What’s the difference between a sticky bun and a cinnamon roll, anyway? For starters, a sticky bun is (obviously) stickier, baked in a puddle of caramel glaze and topped with even more of the stuff. They both have some cinnamon, though it’s definitely not as prominent a flavor as you’d find in a cinnamon roll (think teaspoons not tablespoons). Also, the bread part itself is noticeably lighter, soft and tender, more like a lightly sweet dinner roll as opposed to the heavier, doughier base of the cinnamon roll. The caveat to that lighter texture is the dough is a bit trickier to work with. In fact, when I first mixed it up I was certain the recipe was missing an entire cup of flour. The dough will be very soft and sticky, it will not ‘come together in a ball’ like most bread-type recipes specify. And yet, after rising and refrigerating, it will be workable. I promise.
I used Bon Appetit’s Ultimate Sticky Bun recipe as a base (why reinvent the wheel, right?) and then adapted the filling and glaze to include the figs (both fresh and dried). In the caramel glaze, I scooped out the flesh of a few figs and cooked that into the caramel, giving it a subtle fruity undertone but not marring the texture in any negative way. In the filling, I mixed it all together in a food processor with a generous amount of dried figs, a sweet and buttery paste with hints of fig and cinnamon. The result is a downright amazing sticky bun, with a little extra depth and dimension from the figs. It’s more than just cinnamon and sugar and caramel and pecans rolled up in a tender, fluffy dough. The figs might not be immediately identifiable, but there is no doubting they add a little somethin’ somethin’ to the mix.
Yes, it’s a time intensive process, but it can also be split up into very manageable pieces if you plan ahead. Might I suggest the following schedule: Day 1, morning: Make dough. Let rise, then cover and refrigerate (refrigerating for at least 2 hours makes the dough much easier to work with, so don’t skip this step!) Day 1, evening: Remove dough from fridge and let sit while you make the topping and filling. Roll out and assemble, then cut and arrange buns in baking pan. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Day 2, morning: Remove from fridge 1 hour before baking. Preheat oven, then once buns have risen nicely, bake. Let cool slightly then enjoy.
Topped with toasted pecans, chopped fresh figs, and a sprinkle of flake sea salt, it’s truly a thing of beauty.
