Pecan Stickies

When everything seems wrong, isn't it wonderful to know there are certain things you can count on to brighten your day?  Family who loves you and friends that are there for you no matter what definitely top my list, especially in this past week.  Somewhere on that list, though, I'd also have to add a good glass of wine, a hot bath, and maybe one or two of these pecan sticky rolls.  Believe me, these treats are just guaranteed to make things seem a little bit better.  They're gooey, sticky, and packed with all sorts of good stuff.

They are also pretty fun to make.  I wish I could take credit for the method, but it was something I picked up when I was still in culinary school.  I remember thinking they were so clever and easy to do!  Since then, I've made these pecan sticky rolls hundreds of times- for the restaurant or when someone needs a little cheering up.

Pecan Sticky Rolls

Ingredients:

Dough:
1 recipe no-nonsense cinnamon roll dough (please click here for that recipe)
Topping:
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup pecans, chopped
6 tablespoons honey
Filing:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 cup pecans, chopped
3/4 cup brown sugar

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
-Prepare a half sheet pan with parchment paper and grease the heck out of your muffin pan (trust me!).  You'll need 16 muffin cups prepped and ready to go.
-Follow these directions to make the cinnamon roll dough.  Once the dough has had time to rise and is doubled, punch it down and let it sit while you prepare the topping and filling.
-For the topping, cream together the brown sugar and the honey.  Stir in the pecans.  This mixture will be very thick.
-Spoon the topping equally into 16 greased muffin cups.

-For the filling, melt butter and combine the cinnamon, brown sugar, and pecans.
-On a floured surface, roll out the dough into a rectangle about 1/2 inch thick.
-Spread the melted butter over the surface of the dough and sprinkle with the brown sugar and pecan mixture.

-Starting at the long edge, roll up the dough.
-Slice the roll of dough into 16 equal-sized pieces.
-Place a slice on top of the honey brown sugar in each of 16 muffin cups.

-Set the muffin pan in a warm place until rolls are doubled.  (Great time to do the dishes!)
-Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F until golden brown, about 30 minutes.
-Get the parchment-lined baking sheet ready.  Set it over the muffin pan of warm rolls.  Use oven mitts to hold the two pans together as you flip them over, thereby turning the rolls out onto the baking sheet.  Make sure you get all of the pecans out of the muffin pans and onto the rolls.
-Cool and enjoy!