These caramel pecan sticky buns are so soft and fluffy, and absolutely dripping in a maple caramel sauce that is out of this world! They’re easy to make ahead of time, and the perfect decadent breakfast/brunch treat!
This is one of my Breakfast recipes I know you’ll want to keep on hand!
Is there anything better than sinking your teeth into a warm, gooey cinnamon roll? YES! Sinking your teeth into a warm, gooey, sticky bun!!
Sticky buns are like cinnamon rolls more delicious cousin… full of that amazingly buttery cinnamon sugar, but topped with homemade maple caramel and toasted pecans!
This recipe is a little more involved than my usual recipes, but I promise two things. First, you can absolutely do this… even if you’ve never worked with yeast before. And secondly, it will be SO worth the extra effort.
I promise these sticky buns are a breakfast or brunch that your whole family will absolutely love waking up for!
This recipe is not new to the website, it’s been posted for several years… but I thought it could use some better photos, as well as some additional information and clearer instructions.
If you’re a fan of the recipe, don’t worry, nothing about the actual recipe has changed!
How to make sticky buns?
This is just an overview; the full ingredients and directions are in the recipe card toward the bottom of this post.
- Warm the milk and bloom yeast. This activates the yeast, and makes sure it’s good to use.
- Add butter, eggs and salt.
- Add flour. Add flour in 1 cup increments, mixing after each addition.
- Knead dough. Increase mixer speed to medium and mix/knead about 5 minutes, until dough is soft and tacky, but not sticky.
- Turn out dough and form into ball. Transfer ball to greased mixing bowl.
- First rise. Let dough rise for about 2 hours, or until doubled in size.
- Turn out dough and roll into rectangle. Your rectangle should be approximately 12×18″.
- Dot or spread softened butter on dough. I prefer to spread the butter.
- Sprinkle dough with cinnamon and sugars.
- Roll dough up into a log shape, rolling up the long side of the rectangle.
- Slice into rolls. Set aside while you make the caramel.
- Make caramel. Then add to the bottom of a greased baking dish.
- Add pecans and rolls. Just lay them right on top.
- Let rolls rise for 1-2 hours, until puffy and larger.
- Bake in preheated 375°F oven for about 25 minutes.
- Invert. Just like making a pineapple upside down cake, all that gooey goodness is on the bottom of the baking dish, so carefully flip it over.
Helpful Tip!
Make sure to let the sticky buns rest after baking before you try to invert the pan. Just 5-10 minutes is all it takes, but if you don’t let it rest, the caramel will be too runny and you won’t have much left on top after you flip them. Plus, you could very easily burn yourself.
Variations of this recipe
- Overnight – this recipe is very easily adapted to an overnight recipe! See the “make ahead” section below for all the details.
- Filling options – if you’d like to really double up on the caramel, try adding a generous drizzle to the top of the dough before you roll it up. You could also try some mini chocolate chips or extra pecans as well.
- Other nuts – pecans aren’t your thing? You can use peanuts, almonds, or walnuts if you’d like. Not traditional, but delicious!
- Apple – adding some apple pie filling to the dough before it’s rolled up gives these sticky buns a caramel apple flavor.
- Bacon – helllllllo sweet and savory! Adding some chopped cooked bacon pieces to both the filling and the topping is so delicious.
- Rum – I have plans to develop a fantastic rum butter cinnamon roll recipe, but a great alternative would be to substitute the maple syrup in the caramel for rum (or if you don’t want too strong of a flavor, do part rum, part water).
FAQ’s
The main difference here is in the topping. Both sweet rolls are filled with a butter, brown sugar and cinnamon filling, but cinnamon rolls are generally topped with a cream cheese or vanilla icing glaze. Sticky buns are traditionally topped with caramel and pecans or other nuts.
Also, with cinnamon rolls, the topping is added after the rolls have been baked. With sticky buns, the topping is added to the bottom of the baking dish, then the rolls are baked on top of that. You invert the pan after baking to give them that glorious topping.
From my research, it appears they originated in the US in Pennsylvania (some sources specifically say in the city of Philadelphia). The German and Dutch settlers brought the recipe when they settled there.
Making sticky buns ahead of time
This recipe, along with most other sweet roll recipes, can be adapted to be made ahead of time. You may have seen this called “overnight” sweet rolls.
Making the dough and slicing them into rolls is great because this lets the dough rise slowly, which not only gives you more time, it lets the flavors of the dough develop a bit more.
