Every Christmas morning, I love to have something sweet baking in the oven. I have done cinnamon buns quite often, but these sticky buns are easy and so yummy that kids and grown-ups alike love them.

Ingredients:

  • 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar, lightly packed (I like the dark brown sugar better.)
  • 1/2 cup pecans, chopped in very large pieces
  • 1 package (17.3 ounces/2 sheets) frozen puff pastry, defrosted

for the filling:

  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 2/3 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
  • 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 cup raisins (optional)

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place a 12-cup standard muffin tin on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.
  2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the 12 tablespoons butter and 1/3 cup brown sugar.
  3. Place one rounded tablespoon of the mixture in each of the 12 muffin cups.
  4. Distribute the pecans evenly among the 12 muffin cups, on top of the mixture.
  5. Lightly flour a wooden board or stone surface. Unfold one sheet of puff pastry with the folds going left to right.
  6. Put the other sheet back into the refrigerator.
  7. Brush the whole sheet with the melted butter, leaving a 1-inch border.
  8. Sprinkle each sheet with 1/3 cup of the brown sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons of the cinnamon, and 1/2 cup of the raisins (optional).
  9. 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.
  10. Trim the ends of the roll about 1/2 inch and discard.
  11. Slice the roll in 6 equal pieces, each about 1 1/2 inches wide.
  12. Place the six pieces, spiral side up, in 6 of the muffin cups.
  13. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry, to make 12 sticky buns.
  14. Bake for 30 minutes, until the sticky buns are golden to dark brown on top and firm to touch. Be careful—they’re hot! Allow to cool for 5 minutes only. Invert the buns onto the parchment paper
  15. Ease the filling and pecans out onto the buns with a spoon and cool completely. (I like them warm!)