Susans Sticky Bun Slurry Recipes

STICKY BUNS (BREAD MACHINE)

Steps:

• Place the flour, white sugar, salt, yeast, milk, vanilla, and 3 tablespoons of butter into your bread machine as directed in your user's manual. Program it for the "Dough" cycle.
• While the dough is mixing, prepare the filling by mixing the 3/4 cup brown sugar and cinnamon together. Let the 6 tablespoons of butter come to room temperature.
• Grease the bottom and sides of a 13"x9" baking pan.
• When the dough cycle is nearly finished, make the caramel topping by combining the 1/3 cup butter, 1 cup brown sugar, and corn syrup in a small pan over moderate heat. Heat and stir just until the syrup is dissolved, then pour it into the baking pan and spread it out. Sprinkle the chopped pecans over the caramel.
• When the dough cycle ends, remove the dough and place on a lightly floured surface. Roll it out to make a 12" by 15" rectangle.
• Spread the softened butter across the dough, leaving a 1-inch border on all sides. Sprinkle the cinnamon mixture over the butter.
• Roll up the dough like a jelly roll, lengthwise. Pinch the seam closed.
• Cut the dough into 1 1/2" sections and place them in the baking pan, close together, with the spiral cut down.
• Cover the buns tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
• In the morning, take the pan out of the refrigreator while you preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• After the dough has been out of the refrigerator about 20-30 minutes, bake at 350 degrees for about 30-35 minutes, or until buns are nicely browned on top.
• Remove from the oven, then place a wire rack on top the pan. Place another baking sheet or pan over that. While firmly holding these three together, flip the buns over, being careful not to let the hot caramel drip on you.
• Let the buns cool 20-30 minutes before serving.

STICKY BUNS

Steps:

• Prepare the all-purpose sweet dough as directed on page 140.
• Remove the sweet dough from the refrigerator about 3 hours before you plan to bake. Divide it in half and form each piece into a ball. Cover each ball with a bowl or plastic wrap and let rest for 20 minutes.
• On a floured work surface, roll each ball of dough into a 12 by 15-inch rectangle, rolling from the center to the corners and then rolling out to the sides. If the dough starts to resist or shrink back, let it rest for 1 minute, then continue rolling. The dough should be between 1/4 and 1/2 inch thick.
• Make cinnamon sugar by whisking the cinnamon into the sugar. Brush the surface of the dough with melted butter, then sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the surface, leaving a 1/4-inch border. Sprinkle the raisins, chopped nuts, or both over the surface if you like. Roll up the dough like a rug, rolling from the bottom to the top to form a tight log. Make one of the slurries.
• Fill the bottom of two 8- or 9-inch round pans or one 12-inch square pan with 1/4 inch of one of the slurries. Store any excess slurry in the refrigerator, where it will keep for at least 2 weeks. Sprinkle chopped nuts over the slurry if you like; although this is optional, it's highly advised for flavor.
• Cut the log into 1-inch slices and place them on the slurry with the nicest side down, leaving about 1 inch of space between the buns. Mist with spray oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap, then let rise at room temperature for about 2 hours, until the dough swells noticeably and the buns begin to expand into each other.
• About 15 minutes before baking, put the oven rack in a low position (so the slurry gets plenty of bottom heat) and preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C).
• Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the pans as needed for an even bake. The slurry will melt, bubble, and caramelize, and the visible dough will be a dark golden brown. Lift one of the buns with a metal spatula or a pair of tongs to check the underside of the dough, which should be a light caramel brown, not white. The sugar slurry should turn a rich amber or golden brown, and all of the sugar should have melted to become caramel. (If it is still grainy and not amber, continue baking; you can put a tent of aluminum foil over the buns to protect them from getting too dark while the slurry finishes caramelizing.)
• Remove the pans from the oven and let the buns cool for 2 to 3 minutes in the pans so the caramel begins to firm up. Place a platter or pan over the top of the baking pan. It should be large enough to cover the baking pan and hold all of the buns. Wearing oven mitts or using hot pads, flip the entire assemblage over to release the buns and caramel onto the platter. Be careful, the glaze will still be very hot at this point. Use a rubber spatula to scrape any remaining glaze from the pan and drizzle it over the tops of the buns.
• Cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.
• A nice addition is to sprinkle about 1/2 cup (3 oz / 85 g) of raisins, dried cranberries, or other dried fruit over the slurry before placing the rolls in the pan. If using larger dried fruits, such as dried apricots, chop them into small bits first.
• You can also bake the buns in greased muffin tins. Put 1/4 inch of slurry in each cup, sprinkle in nuts or dried fruit as you wish, then press in a slice of the rolled dough. You'll probably need to slice the log thinner than 1 inch so that the spirals fill the muffin cups half full. Proof and bake as directed above.
• Combine all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl. If using a mixer, use the paddle attachment and mix on medium speed for 1 to 2 minutes . If mixing by hand, stir vigorously with a large spoon for about 2 minutes. The mixture should be smooth and homogeneous.
• Combine all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl. If using a mixer, use the paddle attachment and mix on medium-high speed for about 2 minutes. If mixing by hand, stir vigorously with a large spoon for about 2 minutes. The mixture should be smooth and homogeneous.
• Combine the sugars and butter in a mixing bowl. If using a mixer, use the paddle attachment and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. If mixing by hand, stir vigorously with a large spoon for 2 minutes. The ingredients should be smooth and evenly blended. Add the corn syrup, salt, and lemon extract and mix with the paddle attachment on medium speed, or continue mixing vigorously by hand, for about 2 minutes. Increase to medium-high speed or stir even more vigorously for 1 or 2 minutes, until the slurry is fluffy.

