Sticky Buns Recipe Charlie Palmer Steak

Hearty thanks to Dan Kleinhandler — executive pastry chef for Aureole and Charlie Palmer Steak at Archer Hotel New York — for indulging us with this recipe.

For the sticky bun dough:

• 313 g (2 1/3 cups) all-purpose flour
• 220 g (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 65 g (4 tablespoons) maple sugar
• 8 g (1 ¼ teaspoons) kosher salt:
• 2 large eggs
• 60 g (4 tablespoons) room-temperature milk
• 14 g (2 1/4 oz. envelopes) dry active yeast

For the maple filling:

• 70 g (1/2 cup) maple sugar
• 72 g (5 tablespoons) light brown sugar
• 16 g (2 tablespoons) ground cinnamon
• 85 g softened (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter
• 15 g (2 tablespoons) cornstarch

For the maple pecan caramel bottom:

• 170 g packed (1 cup) light brown sugar
• 140 g (1 cup) maple sugar
• 225 g (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 165 g (1/2 cup) maple syrup
• 350 g (3 cups) pecans — 1 1/2 cups chopped and 1 1/2 cups whole

1. For the sticky bun dough:

   In a stand mixer bowl, mix together the room-temperature milk and the dry yeast and let sit for 8 minutes. Add eggs, maple sugar and flour and mix on low speed with the dough hook attachment until the mixture forms a firm ball of dough. Add kosher salt and mix until incorporated. Add butter 1 tablespoon at a time, waiting until each of the additions incorporates before adding in the next. Once all of the butter is added, transfer dough to a clean bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature until nearly double in size — 40 – 60 minutes, depending on the warmth of the room. Deflate dough by lifting it up around the edges and letting it fall out of the bowl. Reshape dough back into a ball and put back in the bowl. Wrap in plastic and chill in the fridge for 8 hours or overnight.

2. For the maple filling:

   Mix the sugars, cornstarch and cinnamon in a small bowl. Add mixture into softened butter with spatula until it is soft, smooth and spreadable.

3. For the maple pecan caramel bottom:

   In heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring maple sugar, brown sugar, butter and maple syrup to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring frequently to dissolve sugar. Once all sugar is dissolved, pour into buttered pan, spreading out caramel across the bottom of a 9×13 inch high-sided baking pan. Cover the base with the chopped pecans and spread evenly.

4. Assembly:

   Once dough is chilled, remove from bowl and roll out to a square until it is ½ inch and spread maple filling across the dough evenly. Beginning on one end of the dough and carefully roll dough up into a spiral.

   Cut 2-inch slices of dough and place spiral down on maple pecan base-covered pan and let proof at room temperature until buns have doubled in size. Put buns into heated 325˚F oven and bake until golden brown, about 13 – 15 minutes. Let buns cool only slightly, as they need to be warm when inverted onto a cookie tray and then transferred to a serving tray.