Caramel Pecan Sticky Buns with Cinnamon Swirls and Pecan Glaze

Pull a pan of sticky buns from the oven and the kitchen fills with warm cinnamon and browned butter. Each roll is a spiral of cinnamon brioche, soaked in a pourable caramel glaze and crowned with toasted pecans.

The method is simple: slice, arrange, pour and bake. The result is a golden, glossy breakfast that looks as good as it tastes, with caramel dripping down the sides onto the board.

These caramel pecan sticky buns start with a whole rolled log of cinnamon brioche. You slice it into rolls, arrange them cut-side up in a round dark baking pan and tuck pecans around them.

A block of caramel brioche is grated over the top to add fine golden crumbs. The rolls are finished with a warm caramel glaze that soaks into the spirals as it bakes. Serve them warm, straight from the pan, when the glaze is still glossy and the edges are crisp.

Ingredients

Why this recipe works

Cinnamon brioche has a tender, airy crumb that drinks up a warm caramel glaze without falling apart. Because the rolls are sliced from a spiral log, every cut face shows the cinnamon swirl, and the glaze seeps into those layers as the buns bake. The cut-side-up arrangement lets the glaze pool in the spirals rather than running off the sides.

Grating the caramel brioche over the rolls creates fine crumbs that toast and crisp in the oven while soaking up some of the glaze. This adds texture to the top, so each bun has soft, glazed spirals underneath and a crunchy, golden surface.

Pouring the glaze slowly gives the brioche time to absorb it evenly, which is why the buns look so glossy when they come out of the oven.

Notes and substitutions

Choose a whole spiral cinnamon brioche log so you can cut even rolls with a clear swirl. A round dark baking pan holds heat well and helps the bottoms of the buns caramelize, which gives a deeper colour than a light pan. A large chef's knife and a wooden cutting board make slicing easy, and a box grater is the simplest way to turn the caramel brioche into crumbs.

Pecans are the main nut in this dish, with walnuts used as an extra chopped topping. Keep the whole pecan halves on top of the rolls for a neat finish and scatter the chopped nuts between them.

The caramel glaze is built from butter, brown sugar, heavy cream and a little kosher salt, which balances the sweetness. Use fresh nuts, since their toasted flavour carries through the glaze and the crumbs.

• light brown sugar: dark brown sugar for a deeper, more molasses-forward caramel
• heavy cream: half-and-half for a lighter glaze, which may be slightly thinner
• walnuts: additional pecans, so the topping uses only pecans

Equipment

• Large chef's knife
• Wooden cutting board
• Box grater
• Round dark baking pan, 9 inches
• Medium saucepan
• Heatproof spatula
• Pastry brush