Homemade Sticky Buns!

If you are a frequent reader of my blog, you know how much I LOVE Barefoot Contessa's recipes. I can honestly say there have only been one or two that I didn't love, and that's out of maybe a hundred I've tried. As soon as I saw her make these sticky buns on her show, I knew this was going to be a good one. What else is nice about this recipe is how easy it is. I bet you have most of the ingredients already in your kitchen and there's not a lot of advance preparation.

A couple of notes about the sticky buns: they are great for company, because they look fancy when in fact they are easy to assemble (you don't even have to roll the dough). I will say I was not a huge fan of the leftovers, but I am thinking now maybe they would taste fresher after a few seconds in the microwave. Feel free to try and let me know.

I hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

Easy Sticky Buns
From Ina Garten and the Food Network

Ingredients

* 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
* 1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
* 1/2 cup pecans, chopped in very large pieces
* 1 package (17.3-ounces/ 2-sheets) frozen puff pastry, defrosted

For the filling:

* 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
* 2/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
* 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 1 cup raisins

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place a 12-cup standard muffin tin on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the 12 tablespoons butter and 1/3 cup brown sugar. Place 1 rounded tablespoon of the mixture in each of the 12 muffin cups. Distribute the pecans evenly among the 12 muffin cups on top of the butter and sugar mixture.

Lightly flour a wooden board or stone surface. Unfold 1 sheet of puff pastry with the folds going left to right. Brush the whole sheet with the melted butter. Leaving a 1-inch border on the puff pastry, sprinkle each sheet with 1/3 cup of the brown sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons of the cinnamon, and 1/2 cup of the raisins. Starting with the end nearest you, roll the pastry up snugly like a jelly roll around the filling, finishing the roll with the seam side down. Trim the ends of the roll about 1/2-inch and discard. Slice the roll in 6 equal pieces, each about 1 1/2 inches wide. Place each piece, spiral side up, in 6 of the muffin cups. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry to make 12 sticky buns.

Bake for 30 minutes, until the sticky buns are golden to dark brown on top and firm to the touch. Be careful - they're hot! Allow to cool for 5 minutes only, invert the buns onto the parchment paper (ease the filling and pecans out onto the buns with a spoon) and cool completely.