Apple Sticky Buns

Even if you're the kind of crazy person who doesn't like gooey caramelized carbohydrates, I think you pretty much have to like sticky buns for the name alone.

The Ingredients:

Dough:
3/4 c water
1/2 c almond milk
3 T vegetable oil
2 T sugar
2 1/2 t yeast
2 1/2 t salt
1 t cinnamon
2 3/4-3 3/4c flour

Filling:
3 T margarine
1 T cinnamon
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c pecans, very finely chopped

Topping:
1 1/2 apples, diced
8 T margarine
1 1/4 c brown sugar
1 t cinnamon
1 t vanilla

The Process:

1. Heat water and almond milk until very warm but not hot, about 110 degrees.  Combine with oil, sugar, and yeast in a mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, and let sit until yeast is foamy, about 10 minutes.
2. Add salt, cinnamon, and the lesser amount of flour, and knead for about 5 minutes with a stand mixer or about 10-12 minutes by hand, adding more flour as necessary to make dough workable but aiming to keep dough as soft as possible.
3. Form dough into a ball, place in an oiled mixing bowl, and cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap.  Let rise until doubled, which may take anywhere between 1 and 2 1/2 hours, depending on your yeast and how warm your house is.
4. While dough is rising, prepare filling and topping:
5. For filling, melt margarine and set aside.  Whisk together cinnamon, brown sugar, and pecans in a small bowl and set aside.
6. For topping, melt margarine in a saucepan over low heat.  Whisk in brown sugar and cinnamon and continue to cook, stirring, over low heat until mixture just begins to bubble.  Remove from heat, stir in vanilla, spread topping evenly in the bottom of a 9"x13" pan, and sprinkle the diced apple over it.
7. When dough is doubled, roll it out to form a rectangle about 12"x18".
8. Spread melted margarine on dough, then evenly sprinkle on cinnamon-sugar-pecan filling.  Starting at a long end, roll dough into a long log.
9. Cut the log crosswise into pieces about 1" wide.  Place these on top of the apples in the 9x13 pan.  Cover and let rise 20-30 minutes.  Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375°. 



rolls before rising

10. Bake until rolls are light-brown on top and cooked through, about 35-40 minutes, then invert onto a cookie sheet.  These are best eaten while still warm, but I doubt they'd garner any complaints at room temperature either.

buns before inverting

after inverting

NEXT WEEK IS MINT-CHOCOLATE WEEK ON BITE ME (I'M VEGAN)...SHOULD BE A CROWD-PLEASER.