Christmas morning has me dreaming of sticky buns. You know those little balls of dough coated swimming in a brown sugar syrup. Yea, those. Wait, should we address those first of the fact that when I think of Christmas I think of food? ->HELP ME<- Those sticky buns were requested every year by my sister (not I, but I didn’t argue them). Yes, we still blame each other for the madness that happened in our childhood, but these sticky buns were something to remember.
The undercooked dough, with the chopped nuts and that sauce, oh that sticky sauce. It happened, every Christmas morning….until my nutrition knowledge emerged and I became that crazy family member who put a stop to said deliciousness –>INSERT TEARS<– Yes, I’m that person that everyone just loves. Who takes a wonderful tradition and kills it without a blink of an eye.
In desperate hope to win back my family, I obviously have been in desperate search of the perfect Christmas morning breakfast, judged by none-other than my sister. My beautiful, honest…. no painfully honest, lovely sister. The requirements were sticky, sweet, carb-like (did I mention she is a carb-aholic?), warm and comforting. Easy enough right? ->INSERT SARCASM<-
So it all started with the sauce because that could be the most important part of the recipe, so why not start there. While I love sticky buns, I also loved those warm, overly processed, orange glazed cinnamon rolls sold in a can. You know the ones? Yes, that orange glaze is all I have been dreaming about for Christmas so we combined the two. Orange glazed + sticky buns = the perfect Christmas morning.
The sauce is simply caramelized orange juice in butter and sweetened with honey, plus the addition of the chopped nuts. The smell, the taste…droooooool. Pour that on the chewy, soft dough rolled with a spiced butter glaze and you have yourself the makings of a new family favorite. They are even picky, brutally honest, sister approved. ->DOUBLE WIN<-
The deal with these sticky buns is that the dough is sticky. Like literally, hard to roll, be patient, don’t give up, sticky. The trick of the trade is to place a piece of parchment paper on the counter, sprinkle with coconut flour or tapioca, plop the dough on, sprinkle the top of the dough with a little of the flour, put another piece of parchment paper on top and roll with a rolling-pin to 1/2 inch thick. Do not roll too thin or it will be nearly impossible to roll the dough up as you would cinnamon rolls.
Once the dough is thin, pour the spiced butter sauce on, spread to cover and begin rolling. To roll pull up on the parchment paper (using gravity as your friend) as you slowly help the dough roll onto of itself with a spatula. Once in a log, cut and place in a pan and cover with the sauce. Bake and smell the magic happening inside your oven.
Once done, you could top with a little more glaze (as requested by my sister) or just dig in…..Orange, sticky, chewy….speechless!
Am I the perfect sister, slaving away over the hot stove so she could have her sticky buns on Christmas morning? Sis, I’ll e-mail you my very lengthy Christmas list so you can repay me. ->WINK<- Merry (early) Christmas!
NOTE: You could make the sticky buns the night before and make or pour the glaze on the morning of right before baking.
- 1 cup tapioca flour
- ¼ cup + 2 Tbsp coconut flour
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 2 Tbsp coconut sugar
- ½ cup milk (of choice)
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- 1 Tbsp orange zest (from ½ orange)
- 4 Tbsp butter
- 1 Tbsp orange zest (from ½ orange)
- 2 Tbsp orange juice
- 1 cup pecans
- ¼ cup honey
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Make the dough.
- Mix together the tapioca flour, coconut flour, soda and salt.
- In a separate bowl mix the eggs, coconut sugar and milk.
- Add wet ingredients to dry and mix well. Let sit for 5 minutes to thicken.
- Meanwhile mix filling together.
- Place parchment paper on the counter and sprinkle with flour.
- Place another piece of parchment paper on top and roll with a rolling pin until ½ inch thick.
- Remove top piece or parchment paper and spread with filling.
- Begin rolling by pulling up on the parchment paper and using a spatula to roll dough. Continue until in a log.
- Cut into 8-10 rolls and place in a pan with a gap between each one,
- In a small saucepan over low-medium heat add butter, honey, orange zest and orange juice.
- Bring to a simmer and let simmer until slightly reduced and beginning to caramelize.
- Add nuts, stir and pour over rolls.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes.
- Make additional sauce to pour over at the end (optional).
- **I made a double batch in the picture.
