Sarah Pillai’s Sticky Buns
“Growing up with four older brothers and a twin sister meant one major thing: girls do the baking! My twin Meg and I help our mom with all of the holiday cooking, and this one recipe (although with several steps) stands out particularly, as it brings our entire family together for breakfast on Christmas morning AND makes me feel like Martha Stewart.”

Notes:
This recipe is large enough to make a pan of sticky buns and dinner rolls (think, Christmas morning breakfast and sweet dinner rolls at night!)

What You’ll Need:
Bread:
1/2 cup warm water
2 pkgs. yeast
1 1/3 cups lukewarm milk
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup melted shortening (Crisco)
6-8 cups flour

Topping/Glaze:
1 16oz. Bag of pecans or walnuts
1/2 box of light or brown sugar
About 1 stick of butter for inside of rolls and greasing
1 pint of heavy cream
Cinnamon and sugar (probably a 1/2 cup of the mixed combo)

Directions:
1. Dissolve yeast in water for about 2 minutes. Then add milk, sugar, salt, eggs, and melted shortening – one at a time until fully incorporated. Add flour, one cup at a time until it forms a dough. Once its too stiff to stir, flip out on floured surface
2. Knead dough until smooth and using as much flour to keep it from being sticky (be careful not to add too much flour or it will be tough). Place dough in a greased bowl and let rise until double sized
3. Flip dough out on floured surface and knead in flour if needed. Using 1/2 of the dough, roll out into a large rectangle, then butter the entire surface and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar mixture.
4. Roll up dough into a long log, gently slice 1/2″ pieces – these are your rolls.
5. Grease large pan with butter. Layer nut in bottom of pan, then add on brown sugar, and press down into the pan. Pour heavy cream over brown sugar and nuts.–this is your topping/glaze
6. Line up rolls in the pan, cover with a clean dish towel
7. This now has to rest and rise again. You can either pop these in the fridge for
tomorrow morning to rise again then bake for breakfast, or let rise again now to
bake and eat!
8.Bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Let it rest for about 5-10 minutes to cool and congeal slightly, then flip upside down onto tinfoil lined baking sheet. Let cool for 1/2 a second and enjoy!

(For leftover dough, shape into triangle slices and roll up like crescent rolls – Or use in bread pans or muffin pans! Bake at 350 degrees for about 15-18 minutes. Best served hot!)