New Year and Sticky Buns

Happy New Year!

To celebrate 2009, lemon-slice and I went into the kitchen and baked up a storm. We cracked open a Williams-Sonoma cookbook and made blueberry scones, lemon-slice muffins, and sticky buns. The scones were unsightly, the lemon-slice muffins were far too tart, but the sticky buns...oh the sticky buns were wonderful!

My NYE was quiet...curled up with the family, watching Mamma Mia and munching on unhealthy snacks (popcorn, chocolate covered pretzels...). I couldn't imagine it better any other way!

My resolution this year is to run a mile in 7 minutes. About a month and a half ago, I stared running on the treadmill as part of my warm-up. By running, I mean, I managed to run for like 3-4 minutes and then I'd have to stop and pant for two minutes, before running another 3-4 minutes. Then I'd just "walk it off" for another 5. Now that I can run a full mile without stopping, I'd like to be able to do that within 7 minutes!

Sticky Buns

4 1/2 - 5 unbleached bread flour
1/2 c granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
1 package quick-rise yeast
1/2 c water
1/2 c milk
3/4 c unsalted butter (room temperature)
2 eggs (room temperature)
1 c firmly packed brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2/3 coarsely chopped pecans

1) In a large bowl, or the bowl of an electric stand mixer, combine 1/2 cus of the flour, the granulated sugar, salt, and yeast.
2) In a saucepan over low heat, combine the milk, 1/2 c water, and 1/4 c of the butter and heat to lukewarm.
3) Gradually beat the milk mixture into the flour mixture.
4) Beat in the eggs, then gradually stir in 2 1/2 c more flour to make a soft dough that holds its shape.
5) Knead by hand or with a dough hook, adding flour as needed. Knead until smooth and elastic.
6) Form the dough into a ball and place in a clean, greased bowl, turning to coat all sides. Cover and let rise about 1/2 hours in warm place.
7) Turn dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Cut in half. Using a rolling pin, roll out each half into an 8 by 15 inch rectangle.
8) Spread the rectangles with 1/4 c of the remaining butter, dividing it equally.
9) In a bowl, mix 1/2 c of the brown sugar, and the cinnamon and sprinkle half of it over the dough pieces.
10) Starting with a long side, roll up tightly andpinch the seams to seal. Cut each log crosswise into 10 equal slices.
11) Butter one 9 inch round and one 8 inch square cake pan.
12) Add the remaining 1/2 c brown sugar and 1/4 c butter to the remaining brown sugar mixture and stir.
13) Toss in pecans and sprinkle over the pan bottoms.
14) Place 9 dough slices, cut sides down and almost touching in the square pan. Place 11 in the round pan.
15) Cover with kitchen towel and let rise until doubled. (60-75 min)
16) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Uncover loaves and bake until golden brown, about 30-35 minutes.
17) Invert pans onto a plate and serve warm.

Notes
One sister was really not into the idea of pecans, so we omitted them on the pan version and they became delicious cinnamon buns!

xoxo,
lemonie