Madhouse recipe : Cinnamon Maple Sticky Buns

Having received some maple syrup to try out before Christmas, I've been desperate to try out this recipe that I'd spotted for Cinnamon Maple Sticky Buns. Well, today was the day and I was really pleased with how they came out - they look and taste fantastic.

 Cinnamon Maple Sticky Buns

Ingredients

450g flour

50g caster sugar

85g butter

7g sachet dried yeast

2 eggs, beaten

150ml milk

vegetable oil, for greasing

For the filling

2 tsp ground cinnamon

85g light brown sugar

100g pecans (which I replaced with 100g pumpkin seeds)

For the topping

75g melted butter, plus extra

100ml maple syrup

50g light brown sugar

100g pecans, roughly chopped

First put the flour, sugar and 1 tsp salt in a mixing bowl, then rub in the pieces of butter until the mix has the texture of breadcrumbs. Stir in the yeast and eggs, then the milk, and mix well until you get a soft dough (you may need to add a little more milk). Knead in a mixer with a dough hook for 7 mins or by hand for about 15 minutes until the dough is smooth, soft and springy. Tip it into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a clean tea towel, then leave to rise in a warm place for about 1 hr or until it has doubled in size.

Make the filling by putting the cinnamon, sugar and pecans in a food processor, then whizzing until the nuts are finely ground. I didn't have enough pecans so I used pumpkin seeds instead. (I also don't have a food processor so I used a stick blender in a bowl with a tea towel over the top to stop all the bits flying out !)

Split the dough in two and roll each piece to form a 25 x 35cm rectangle. Melt the butter for the topping and brush some over each rectangle.

Sprinkle half the filling mixture over each rectangle and use a rolling pin to press the filling firmly into the dough.

Tightly roll each rectangle up from one of the long ends to get a thick log, then pinch the ends together to seal and cut each log into 8 pieces. (At this point, it can be frozen for up to 1 month.)

Mix the maple syrup and sugar into the remaining butter, then pour this over the bottom of a deep baking tray, swirling it around so it is completely coated.

 Sprinkle with the pecans, after putting them in a bag and bashing them with a rolling pin..

Place the rolls on the tray, leaving a gap of at least 2cm around each roll. Keep in a warm place for about 30 minutes until they are lightly risen.

 Heat the oven to 180°C. Bake for 30 minutes until the buns are lightly browned and feel firm. Serve them warm, sticky-side-up (although they're still rather nice when they've gone cold !)

The maple syrup and pecans make them lovely and gooey underneath, and the spiral tops look very cool.

Other blogposts you may be interested in :

Madhouse Family Faves recipe : Spicy Prawns with Chorizo & Feta

Dead Easy Desserts : Liz's Malvern Pudding

Love Food Hate Waste? Get clever with your leftovers !