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Yes there are just 5 ingredients in this EASY Sticky Bun Recipe! These are your classic sticky buns: cinnamon rolls with a gooey caramel pecan glaze, but done in about 30 minutes.
The BEST Easy Sticky Bun Recipe
Easy sticky buns don’t need yeast or rise time! That’s what I love most about this recipe: how easy and fast it is. Because I start with canned cinnamon rolls, it cuts out the majority of the time it takes to make homemade rolls. All you have to make is the caramel sauce for the top, which takes about 5 minutes!
These Easy Sticky Buns are a cheater version of those rolls: 5 ingredients and done in about 30 minutes!
What is a sticky bun?
These amazing rolls, also called caramel pecan rolls, are like cinnamon rolls but they’re baked in a caramel sauce. Instead of serving them from the pan, you instead invert the hot pan onto a serving plate and the caramel ends up on top of the rolls, all gooey and warm.
(Picture making a pineapple upside down cake, but with cinnamon rolls, and you can get the visual.)
Ingredients in EASY Sticky Buns
- Canned Cinnamon Rolls: While I love making from scratch cinnamon rolls, I also love taking some help whenever I can get it. These rolls only take about 30 minutes to make – sticky buns without yeast! – because I started them with canned cinnamon rolls.
- Pecans: It wouldn’t be a sticky bun without nuts!
- Butter: Use unsalted butter for best results, but you can substitute salted.
- Brown Sugar: Makes the BEST caramel! I used light brown sugar.
- Corn Syrup: This makes them sticky – you can also substitute honey.
How do you make sticky buns?
- The caramel is made by mixing brown sugar into melted butter with corn syrup. Let it boil for a minute.
- Pour the caramel mixture into a prepared baking dish and top it with chopped pecans.
- Squish all the cinnamon rolls over the top.
- Bake and then invert them out of the pan onto the serving plate while they’re hot.
Expert Tips
- Want sticky buns with no nuts? Just leave them out!
- While I love pecan sticky buns, these are also good with walnuts.
- Squish the cinnamon rolls to get them all in the pan.
- It’s important to turn these out of the pan as soon as they come out of the oven or they’ll stick!
FAQ
Pour the caramel and pecans in the bottom of your pan, then top with the cinnamon rolls. Once baked, invert the pan over a plate and flip them out of the pan hot and the caramel will be on top.
The rolls are done when the tops are golden brown and the center seems cooked. Wait no more than 5 minutes before inverting the pan over a serving plate.
Don’t worry – this happens often with this kind of caramel. Just be sure to eat the rolls warm from the oven. If the caramel hardens and becomes sticky, simply reheat the rolls in the microwave for about 30 seconds to warm it.
If they last longer than one meal, loosely cover them on the counter for about a day. Reheat as needed!
You can drizzle it over the top before serving or just refrigerate it and use it as an apple dip.
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Easy Sticky Buns
Recipe Video
Ingredients
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted or salted butter
- 1 cup (200g) packed brown sugar
- ¼ cup corn syrup may substitute honey
- 1 ½ cups coarsely chopped pecans
- 2 cans cinnamon rolls 8 rolls each can or larger 5 rolls per can
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°Spray a 9-inch square pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium low heat. Add the brown sugar and the corn syrup and stir until boiling. Boil one minute, stirring. Remove from heat and pour in the bottom of a 9×9-inch pan. Top with pecans.
- Place cinnamon rolls into the prepared pan. If you’re using 8 small ones, it’ll be crowded, but squish them in.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until they’re golden brown and seem to be cooked in the middle.
Recipe Nutrition
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Easy Sticky Buns have just 5 ingredients – these simple caramel pecan rolls are SO easy to make and so sticky and gooey and perfect.
This recipe has been my family’s favorite for over 25 years now. My oldest is 40 and youngest is 25 and they still ask for it when they are home visiting. No other recipe is satisfactory for them. They live it! I love how easy it is. Thw i ly thing I so different is that I use the baking dish to cook the syrup. Saves washing an additional pan and it works!
Looks great going to make them
I omitted the corn syrup and just did brown sugar and butter like in a upside down cake and everyone loved them.. first time making and couldn’t get recipe to load so I did it by memory oops oh well glad they still turned out yummy 🤣
Great I know because my stepson?said so!!!!!!
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