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Dessert & Baked Goods » Sticky Buns

It is no surprise that Joanne Chang beat Bobby Flay on a throwdown with her Sticky Buns. They sell out at her bakery, Flour, all the time. Buttery brioche topped with her signature "Goo" and pecans rolled inside. We're sure they're serving these in heaven.

Print Recipe

Makes 8 buns

Ingredients

Brioche Dough

2½ cups high-gluten flour
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ pkg (3¼ tsp) active dry yeast or 28 oz fresh yeast cake
⅓ cup plus 2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp salt
½ cup cold water
5 eggs + 1 egg for egg wash
11 oz unsalted butter, softened, cut into 10-12 pieces

Goo

½ lb butter
15 oz light brown sugar
½ cup water
½ cup heavy cream
⅓ cup honey
¼ tsp salt

Sticky Bun Filling

1 cup sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup pecan halves, toasted and chopped

How-to

Make the Brioche Dough

In the large bowl of a stand mixer, combine all the ingredients, except the butter and beat on low with dough hook for 10 minutes
Add the softened butter and knead for another 20 minutes until dough slaps on the side of the bowl
Place in a container and cover well
Proof in refrigerator for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight

Make the Goo

In a saucepan over medium heat, melt together the butter and brown sugar. Remove from heat, let cool, and whisk in the honey, cream, and water. Set aside

Assemble, Bake & Serve

On a floured work surface, roll out the brioche dough into a rectangle that is approximately ¼" thick. Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and pecans and sprinkle evenly on the brioche. Roll up the brioche jelly roll-style and slice the roll into buns about 1" thick
Spread the goo on the bottom of a roasting pan and place buns evenly spaced in the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 2 to 3 hours in a warm place
Preheat oven to 350°
Place buns in the oven and bake until golden brown, about 35-45 minutes. Let cool for 30-40 minutes and then invert onto a serving platter and cover with remaining goo

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Comments (5)

Posted Thursday, May 9, 2013, at 1:57 pm by Rick:

These were so good that I bought her cookbook. The carrot cake is great too. Thanks Joanne.
Posted Sunday, September 4, 2011, at 9:20 am by cakepro:

This is an excellent recipe for sticky buns and Joanne is a marvelous person to share her recipe and expertise! The recipe was straightforward and very easy to follow. Beginners need not be intimidated! I made these sticky buns two ways: the first time, I followed her recipe exactly. I rolled the dough out to a 20" x 10" rectangle and cut 6 buns about 3" thick. After rising and baking, they completely filled a 9x13x3" pan and were enormous! Beautiful stuff! The goo tasted very light and like honey, so on my second batch, I made a basic caramel goo: 1 cup butter, 2 cups light brown sugar, 4 Tbsp corn syrup, and 1/2 cup of heavy cream stirred in after the mixture had gently boiled for a few minutes. I made the goo directly in my 9x13x3" aluminum cake pan over 1 stove burner - no need to dirty an extra pot. I also rolled the dough out thinner, to about a 22 x 15" rectangle, so I got more lovely spirals and I cut them about 2" thick. This produced 11 sticky buns that were more of a single serving rather than the larger buns that could feed a small family. For both batches, I also increased the cinnamon used in the sticky bun filling from 1/8 tsp to about 3 Tbsp so this made them taste more like cinnamon buns rather than sticky buns. MANY thanks to Joanne for sharing this recipe!
Posted Sunday, April 10, 2011, at 1:02 pm by rauscha:

Max - I didn't seem to have any trouble with the dough when I kept my kitchenaid on its lowest setting. If I started to turn up the speed though, it got unhappy. My dough also made 8 buns really well - and was totally delicious!
Posted Wednesday, March 16, 2011, at 2:57 pm by Max Hansen:

Not a great recipe at all. If you put all the ingredients into the mixing bowl as suggested you will have a very stiff dough, too stuff for my Kitchenaid mixer. Instead start with about 1/2 of the flour until you get a dough that resembles a dough. Add the butter and then slowly add the remaining flour 1/4 c at a time until you get a soft sticky dough. Allow to rise in the recipe. When rolling out this recipe, REMEMBER THAT IS MAKES JUST 6 BUNS!!!!. Do not roll it out more than 7 - 8 inches wide and very long. A small baking pan is required so the Goo fills the pan. Now it works so much better but more work needs to be done. When I make it again I will check back and let you know
Posted Monday, February 16, 2009, at 9:27 pm by Jessie Zubatkin:

I am in love with these buns. Big fan of the "goo."

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Sticky Buns