Salted Caramel Sticky Buns

From time to time, I would test recipes just because there's too much dough or batter to bake just one something savory or sweet. That's exactly how I came up with the salted caramel sticky buns. After I made my kids some steamed bao, I decided to use half of the bao dough to bake sweet breakfast.

I baked sticky buns many times. A few times I made them with almonds, but my kids didn't like them that much. They ate a few buns but not like "mommy, can you make more?" Recently, my kids fell in luv with the raw pecans. I saw a chance to test the sticky buns again, but this time... with pecans.

Super duper happy that they luv my salted caramel sticky buns now. Here's the thing though. Camden preferred the caramel pecans, and Brek wanted the sticky buns. You know how that went, right? Sharing!!! Luv it!!!

If you want to double the salted caramel sticky buns recipe, the whole recipe of bao dough is needed. Be sure to double the cinnamon sugar mixture and chopped pecans. The salted caramel recipe doesn't need to be doubled and should be enough for the 18-20 buns. But feel free to double the salted caramel recipe because more gooey caramel is better than less of it.

sticky buns made with chopped almonds

Salted Caramel Sticky Buns
makes 9 buns

Dough:
1/2 recipe (10 oz) bao dough 

Filling:
3 Tablespoons light brown sugar
1 teaspoons ground cinnamon

salted caramel:
1/4 cup (2 oz) maple syrup
3 Tablespoons (1.5 oz) water
3/4 cup (3 oz) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon sea salt

cooking spray
1 cups roughly chopped raw pecans, divided

1. Prepare the bao dough as directed. NOTE: You will need only half of the bao dough recipe unless you want to double the recipe.
2. In a small bowl, mix together the sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.
3. Spray an 8 inch square baking pan with a cooking spray. Set aside.
4. In a saucepan, whisk all of the salted caramel ingredients.
5. Heat the caramel until the candy thermometer reaches soft thread stage (230F degree).
6. Pour the caramel on to the prepared pan.
7. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of chopped pecans over the caramel. Set aside.
8. With a rolling pin, roll the bao dough until it's 16 by 9 inch rectangle.
9. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar all over the dough surface.
10. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of chopped pecans over the cinnamon sugar.
11. Starting with the longest side of the dough, roll the dough into a log.
12. Using a knife, cut the dough into 9 equal parts.
13. Place each dough on the caramel, spiral side up.
14. Let the dough rest until they double their size, about an hour. NOTE: Each dough will almost touch each other. In a hurry, let the dough rest for 30 minutes. Keep in mind that the buns will taste lighter if they are rested more.
15. When the dough is ready, preheat the oven to 350F degree.
16. Bake the dough in a preheated oven until golden brown and the caramel is bubbling, about 20 minutes.
17. Remove the salted caramel sticky buns from the oven.
18. Carefully turn them out onto a wiring rack right away.
19. Spoon more salted caramel on top of each bun.
20. Enjoy them warm or at a room temperature.

STORING: The salted caramel sticky buns taste best on the day they are baked. Keep them in an air tight container at a room temperature for up to 3 days.

Allergy Info: These salted caramel sticky buns are free from or can be made without dairy, eggs, corn, legumes (soy), and fish. To make them nut free, replace the nuts with dried fruits or just omit the nuts all together. If you can have nuts, you can substitute any nuts, such as walnuts or almonds, for pecans.