Pistachio Sticky Buns

A couple of years ago my boyfriend and I went on a mini road trip through Philadelphia, NYC and Boston. Whilst in Philly we decided to stay outside the city and found an AirBnB in the cute and quiet suburb West Mt. Airy - and I’m so glad we did.

Complete with tree-lined, cobbled streets and old buildings; the vibe of this quiet neighbourhood isn’t too dissimilar to that of the fictional town, Stars Hollow - of Gilmore Girls fame. 

Each morning we ambled leisurely to the local coffee shop, High Point Café. A stark contrast to the trendy inner city coffee shops - and that’s by no means a bad thing (although I’ll admit, they both have their place) - High Point is everything you want from a local café.

I’m a fan of anywhere that makes you feel comfortable as soon as you walk in the door - and with High Point, we felt at home right away. Perhaps the best thing, however, was the selection of baked goods. It’s here where I indulged in a number of pastries - including an oversized sticky bun - studded with pecans and filled with cinnamon (basically heaven for me).

Ever since that trip, I’ve been meaning to recreate these dreamy sticky buns and I recently (finally!) bought a jumbo muffin tin with the intent of making them.

I’m a bit obsessed with pistachios - and atop these buns they add a perfect kick of saltiness to the sweet, honey caramel. Though I’d encourage you to make these in a jumbo muffin tin (mine was just £6.99 from TK Maxx), you could also make them in a round 20cm cake tin, or even make mini buns in a regular muffin pan. 

What you need (makes 6 jumbo buns):

For the dough:
350g - 450g plain flour
7g instant yeast
1tsp salt
3tbsp caster sugar
75ml milk
3 medium eggs
150g unsalted butter cubed

For the spiced filling:
150g light brown sugar
2tsp ground cinnamon
1tsp ground cardamom
75g unsalted butter

For the sticky caramel topping:
75g unsalted butter
125g light brown sugar
3tbsp runny honey
175g pistachios

What you need to do:

For the dough:

1. Measure the 350g of the flour into the bowl of a freestanding mixer (or a large mixing bowl) then add the yeast, salt and sugar and stir together to combine
2. Add the milk to a measuring jug, then whisk in the eggs until fully combined
3. Using a dough hook attachment, set your mixer to a medium speed as you slowly add the milk and egg mix to the bowl, then mix until it forms a wet dough
4. Add in the chunks of butter and turn the mixer speed up slightly as you combine the butter
5. Let the mixer knead the dough (or knead by hand) for 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and the bowl is almost clean - you might need to add the remaining 100g of flour at this stage if the dough is still too wet
6. Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface and bring together to form a neat ball
7. Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave to chill in the fridge over night

For the spiced filling:

1. The next morning, add the butter to the bowl of a freestanding mixer (or you can use a hand held electric whisk) and mix until light and fluffy
2. Add the sugar to the bowl, and then combine the spices
3. Transfer to a small bowl then set aside

For the sticky caramel topping:

1. Add the butter, sugar and honey to a small saucepan and set over a medium heat
2. Leave on the heat until the ingredients have melted and fully combined - you don’t need to stir, but you can swirl the saucepan around a bitas everything melts
3. Add the pistachios

To finish:

1. You’ll need to get your jumbo muffin tin ready now!
2. Spoon a tablespoon of the topping mix into each muffin hole (it should just cover the bottom)
3. Remove your dough from the fridge and lightly flour a clean work surface
4. Roll the dough out until it’s around 8in wide (the length should be approximately double the width)
5. Using a ruler and a sharp knife, trim the edges so you have a sharp rectangle (the trimmed width should be 7in in total
6. Spread the filling mixture across the surface and smooth out with the back of a metal spoon
7. Roll the dough tightly widthways - you should have a roll of dough approximately 7in in length
8. Using a sharp knife cut the roll in 6 equal sized buns (just over 1in wide)
9. Place each bun cut side down into your muffin tin and leave to prove somewhere warm for between 45 - 60 minutes
10. Preheat your oven to 180° and, once the buns are ready bake for around 25 minutes - until golden brown
11. Remove the buns from the oven and leave to cool for a couple of minutes
12. Using a knife, carefully remove each bun from the pan and turn out onto a wire rack (the caramel will be piping hot) - the buns should be caramel-side up
13. Spoon any remaining caramel still in the tin over each muffin
14. Leave to cool then enjoy!