Sticky Buns

One of our family's favorite holiday breakfast traditions is to have sticky buns on Thanksgiving and Christmas mornings. We use the recipe found in Betty Crocker's Cookbook but with a few alterations. My boys do not enjoy pecans on theirs so I just make sure to spread pecans through most of the pan, but leave a little section pecan-less for them! I love having these made up the day before so that I can fill the pan and cover them with plastic wrap -- put them in the fridge (to stop them from rising too much) and then take them out the next morning and bake them up before the oven needs to be used for anything else that day. If there are any leftover, they reheat very well just wrapped in foil and stuck back in your oven.

Caramel Sticky Buns
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3 1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
2 packages yeast (4 1/2 tsp)
1 cup very warm milk (120-130 degrees)
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 large egg
Caramel Topping (below)
1 cup pecan halves (4 oz)
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp butter, softened

1. Mix 2 cups of flour, the sugar, salt and yeast in a large bowl. Add warm milk, 1/4 cup butter and the egg. Beat with mixer on low speed for 1 minute, scraping bowl frequently. beat on medium speed 1 minute, scraping bowl and then stir in remaining flour to make a dough that is easy to handle.
2. Place dough on a floured surface and knead for 5 minutes until smooth and springy. Place dough in a large greased bowl, turning dough once to grease all sides. Cover and let rise for 1 1/2 hours until doubled. Dough is ready if indentation is left when touched.
3. Make Caramel Topping. Pour into ungreased 9x13 pan and sprinkle with pecans.
4. Gently push fist into dough to deflate. Flatten dough with hands or rolling pin into 9x15 rectangle on a floured surface. Spread with 2 Tbsp softened butter and sprinkle with the 1/2 cup sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon. Rolly tightly longways and seal by pinching the edge of the dough together. Stretch slightly to make an even roll and cut into 12-15 slices (based on how big you want your buns). HINT: I like to use a piece of dental floss to do this--put the floss under the dough and then crisscross it to pull the floss through the dough and cut it apart. Put the slices into the pan, cover and let rise until doubled.
5. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
6. Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand a few minutes and then turn upside down onto serving plate. Let stand 1 minute so caramel can drizzle down over rolls and then remove the pan. Serve warm.

Caramel Topping

1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 corn syrup (I omitted this last time and it still worked fine, I just added a little water to the sugar/butter to make it a bit more runny)

Heat brown sugar and butter to boiling in saucepan, stirring constantly. Remove it from heat and stir in corn syrup.

You can also make these in your breadmaker, just use 3 1/2 cups flour, 1 1/2 tsp yeast and 1 cup room-temp water for the warm milk.