Pecan Caramel Sticky Rolls

Most of you know already that I make my own bread every week. The great thing about my bread recipe is that it's so versatile and I love making many different things with it. One of my favorites is to split some off and make cinnamon rolls, or the ultimate: Sticky Rolls.

Sticky rolls are created by creating a "smear" of butter, cinnamon and sugar that's placed on the bottom of the pan before the rolls go in. Then as they cook, the sugar is melted into a wonderful caramel sauce that cooks into the bottom of the rolls. After you bake them you flip the pan upside down so that the caramel ends up on top and runs down over the rolls. Sound amazing? Yeah, they are.
Typically I'll sprinkle pecans in the smear as well as chop them up throughout the roll, but from now on I've got an even better idea! Artisana sent me some of their nut butters and one of them was a Pecan butter. I decided to spread this on the inside of the roll with some cinnamon and sugar before rolling it up. The great thing was that it spread the pecan flavor all throughout the roll which made it even more amazing than usual.

To create these amazing rolls, you're going to start off by creating my basic white bread. After the first rise, punch it down, let it rest for 5 minutes and split it in half. You can create two batches of sticky rolls or use the other half to create two loaves of bread.

To create the smear, combine 3/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature with 1 cup packed brown sugar and 1 tablespoon cinnamon. Mix thoroughly and spread across the bottom of a greased 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle with a few large pecans if desired.

Roll out one half into a large rectangle about 1/2 inch thick. Spread the Pecan butter liberally across the whole surface. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar over the top of the pecan butter.

Starting from the long end, roll it tightly into a long log. Cut the log into 1 1/-2 to 2 inch slices.
Place the slices in the bottom of the pan over the top of the smear. Cover loosely and let rise in a warm spot until they are about doubled in size, 30-40 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake the rolls 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Let the rolls cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Then, carefully invert the pan onto a large serving tray. Let them cool slightly and serve.

I've also got an opportunity for you to win some of these great Artisana Nut Butters for yourself. I absolutely loved the single serve squeeze packets. They are so easy to use and I keep them in my desk for a quick snack. I also used some of the Coconut butter to make these awesome Coconut and Lemon Curd cupcakes! The Pecan Butter is organic and made with raw Pecans and Cashews and you're going to have a hard time not just eating it out of the jar before you can use it in this recipe.

The whole Virtual Potluck team is using Artisana nut butters this week so be sure to go check them all out for some other great recipes!

Giveaway Rules and How to Enter (leave a separate comment for each action!)


• Visit the Artisana website and tell me the nut butter you'd love to try!
• Tweet the following message: Join #nutbutterlove by entering to win nut butters from Artisana and @VirtualPotluck! Enter to win:


The comments are the official entry, there is no purchase necessary, void where prohibited. US mailing addresses only. One (1) winner will be chosen randomly. Prize will be shipped by Artisana. The contest ends Sunday, May 6th, 2012 at 11:59 pm Eastern time. The winner will be announced on Monday, May 7th via email and will have 24 hours to respond before a new winner is chosen.




Disclaimer: I received bottles of nut butters and squeeze packs from Artisana but no other compensation. All opinions are my own.