Easy Sticky Buns

Barefoot bloggers time again! This time, the recipe was chosen by Melissa of Made by Melissa, and it is a keeper! This recipe will stay in my file of easy, decadent breakfasts. I can actually keep all of the ingredients on hand at all times, and whip these up in less than a half hour from start to finish. The original recipe called for a little more butter and raisins, but I did a little altering to suit our tastes (Phillip isn't a big raisin fan, and we're still trying to watch our waistlines). I'm going to take these into school in the morning (I've been getting some complaints about my lack of food sharing recently), but I snuck one before bed, and they were scrumptious!

Ingredients

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1 package (17.3 ounces/2 sheets) frozen puff pastry, defrosted

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Filling:

2/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place a 12-cup standard muffin tin on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the 1 stick of butter and 1/3 cup brown sugar. Evenly distribute the mixture into each of the 12 muffin cups. Distribute the pecans evenly among the 12 muffin cups on top of the butter and sugar mixture.

Lightly flour a wooden board or stone surface. Unfold one sheet of puff pastry with the folds going left to right. Brush the whole sheet with half of the melted butter. Leaving a 1-inch border on the puff pastry, sprinkle each sheet with 1/3 cup of the brown sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons of the cinnamon, and 1/4 cup of the pecans. 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.Trim the ends of the roll about 1/2 inch and discard. Slice the roll in 6 equal pieces, each about 1 1/2 inches wide. Place each piece, spiral side up, in 6 of the muffin cups. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry to make 12 sticky buns.

Bake for 17 minutes, until the sticky buns are golden to dark brown on top and firm to the touch. Allow to cool for 5 minutes only, invert the buns onto the parchment paper (ease the filling and pecans out onto the buns with a spoon), and cool completely.

Adapted from: Ina Garten, Back to Basics, page 240