Holiday Sticky Buns

Christmas is full of traditions. One that I love is Christmas morning breakfast. Growing up, my dad always made eggs benedict. Since our kids were little, I have always made Monkey Bread. Until this past year. Bryan and I came across a recipe for sticky buns seen on Barefoot Contessa- Barefoot in London. They looked so good and it seemed simple enough to make, so we decided to try it. Let me tell you....EASY. And, you could easily substitute any of the add-ins. I used regular raisins instead of white raisins. You could omit them all together if you want, even. I did not get to eat any, but they looked amazing and the family loved them. Looks like this is our new Christmas morning breakfast tradition!

• 
  
• 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 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 2/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup cranberries
• 1/2 cup white 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 12 tablespoons of 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 one sheet of puff pastry with the folds going left to right. Brush the whole sheet with 1 tablespoon of the melted butter. Leaving a 1-inch border on the puff pastry, sprinkle each sheet with 1/3 cup of brown sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons of the cinnamon, 1/4 cup of the cranberries and 1/4 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, about 1 1/2 inches each. 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. 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.