You’ll make the caramel pecan topping and add it to a baking dish, then add the sliced rolls on top of the pecans. Cover the dish well, you don’t want dried out rolls, then refrigerate for 8-18 hours.
The morning you want to bake the sticky buns, remove the baking dish from the refrigerator and let it sit in a warm spot for 1-2 hours, until puffy.
Once the sticky buns have risen, preheat the oven to 375°F, then bake as directed.
Freezing
I haven’t tested freezing them unbaked, but baked sticky buns can be frozen for 2-3 months. Make sure to wrap them tightly with foil and place in an airtight container for freezing.
Thaw them overnight in the refrigerator, then warm them up and enjoy!
Storage
Leftover sticky buns should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
You can refrigerate them to make them last another couple of days, but that can dry them out. So use your best judgement when it comes to storing.
Tips for working with yeast!
If you’ve never worked with yeast before, it can be a little intimidating. But I promise it’s not quite as difficult as it may seem, and you CAN do this!
- No stand mixer – you don’t have to use one, so don’t be discouraged if you don’t own one. You just use a bowl and wooden spoon, but you’ll have to knead by hand until the dough comes together.
- Proof your yeast – after sitting with the warm milk, the yeast should be frothy and foamy looking. Sometimes yeast can be older than we think, and it just won’t activate and work. Proofing means you don’t have to make the whole dough before finding out the yeast was dead! If it doesn’t foam up, then that yeast is likely dead and won’t work for this recipe. Start the recipe over with a new batch of yeast.
- Make your own warm spot for the dough – most people, myself included, don’t know where a naturally warm spot is in their kitchen… or maybe it’s the dead of winter and there’s no warmth anywhere. No worries! Preheat your oven to 200°F and let it preheat for about 3-4 minutes. Then turn your oven OFF, don’t let it get all the way to 200°F. Place the bowl of dough in the oven to rise. Alternately, you can turn on the light in your cold oven and add the bowl of dough to the oven with the door shut.
- Easy slicing – Slicing the sticky bun dough into wheels can be tricky. Use a very sharp serrated knife, or some unflavored dental floss (seriously, make sure it’s unflavored – no one wants spearmint flavored rolls!). Slide the floss underneath the log, bring both sides up, cross them over each other, and pull tight. Easy slices
- Not picture perfect – don’t worry if your sticky buns aren’t absolutely perfect in shape. Odds are, they won’t be… mine never are anyway! Homemade treats are supposed to be a bit rustic, and once people take a bite, they won’t care what they look like… trust me!
- Just breathe – first things first, take a deep breath. If you’ve never worked with yeast before, you can still make these. Working with yeast isn’t as difficult as it’s made out to be… it just takes some time. You have to have a little patience.
More Sweet Breakfast Recipes:
My Favorite Yeast!
Of course you can use any yeast you’d like, or feel comfortable using, but this is my all-time favorite yeast… and the kind I use for all my recipe development and testing.
Be sure to scroll down to check out other readers’ comments for tips and reviews.
And don’t forget, if you’ve made this recipe, leave a comment and please consider giving it a star rating letting me know how you enjoyed it 🙂
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @the_chunky_chef on Facebook and Instagram!
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 Tbsp active dry or instant yeast (about 2 standard packets)
- 1/2 cup butter, softened to room temperature and cut into bite sized pieces
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Filling
- 1/3 – 1/2 cup butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Topping
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup maple syrup (the real stuff!)
- 3 Tbsp heavy cream
- 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans (I like a mixture of chopped and pieces)
Instructions
Prepare
- Lightly grease a large mixing bowl with a drizzle of vegetable oil and set aside.
Make the dough
- In a small saucepan, heat milk over MED heat until warmed. Pour warm milk into the bowl of a stand mixer and stir in the granulated sugar and yeast. Let mixture sit about 5 to 10 minutes. Yeast mixture should be foamy looking and smell “yeasty”. This step to to activate the yeast and make sure it’s still good. If mixture doesn’t look foamy, discard and start over with new yeast.
- Fit the stand mixer with the dough hook attachment and add butter, eggs and salt, then mix on LOW speed until combined. Gradually add in the flour, in about 1 cup increments. When all the flour has been added, increase mixer speed to about MED, and mix about 5 minutes, or until a soft dough forms.
