To quote my aunt, brioche dough can, in some ways, be like a relationship. When handled with the suitable amount of patience and love, it can yield wonderful results. However, if rushed and not handled with care, well….it can turn into a sticky mess which will have you wishing that hurling the marble rolling pin across the kitchen wouldn’t end up simply leaving a trail of disaster, and only left one with the satisfying feeling of pitching it. Despite the fine line I balanced over the course of the preparation of the dough, I knew it was love at first whiff when the buttery, yeasty (word?) scent wafted up my nostrils. And really, once that part was over the rest was easy, simply a waiting game of chilling, then rolling, then chilling again until at last we put the lovely cinnamon sugar-pecan filling down, leaving it to chill (again) before laying the carefully sliced pieces down on an uber-decadent bed of butter and brown sugar. As I write this, they’re baking away. Unfortunately due to time constraints I won’t be able to sample them until another day, but I’ll be sure to comment on this entry when I do 🙂
Teresa here:
The girls had to go home before the sticky buns were out of the oven, but their grandmother delivered some to them the next day (a few seconds in the microwave made them as good as they were just out of the oven). We had a little mishap with the springform pans; the bottoms weren’t inserted completely, so we lost some of the butter and sugar to the spill tray on the floor of the oven. So much for concerns about the amount of butter in the recipe…
These were delicious, even without the maximum amount of topping. I’m not sure I’d use this brioche recipe again, though – the one from Around My French Table works so well. There’s a good post on the brioche recipe from Baking With Julia over at Of Cabbages and King Cakes.
I’m looking forward to seeing everyone’s variations – I bet there will be some delicious ideas for our next attempt at these. Which will probably be for a holiday or special occasion, since they require a marathon baking session!
This week’s hosts are: Lynn and Nicole. You can find everyone’s links here: Pecan Sticky Buns
The Family That Bakes Together... 
Hi Theresa, what a lovely picture. Your Pecan Sticky Buns looks great. Unfortunately I did not like the gooey part of it (please forgive me!)
I’ve “decimated” and replaced the butter and were still fine.
Best greetings from Switzerland
PS. Hope you did not have to spend the day cleaning the oven!
Thanks, Ckay. Luckily, it was a self-cleaning oven!
They look gorgeous even with the reduced sticky topping.
Lovely photos.
Beautifully written post with great pictures! The Pecan Sticky buns look absolutely delicious! I had a bit of a baking pan issue too – I did not dare baking them in a springform pan though.
Wow, your bakes looked so yummy! =)
It sounds like someone has a very wise aunt 🙂
The rolls look lovely. Brioche is a fickle animal – but when tamed, she is well worth it.
Your sticky buns look great! I found the brioche dough to be too much effort for the results. I like the idea of using a rich dough and laminating it, but if I make these sticky buns again, it will be with a different base dough and a lot of alterations to the recipe itself.
Your buns look great! I too reduced the topping- the amount of butter scared me.
Your buns turned out really nice! I had a love hate relationship with this recipe..I didliked all the steps but Oh boy was the outcome amazingly good!!
Teresa, enjoyed reading your post…great photos too.
~Carmen
TWDBWJ member
http://bakingismyzen.wordpress.com
I totally agree, brioche will never be my bestie. I just don’t have the time (or patience) to put into making it the way it needs. My schedule is too busy to spend an entire day coddling some buns. That’s okay, I know exactly where to get my favorites anyway. Yours look beautiful!
Teresa, I agree I liked making the FFWD recipe better….although both were delicious! Your Sticky Buns look absolutely beautiful…you all did a wonderful job!
This recipe was delicious, too, it’s true. 🙂
They look amazing, Teresa! My oven floor suffered the same… I’ll reward myself with a bun for cleaning so hard! 😉
Haha I love your subtitle!
They look so yummy! Brioche only seems to be worth my effort once a year.
Beautiful photos!
I want brioche to be one of my besties but I’m sure my mixer and more importantly my health don’t agree with that notion 🙂
The yeasty scent that wafted up your nostrils made me laugh 🙂 I have not tried the brioche dough from Around My French Table but I will definitely give it a try since this dough was not a winner for me, either.
Nice pics 🙂 I find the rolling and chilling of the dough relaxing, too – I almost want to make some croissant or danish dough just for fun!
Great looking buns – but I agree, Dorie’s recipe is better.
Hi Teresa!
Your springform pan issue: I almost grabbed a springform pan but worried about an accident just like yours!
-Lisa
Definitely not going to make that mistake twice!
Great post. Beautiful pictures!
Your sticky buns are perfectly golden brown. They look amazing!
You and brioche look like besties from where I am sitting, those look wonderful. Looks count, right? Very nice. I didn’t even attempt them as I do not do bread dough in my mixer since it broke my KA and I’ve been nervous ever since. Wasn’t sure I was up to playing with that much butter and beating by hand. Could just have been the mood I was in…that and swimsuit season asked me if I really needed to have these within easy reach!! Definitely not if they looked like yours…yummy!
these are definitely going to be a special occasion bun for me – so much work and advance planning – but they were great. i agree, i think next time i’ll use the AMFT brioche recipe