with the remaining pecans.
Roll the dough, along the long edge, into a tight jelly-roll shape.  The roll should be about 16 inches long
Cut into 12 buns, a little over an inch long.   Set the buns, cut side down, on the caramel, leaving an inch between each roll.  Cover with a towel and allow to rise in a warm place until they’ve doubled, about 1 ½ hours.  They will be puffy and just touching each other.

Preheat the oven to 375° F.  Bake the buns in the middle of the oven for 30 minutes.
Allow them to rest in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes and then turn them out onto a rimmed platter allowing all the yummy caramel to collect around the buns.   Serve warm or at room temperature.