Apple Pecan Sticky Buns

Oh hi, remember me?

Apparently if I don’t make a public declaration of a blogging schedule, I have no way to be accountable and I…don’t blog all that much. It’s kind of sad, because I liked blogging everyday. I know not every day from last year was particularly exciting, but I kind of liked sharing those tidbits of my life. Plus, it was really cool to look back at the past year and see all of the little moments that made up my life.

But what to do now? I have to admit, taking a picture everyday and blogging about it every night was time consuming. Sometimes I had a bunch of pictures to choose from, sometimes I was desperate to find anything to photograph at 11 PM. I figured this year was going to be busy and I wasn’t sure I wanted to have the responsibility of posting every night. So, I need something to keep me blogging. To remind me that if I play one less game of Peggle, I can post something funny or tasty or exciting up here. Suggestions?

That being said, the other week I made some apple pecan sticky buns. I’ve had an unidentifiable craving for about two months. I hadn’t been able to figure out what it was that I was hankering, but after making these…I might have satisfied it.

There’s a lot of awesome things about this sticky buns.

First, they don’t take 4 hours to make. Usually with sticky buns, you have to make the dough, let the dough rise, making the cinnamon rolls, let the cinnamon rolls rise…I don’t always have half a day to commit to making breakfast. Especially since by the time they are done it would be lunch.

Second, they have delicious baked apples rolled up inside. It’s a little unexpected surprise and apples are totally a fruit which makes these healthier than regular sticky buns, right?

It’s your pretty standard sticky bun assembly method. Roll out the dough, spread on some butter, add a healthy layer of cinnamon, brown sugar, pecans, and the baked apples.

Roll up the whole kit-and-kaboodle and slice the log into nine approximately equal slices.

Line them up in a buttered baking pan and pop them in the oven for 35 minutes. While they’re cooling a bit, you make a honey glaze to drizzle all over them. When I first made it, it seemed like an awful lot of glaze for nine sticky buns, but my recommendation would be pour the whole batch on top. Even if it seems like too much, trust me, it’s not.

Serve the up warm and ooey gooey.

Apple Pecan Sticky Buns

adapted from Shutterbean

For the dough

1 Tbsp butter softened
2 apples peel and cored and cut into slices
1 Tbsp packed brown sugar
5 Tbsp butter, softened
2 cups of flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream

For the topping

2 Tbsp butter
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

For the glaze

4 Tbsp butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup cream
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp honey

Preheat the oven to 400°.

Peel, core, and slice the apples into 1/4″ thick slices. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and toss the apples with 1 Tbsp brown sugar and 1 Tbsp butter. Spread evenly over the baking sheet and cover loosely with foil. Bake for about 15 minutes until the apples have softened.

Lower the oven temperature to 350°.

Using an electric mixer, blend the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and 1/4 tsp salt. Add 5 Tbsp of butter and mix until crumbly.

In a small bowl, whisk 1/2 cup cream with the eggs. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture until a soft dough forms. On a flour surface, roll the dough into and approximately 9″x13″ rectangle.

Spread 2 Tbsp butter over the dough. In a small bowl, combine the pecans, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and cinnamon. Sprinkle that mixture over the dough evenly. Layer on the baked apples. Roll the dough up into a log and slice into 9 even pieces. Place each slice, cut side down, into a greased 9-in square baking pan even spaced apart. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.

In a small saucepan, combine 3/4 cup sugar, 4 Tbsp butter, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 cup cream, and 2 Tbsp of honey. Heat to a boil and continuously whisk until reduced. It should only take about 2 minutes. Let the glaze cool slightly then drizzle the whole batch over the warm buns.

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