Sticky Buns

I love the holiday season simply because it gives me the excuse to bake everything that is not good for me. Especially sticky buns. I NEVER make sticky buns unless winter and Christmas is close. Then I have an excuse to wear a ridiculously large sweater to cover up the sticky buns that have...well...stuck themselves directly to MY buns.

Mmm...see all that gorgeous caramel in the bottom of the pan? During the months of November and December only it is fat free caramel. Just pretend and when you consume half the pan you won't feel so bad!

One other great thing about sticky buns is when its freezing cold outside you have an excuse to run your oven half the day and heat up your kitchen. Then you should probably go and run your butt off on the treadmill because you are definitely going to need it!

Sticky Buns
slightly adapted from Cheeky Kitchen

Basic Roll Dough
2 cups warm water (115 degrees)

3 3/8 teaspoons yeast

1/2 cup sugar

3/8 cup eggs, beaten (its 1 1/2 eggs)

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 teaspoon salt

5-6 cups all purpose flour

Sweet Roll Filling

4 tablespoons cinnamon

1 cup soft butter

2 cups brown sugar

Sticky Caramel Topping
1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup sour cream

1 1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup dark karo syrup

1 tablespoon vanilla

In the bowl of your stand mixer, add warm water, yeast and sugar. Let set for 5-10 minutes until the yeast activates and forms a foam on top of the water. Add eggs, butter and salt and mix on low with the dough hook attachment about 2 minutes, until ingredients are combined. Add 5 cups of flour and mix on low about 5 minutes until dough becomes elastic and starts to clean away from side of the bowl. Add up to 1 additional cup of flour if needed. The dough is supposed to be light and slightly sticky. Oil a large glass bowl and place dough in bowl, turning so the greased side is up. Cover lightly with a layer of plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and place in a warm spot for 1 hour, until dough has doubled in size.

Stir ingredients for the filling together in a bowl until well combined. Roll dough out into a 9"x24" rectangle. It will end up roughly 3/4" thick. Using a rubber spatula, carefully spread filling over entire surface of dough and roll the long way into a log and pinch together the seam. Cut rolls 1" thick, so you get 24 rolls.

Now we need to prepare the sinfully delicious topping! In a sauce pan, melt butter over medium high heat until melted. Whisk in remaining ingredients and bring just to boiling. Remove from heat and pour into four 8" round cake pans.

Place 6 rolls into each pan on top of caramel sauce. Allow rolls to raise for about 30 minutes until they have not quite doubled in size. I usually raise them just until the rolls start to touch.

Bake in a 375 degree preheated oven for 15 to 17 minutes just until rolls start to turn brown on the edges.

When you remove rolls from the oven, if you are going to serve them right away, place a plate on top of pan and quickly invert rolls onto the plate. The caramel is HOT so be careful! If you'd like to freeze them for later, I simply cover cake pans with 2 layers of tight tinfoil and freeze. To reheat, place rolls still covered in tinfoil in a 300 degree oven for 15 minutes and invert onto a plate after removing from oven.

Enjoy, Enjoy, and then run on your treadmill. Then congratulate yourself for working out with another sticky bun. Repeat process until they're gone.