Apple Cranberry and Pecan Sticky Buns

Apple Cranberry and Pecan Sticky Buns

It's another month of Pass the Cook Book Club and I am very excited about the cookbook chosen for this month! Three recipes were chosen from Sunny Anderson's Sunny's Kitchen: Easy Food for Real Life. I am a big fan of Sunny Anderson. I love her name, and she seems like someone you just want to hang out with!

Sunny's cooking focuses on home cooked meals that are easy and non-intimidating for anyone to prepare. The recipe that I chose to make from Sunny's book exemplifies her focus on making easy meals... sticky buns! How intimidating do sticky buns sound, right?!? Sunny has an amazing idea to use puff pastry instead of making your own dough. You literally thaw out the puff pastry, roll it out a little bit, slather it with goodie, roll it, slice it, and bake it! I'm not very good at rolling cinnamon rolls so I was unsure of how these would come out because my filling was literally falling out (that's how bad I am!), but these rolls were very forgiving! They looked beautiful and smelled delicious!

I chose to use dried cranberries instead of golden raisins because I had the cranberries on hand and I'm not the biggest fan of raisins. I think the use of cranberries was a great decision because it complemented the apples and pecans beautifully!

Also, don't leave out or get freaked out by the cardamom in the recipe! The cardamom flavor is very mild and adds a little bit of a floral flavor to the dish. I think the cardamom actually makes the recipe! I'm wondering how well these flavors would transfer into an apple pie dish?? Gonna have to give that a try one of these days.

If you're interested in learning more about the Pass the Cook Book Club, click the link or the banner below! I'm already looking forward to next month!

Apple Cranberry and Pecan Sticky Buns

slightly adapted from Sunny Anderson's Sunny's Kitchen: Easy Food for Real Life

For the Pan & Pastry:

5 Tbs. unsalted butter, softened

Kosher Salt

2 frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed

For the Filling:

3/4 c. light brown sugar, packed

3/4 c. pecans, chopped

1 Fuji apple, peeled, cored and chopped

1/2 c. dried cranberries

Grated zest of 1 lemon

Grated zest of 1 orange

1 Tbs. pumpkin pie spice

1/4 tsp. ground cardamom

Kosher Salt

For the Glaze:

3 Tbs. unsalted butter

1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

3 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

3 Tbs. orange juice

1 1/2 cups to 2 1/4 c. confectioners' sugar

Kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Grease the sides and bottom of a round 9-inch cake pan with 1 tablespoon of softened butter. Line the bottom with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large bowl, add the brown sugar, pecans, diced apple, dried cranberries, lemon zest, orange zest, pumpkin pie spice, cardamom and a pinch of salt. Mix well. Set aside and get ready to prepare the pastry.

Melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter with a pinch of salt.

Using a rolling pin, roll out the puff pastry and brush with the butter on all but a 1-inch border along one long edge. Repeat with the next puff pastry sheet. 

Sprinkle the filling evenly over the pastry sheets, making sure to leave the unbuttered edge of each sheet free of any filling. Starting from the long buttered edge, begin rolling the pastry tightly. Tuck and press as you go – but make sure to keep everything as even as possible. When you reach the unbuttered edge, roll the pastry onto itself and pinch to seal. Repeat the process with the second puff pastry sheet.

Trim the edges and cut 6 equal slices from each log with a long serrated knife. Place the spiral side up of each slice in the prepared cake pan. It's okay if the edges touch but it's better to work from outside in and do the center at the end.

Bake until the pastry is golden brown, about 35 to 40 minutes.

While the pastry is baking, make the glaze. In a small pot over low heat, melt the butter. Add the vanilla, lemon juice and orange juice. Whisk in the confectioners' sugar using 1/4 cup measurements until the glaze thickens. Season with a tiny pinch of salt (if needed) and remove from the heat.

When the sticky buns are done, remove them from the oven and drizzle this glaze over the top.