These caramel pecan sticky buns are low carb, gluten free, grain free, & sugar-free but no one will ever believe that. They are finger licking good.
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Every time I walk into a Panera I stare at the pecan sticky buns. I contemplate buying one. And then I think about how far I've come (45 pounds lost and counting) and shake my head. Not worth it. Besides the fact that if I bought one of those and ate all the 740 calories and 89 grams of carbs I bet I would feel sick for days.
This morning, with thoughts of Panera dancing in my head, I searched around online for a low carb version but couldn't find what I was looking for. Never fear. I broke out the food processor, turned on the oven, and here I am with a new recipe to share.
These are lightly sweetened and go perfectly with a cup of coffee in the morning. Trust me, I just ate two with my morning joe.
What is a sticky bun?
Sticky buns are a type of dessert or breakfast sweet roll that generally consist of rolled pieces of leavened dough — sometimes containing brown sugar or cinnamon — compressed together to form a kind of flat loaf corresponding to the size of the pan in which they are to be baked. -Wikipedia
How to make sticky buns
To make sticky buns you simply make a mozzarella dough, sprinkle it with sweetener, cinnamon, and pecans, roll it up and cut it. Bake it. Top with caramel sauce.
There are several parts to this recipe but it is worth it. It shouldn't take you longer than 20 min of active work in the kitchen to have a batch of delicious sticky buns.
If you've made fathead pizza dough before you can make these. It's only slightly harder than that type of pizza.
Can I sub other nuts?
Sure! If you prefer walnuts or cashews they are delicious in this. Almonds are a bit too hard but would work.
Mozzarella Cheese in Sweet Dough??
Yes! You cannot taste it a single bit. I promise. My biggest tip with mozzarella dough is to mix it in a food processor and make sure the cheese is completely melted. This ensures you won't have strings of mozzarella in your sticky buns.
This dough tastes like a traditional flour yeast dough without the flour or the yeast. If you prefer very sweet baked goods add sweetener to the dough.
How to Make Caramel Sauce
It is very easy to make caramel for the sticky buns. The most important thing is stirring frequently and not forgetting about it. If you leave the kitchen to do another task the caramel can easily burn. I’ve made caramel dozens of times and can tell by the smell when it is almost done. It will start to smell rich and fragrant and like caramel. The color changes and it thickens. There may also be a few darker bits forming at the very bottom. Those will look almost burned. This is when you remove the caramel from the heat.
Make sure to take a peek at my other brunch sweets:
Healthy Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls
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📖 Recipe
Ingredients
Caramel Sauce Ingredients:
- 4 tablespoon butter
- 4 tablespoon heavy cream
- ½ cup Joy Filled Eats Sweetener (or see alternatives in recipe notes)
- ½ teaspoon caramel extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
Dough Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoon butter divided
- ½ cup pecan halves
- 8 oz shredded mozzarella
- 2 oz cream cheese
- 1 egg room temperature
- ⅓ cup almond flour
- ⅓ cup coconut flour
- ⅓ cup ground golden flax or additional almond flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon Joy Filled Eats Sweetener (or see alternatives in recipe notes)
- ¼ cup finely chopped pecans
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Caramel Sauce Directions:
- Combine first three ingredients and cook over medium-low heat until bubbly, slightly thickened, and lightly browned. Remove from the heat and add the salt and extract. Set aside.
- Dough Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350. Spread 1 tablespoon butter in a 9-inch pie plate. Sprinkle the ½ cup pecan halves on top. Set aside.
- Put cheese in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave one minute. Stir. Microwave 30 seconds. Stir. At this point, all the cheese should be melted. Microwave 30 more seconds (it should look like cheese fondue at this point).
- Add the melted cheese, egg, flours, and baking powder to a food processor. Pulse until well combined. Alternatively, you can mix this by hand by you will need to dump it onto wax paper and knead it to thoroughly incorporate the ingredients.
- Press it out into a 9×12 ish rectangle on waxed paper. Spread with 1 tablespoon butter, sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sweetener, chopped pecans, and cinnamon. Roll up along the long side. Slice into 1 inch thick slices. Put them in the pie plate. Drizzle half of prepared caramel sauce over the top.
- Bake at 350 for 35-40 min. until the dough is golden brown. Let cool for 5 min and quickly invert onto a serving platter. Scoop out any leftover pecans and caramel sauce and drizzle over the top. Pour the remaining caramel sauce over the sticky buns. Serve warm. Store in the fridge. You can reheat leftovers in the microwave.
Notes
Nutrition
Daycee says
These were yummy but a bit bitter, I suspect too much baking powder... it says 1 tbsp so that’s what I used, should it really be 1 tsp?? Thx!
Taryn says
This type of dough needs a lot of baking powder to rise at all. I don't find them bitter but you can cut back to 2 tsp next time.
Wilma says
I'm very anxious to make these, but I wanted to know if I could make them up in the evening, refrigerate and then bake them in the morning? Thank you
Taryn says
I haven't tried that but it should work. Let them come to room temperature before putting in the oven.