- Dough should be soft and smooth, slightly tacky but not sticky. If dough is too sticky, add extra flour, 1 Tbsp at a time, and mix until it’s soft and smooth. If dough is too stiff, add some water, about 1/4 tsp, and mix until dough is soft.
Knead the dough
- Lightly flour your counter or other flat surface and transfer dough onto it. Dust your hands with flour and knead by hand about a minute or so, or until the dough comes together. Form the dough into a ball and transfer to prepared mixing bowl.
First rise
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap, loosely, and a clean kitchen towel. Place in a warm spot for about 2 hours, or until doubled in size.
Roll dough
- Once dough has doubled in size, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a rectangle, roughly 12×18 inches in size. Use the rolling pin to make sure the dough is an even thickness.
Make the filling
- In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.
- Spread dough rectangle with softened butter, then top with brown sugar and cinnamon mixture. Gently use your fingers to pat the sugar/cinnamon mixture to help it stay in place during the rolling process.
- Starting with one of the longer sides of the rectangle, roll up tightly into a log shape. I find starting to roll one side, rolling away from you once, then moving down the line a bit and doing the same thing, repeating until you’re all the way across gives you the most even rolling method.
- Once you have an 18 inch long log, carefully slice the log in 12 evenly sized rolls.
Make the caramel pecan topping
- In a small saucepan, heat butter, brown sugar, maple syrup and vanilla over MED heat until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and whisk in cream.
- Butter or grease a 9×13 inch baking dish. Pour caramel sauce into bottom of baking dish, lifting and tilting dish to make sure caramel is evenly coating the bottom. Sprinkle pecans evenly over the top of the caramel.
Second rise
- Arrange rolls on top of the caramel and pecans, cut side up, then cover tightly with foil and let rise again for about 45 minutes – 1 hour, or until larger and puffy.
Bake
- While the second rise is happening, preheat the oven to 375°F degrees, and once fully heated, bake sticky buns about 25 minutes. If you find the tops of the rolls are getting TOO golden brown, cover loosely with foil during the second half of baking.
Cool and invert
- Remove pan from oven and let cool 5-10 minutes, then place a large serving tray or sheet pan over the top of the baking dish.
- Very carefully, and using oven safe gloves/mitts, hold onto both the tray and the dish and flip them both over together to invert the rolls. Lift up the baking dish and set aside.
- Serve rolls warm, with additional caramel sauce if desired.
Want to save this recipe for later? Click the heart in the bottom right corner to save to your own recipe box!
Chef Tips
No stand mixer:
- If you have one, by all means use it! But you don’t have to use one, so don’t be discouraged if you don’t own one. You just use a bowl and wooden spoon, but you’ll have to knead by hand until the dough comes together.
Check your yeast:
- After sitting with the warm milk, the yeast should be frothy and foamy looking. If it doesn’t, then that yeast is likely dead and won’t work for this recipe. Start over with a new batch of yeast.
Make your own warm spot for the dough:
Most people, myself included, don’t necessarily know where a naturally warm spot is in their kitchen… or maybe it’s the dead of winter and there’s no warmth anywhere. No worries!- Preheat your oven to 200°F and let it preheat for about 3-4 minutes. Then turn your oven OFF, don’t let it get all the way to 200°F.
- Place the bowl of dough in the oven to rise.
- Alternately, you can turn on the light in your cold oven and add the bowl of dough to the oven with the door shut.
Easy slicing:
- Slicing the cinnamon roll dough into wheels can be tricky. Use a very sharp serrated knife, or some unflavored dental floss (seriously, make sure it’s unflavored – no one wants spearmint flavored rolls!).
- Slide the floss underneath the log, bring both sides up, cross them over each other, and pull tight. Easy slices!
To make overnight sticky buns:
- Complete steps up to the second rise (but don’t do the second rise). Place the rolls on the caramel/pecans in the baking dish, cover tightly with foil, and refrigerate 8-18 hours.
- Remove baking dish from refrigerator and let rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours, then uncover and bake as directed.
Nutrition Disclaimer
The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
marilu says
Hi Amanda. Wanting to make these pecan caramel rolls they sound wonderful. What is your thinking on slicing them thinner and placing in a jelly roll pan?? I like the thin Ooey-gooey. Anxious to hear your reply. Thank you
Amanda says
Hi Marilu 🙂 I’ve only made this recipe as written, so I can’t say with any certainty how that would work out. My guess would be that it would work just fine, but the bake time may need to be altered a bit.
