Baked in a luscious toffee bath that’s loaded with toasted pecans, these sticky buns are incredibly soft, fluffy, and infused with the autumn sweetness of pumpkin!
Today’s recipe is brought to you by the letters O.M.G.
That’s literally the first thing that came out of my mom’s mouth after trying one of these BEYOND heavenly Pumpkin Pecan Sticky Buns. And I gotta say, she’s definitely right about these being THE BEST. Not to pat myself on the back or anything…
Why You’ll Love These Pumpkin Pecan Sticky Buns
Extra Soft and Fluffy Buns: The dough itself is soft, slightly chewy, and extra fluffy. It’s truly like sinking your teeth into a cloud. Each bun is swirled with a buttery brown sugary filling, ensuring that every bite is loaded with flavor.
Sticky Toffee Pecan Sauce: Guys. This stuff HAS to be lethal. It’s lusciously thick, buttery, ooey gooey, and sticky in the best way possible. It’s also absolutely LOADED with toasted pecans, making it nearly impossible NOT to lick every bit of it off the plate.
A Fall Version of a Favorite: These sticky buns are infused with the fall sweetness of pumpkin. Not only does the pumpkin give these buns a gorgeously golden color, but it also keeps them extra soft and moist.
Tips For Making the BEST Pumpkin Pecan Sticky Buns
Add Sour Cream for Softness: Sour cream makes the buns exceptionally soft, moist, and tender. The fat in sour cream enriches the dough, while its acidity tenderizes the gluten, resulting in a softer, more melt-in-your-mouth bite.
Toast the Pecans First: To enhance the flavor of the pecans, I like to toast them BEFORE adding them to the toffee sauce. Toasting the pecans for just 8-10 minutes in the oven allows their natural oils to release, which deepens their flavor and creates a crisper crunch.
Chop SOME of the Pecans: I love the look and texture of whole pecans on my sticky buns. However, chopped pecans help to fill in any small gaps. That’s why I like to chop 1/2 cup of the toasted pecans before tossing them into the toffee sauce.
Cook Toffee Sauce Properly: Toffee sauce is pretty simple to make, but it’s important to cook it long enough to achieve the right texture. Once the mixture comes to a boil, there’s no need to stir it. Keep cooking it on medium heat, and monitor the temperature with a digital-read thermometer. When it reaches 228ºF (thread stage), remove the toffee sauce from the heat and stir in the rest of the ingredients. If you don’t have a thermometer, try the cold water test. Drop a small spoonful of the boiling toffee sauce into a glass of ice-cold water. If it forms thin, loose threads in the water that don’t hold their shape when lifted out, it’s done.
Add Pumpkin Spice to EVERYthing: Pumpkin pie spice not only contains cinnamon, but it also contains ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves. Together, this combo brings out pumpkin’s natural sweetness and also adds a wonderful warmth and depth. That’s why I added it to the dough, the brown sugar filling, AND the toffee sauce. This cozy spice really helps to round out the flavors, and puts the flavor of the pumpkin front and center.
Proof Overnight: When it comes to cinnamon rolls and sticky buns, I prefer to make them the night before, and bake them the next morning. This not only allows me to have my beauty rest, but doing a slow, cold overnight-rise in the refrigerator gives the yeast more time to develop a deeper flavor and results in softer, more tender dough.
Tent with Foil Halfway Through Baking: To prevent the rolls from getting too brown, I like to place a sheet of aluminum foil over the rolls after they’ve been baking in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Once they look nice and golden, lightly tent a sheet of foil over the rolls, and continue baking for another 10-15 minutes. There’s no need to wrap the foil around the baking dish. You just want to “shield” the rolls from the heating element, so that they continue baking without darkening on top.
Flip At 10 Minutes: I found that 10 minutes was the perfect amount of time to wait before flipping the sticky buns out onto a platter. If you do it too soon, the toffee sauce will still be quite runny, creating a pool of sauce all over the platter. If you wait too long, the toffee sauce will harden, making it difficult for the buns to release from the bottom of the pan.
What nut can I use instead of pecans?
Walnuts are a great alternative since they have a similar texture to pecans and their slightly bitter crunch contrasts well with the rich toffee sauce.
How should I store the sticky buns?
Sticky buns can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. If stored in the refrigerator, they’ll last for up to a week. To reheat, just warm them in the microwave for 40-60 seconds. You can also place them in the oven at 325ºF for 4-10 minutes covered with foil.
Pumpkin Pecan Sticky Buns
Ingredients
Dough:
- 2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast (one 1/4 ounce packet)
- ¼ cup warm water*
- ⅓ cup + 1 teaspoon granulated sugar, divided
- ⅔ cup pumpkin purée
- ¼ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup milk
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 - 3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour**
Toffee Sauce:
- ½ cup butter
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 Tablespoon honey
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups toasted pecans
Cinnamon Brown Sugar Filling:
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
Make the Dough:
- In a glass measuring cup, combine the yeast, water*, and 1 teaspoon of sugar; set aside to foam for about 5 minutes. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the pumpkin purée, 1/3 cup of sugar, sour cream, milk, melted butter, egg, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.
- Switch to the dough hook, and add the yeast mixture and 3 cups of the flour. Mix the dough on low and allow it to knead for about 6-7 minutes. If dough is still too soft, add more flour, 1 Tablespoon at a time, until dough just cleans the bowl, but is very soft. It should still stick to the bottom of the bowl.
- Coat a large bowl with cooking spray and place dough in bowl. Seal tightly with plastic wrap. Place bowl in a warm place and allow dough to rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
- In the meantime, make the toffee sauce. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the brown sugar and honey, stirring until incorporated.
- Whisk in the heavy cream, and continue to cook without stirring until mixture reaches 228ºF. Remove from the heat, then stir in vanilla, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Allow to cool slightly.
- Chop 1/2 cup of the toasted pecans, then stir into the toffee sauce along with the rest of the whole toasted pecans. Pour mixture into a greased 9x13-inch baking dish, spreading it evenly; set aside.
- Make the cinnamon brown sugar filling by combining the butter, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon together in a bowl.
- After dough has doubled in size, punch it down. Turn dough out onto a floured Silpat or floured countertop. With a rolling pin, roll it out to an 18x15-inch rectangle.
- Spread the filling evenly over the entire surface of the dough. Roll dough tightly into a log, ending with the seam side down. Pinch the ends to seal.
- Using plain, unwaxed dental floss (or a bench scraper), slice the rolls into 12 evenly-sized rolls. Arrange the rolls cut-side down in the baking dish on top of the toffee-pecan sauce. Cover tightly with plastic wrap.
*If baking immediately
- Allow the rolls to rise again in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
*Or...If You Want to Bake the Rolls the Next Day
- Place covered rolls in the refrigerator for up to 16 hours. Before baking, let the rolls sit at room temperature until they have nearly doubled in size, about an hour.***
Baking:
- For either version, bake at 375ºF for 15 minutes, or until golden. Tent sticky buns with aluminum foil, and continue to bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until baked through.
- Allow the sticky buns to cool in the baking dish for 10 minutes. Place a serving dish on top of the pan, and carefully invert pan. Be careful as the toffee sauce will be hot. Remove baking dish, and scoop any run-off sauce back over the buns with a spoon or spatula. Serve immediately.
- The sticky buns are best eaten the day of baking but can be stored, covered, at room temperature for up to 2 days.