MARCIA'S FAMOUS STICKY BUNS

Steps:

• Sprinkle nuts in the bottom of a greased Bundt pan. Lay frozen roll dough on top of the nuts. Sprinkle dry pudding mix over the dough, then the brown sugar, then the cinnamon. Pour the melted margarine over all. Lay a damp paper towel over the pan and place it in a cold oven over night.
• In the morning, remove paper towel and place pan in cold oven. Heat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes, then flip out onto plate.

THE ULTIMATE STICKY BUNS

Steps:

• For topping:
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread out nuts on a rimmed baking sheet. Toast until fragrant and slightly darkened, 10-12 minutes. Let cool completely. Set 1 1/4 cups nuts aside for buns.
• Melt butter in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar, cream, honey, salt, and orange zest, if using. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and simmer until glaze is golden brown and glossy, 3-4 minutes. Pour 1 cup of glaze into baking pan, tilting to coat bottom and sides. Set aside remaining glaze. Sprinkle 1/2 cup toasted pecans over bottom of baking pan and let cool.
• For buns:
• Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and kosher salt in a medium bowl until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Set filling aside.
• Punch down dough; transfer to a floured work surface. Lightly dust top with flour. Follow instructions in Cooks' Notes, for assembling buns with filling and 3/4 cup pecans. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill buns and remaining glaze separately. Store remaining pecans airtight at room temperature.
• Loosely cover pan with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel. Let buns rise in a warm, draft-free area until doubled in size, 45 minutes to 1 hour, or 1 1/2-2 hours if dough has been chilled overnight.
• Arrange a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 350°F. Whisk egg with 1/2 teaspoon water in a small bowl. Brush tops of buns with egg wash. Bake, rotating pan halfway through and tenting with foil if browning too quickly, until buns are golden brown, filling is bubbling, and an instant-read thermometer inserted into center of buns registers 185°F, about 50 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes. Spoon remaining glaze over. Sprinkle 1/2 cup pecans over. Let cool in pan on a wire rack.
• Lightly sprinkle sea salt over. Serve buns warm or at room temperature.