Dena A. says
Thank you for sharing this recipe. I have tried other recipes but this is my fave!
Lindi C Bay says
EXCELLENT! I have been looking for a recipe my mom made when I was growing up. We lost the recipe in a flood. This is real close and everyone one in the family was Over The Moon with the results! Thank you for sharing!
Carole Mason says
I’m in a ‘shoebox’ studio flat and have more alone time now with
grandchildren nearing adulthood.
I’m Gluten Free (have been for years;) but I previously baked for kiddos and parents. Not so, any longer.
I am interested more so now, in experimenting with baking Gluten Free.
No where can I find a fresh baked loaf of semi-crusty bread; for people who don’t eat wheat products.
If you’ve tried or know some great recipe experiences, perhaps you might share them.
Brittany says
I made this (first time truly baking) for my family. Considering I forgot to add the heavy cream to my topping, they turned out AMAZING!! And Huge!!! I did use a glass dish to bake and liked that tip since it allowed me to peak while baking. It has been requested I make these more often so I’ll try to remember the heavy cream.
Nancy says
The caramel topping is great. But I tried the recipe twice and it never got cooked through, even with an extra 15 minutes it was still doughy and not appealing. I think the ratios on your recipe may be off a bit.
The Chunky Chef says
Hmmm, I’ve never had that happen before! I assure you the recipe is correct, I’ve made it dozens of times. The only thing I can think of is did you use the indicated baking pan size? Have you ever checked your oven to make sure the temperature is correct? I know mine was off by nearly 50° a few years ago!
Mark says
Only issue is the caramel sauce is extremely grainy which adds an undesirable texture to an otherwise good recipe. I would use another sauce recipe that dissolves all the sugar and comes out smooth.
The Chunky Chef says
Oh no, grainy caramel is no good! It sounds like the sauce should have been simmered a bit longer to give it all a chance to dissolve 🙂
Bobbe says
Keeping this recipe! I made the dough in my bread machine and used your filling and topping. Sooooo good.
Kate says
I have everything but the heavy cream— can I substitute whole milk or does it have to be cream?! Thanks!
The Chunky Chef says
I’ve only tested this recipe as written, but I think milk would work well 🙂
Elena Buttari says
I made these once so far and they were an absolute hit!!! Thank you for the recipe.
I’d like to make 3 times the amount. I have a big crowd to feed. Do you recommend tripling the dough and then dividing it into 3 batches of should I make it separately over 3 times? I’m always cautious when it comes to amending baking recipes. Thank you !
The Chunky Chef says
So happy you love them! I’ve never tested making that big of a batch before, and can’t say for certain, so I’d probably error on the side of caution and make 3 separate batches.
Yvonne Murphy says
How do you prevent them from burning on the bottom.
The Chunky Chef says
I’ve never had them burn, so I’ve not tested this, but you could try adding parchment in the baking pan first?
jennifer Williams says
I made this last week and these were absolute heaven. I put a some orange zest in the filling and it tasted great. I followed the recipe and had no problems 🙂 This recipe is a keeper!!
Jennifer says
Thank you for the recipe! I just put these on the oven to rise the second time, but the dough was so loose it was very difficult to roll, slice, and get them in the baking dish. Should it be that loose or did I maybe do something wrong 3 hours ago? Crossing my fingers they’ll still be edible. Ha! I’m eating them no matter what! 🤣
The Chunky Chef says
It should be slightly sticky, and unfortunately things as simple as humidity in the air can effect the amount of flour needed. Next time I would try adding 2 additional tablespoons of flour at a time until the dough is slightly sticky.
Allyson Zea says
Seriously licking my computer screen right now! Can you same day deliver some of these to me like now? They look so amazing I can’t wait to try them!
Anna says
Swooning over these gooey, caramel loaded buns! Amazing!
Jamielyn says
These look absolutely INCREDIBLE! Need to try soon…my mouth is watering!
Lora says
I want to have a tray of these rolls ready for Christmas morning!!
Lexi says
Is there any way I could omit the maple syrup?
The Chunky Chef says
Yes, you could omit it, you might want to add a bit of water to replace it though.
Dee says
Mmm, so gooey and delicious! These look absolutely fantastic
Jacque Hastert says
These has my mouth watering! I would love this for breakfast, dessert, or snack time.
Meghan says
Holy WOW these sticky buns look BOMB. I wish I had one right now!