If you haven't realized already, I absolutely love Ina Garten. She is one of my biggest culinary inspirations, and the third grandmother I wish I had. Most days when I'm losing my mind with two little ones under the age of 2 1/2 running around, I keep her show on in the background to keep me calm. The delicious food, beautiful Hamptons scenery and Ina's breezy disposition—I mean—how bad can that be? (inside joke for you other Barefoot fans!) Anyway, she has a recipe for easy sticky buns (you can find it in her "Back to Basics" book on page 240), and they're delicious. But, I have personally found that when I use puff pastry dough for this recipe, it doesn't have the soft bite of a fluffy roll I'm looking for, but resembles a crunchier, Palmier-type texture. Don't get me wrong, I love Palmiers, but that's not what I'm going for when attempting to make sticky buns. I did a little experiment, and found that using Pillsbury crescent dough offered the perfect texture— soft and fluffy with just enough bite, and the perfect vessel to hold all that delicious, gooey brown sugar and cinnamon glaze. I followed Ina's recipe exactly but simply used rolled out crescent dough (keeping triangles in tact so it's one long rectangle) instead of puff pastry. Also, I cooked these at 350 degrees for about 18 minutes (Ina's recipe bakes at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Another perk...you get to eat these faster!) I'd say anywhere between 18-20 is the perfect amount of time (you can certainly bake them a few minutes longer too if you'd like them more well done) Give them a try and let me know what you think! Happy Eating!
Sticky Bun Recipe
*Note* I did have some leftover ingredients, and just used what I needed to fill one crescent dough package. From one package of Pillsbury dough, I was able to get 9 buns (cutting 1 1/4" sections), so you could certainly buy two packages and get 18 total buns baked in 2 sessions, or use whatever additional dough you need to get 12. I even kept the ends of the roll with their tail after rolling it up and smushed them (tail side down) into the tin; they baked up just fine.
· 12 tablespoons (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
· 1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
· 1/2 cup pecans, chopped in very large pieces
· 1 package Pillsbury crescent dough
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· For the filling:
· 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
· 2/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
· 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
· 1 cup raisins
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place a 12-cup standard muffin tin on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the 12 tablespoons butter and 1/3 cup brown sugar. Place 1 rounded tablespoon of the mixture in each of the 12 muffin cups. Distribute the pecans evenly among the 12 muffin cups on top of the butter and sugar mixture.
Unfold the crescent dough keeping the triangles in tact. You want one long rectangle. Brush the dough with half of the melted butter. Sprinkle each sheet with 1/3 cup of the brown sugar, 1½ teaspoons of the cinnamon, and ½ cup of the raisins. Starting with the end nearest you, roll the pastry up snugly like a jelly roll around the filling, finishing the roll with the seam side down. Place each piece, spiral side up, the muffin cups. (Again, I got 9 buns from one package of dough, and I gave them a good 'smush' in the tin to press them in there. Don't worry if they don't look perfect; they'll fluff up and fill out the space nicely when they bake) Repeat with the second sheet of crescent dough to make 12 sticky buns.
Bake for 18-20 minutes, until the sticky buns are golden on top and firm to the touch. Allow to cool for 5 minutes only, invert the buns onto the parchment paper (ease the filling and pecans out onto the buns with a spoon), and cool completely.