Maple Pecan Sticky Buns

Indulgent, addicting and perfectly sweet, vegan maple pecan sticky buns. Buttery, fluffy dough swirled with cinnamon sugar. Baked with pecans, and a sticky maple caramel sauce. Each cinnamon roll is extra soft and once flipped, the maple sticky sauce soaks into the buns. Make these on days you want a special breakfast, or nights when you want something cozy, and an upgrade from traditional cinnamon rolls. This will very quickly become your new favorite sweet rolls recipe.

These vegan sticky buns are…

• perfect for the holiday season. (Especially for Christmas morning!)
• super easy to make!
• seriously sticky.

Ingredients for maple pecan sticky buns

• Flour: All-purpose flour, aka plain flour. It’ll gift us with fluffy rolls.
• Non-dairy milk: I used oat milk, but almond milk and soy milk will also work!
• Flaxmeal: Aka ground flaxseeds. It’ll kinda act as the egg replacer in this recipe.
• Sugars: Granulates sugar for the dough, and light brown sugar for the filling and the sticky caramel sauce.
• Maple syrup: 100%, pure maple syrup! It’ll be used to make the sticky sauce.
• Cinnamon: Just like my vegan cinnamon rolls recipe, you’ll need ground cinnamon for the filling mixture.
• Vegan butter: The salted vegan butter is needed for the soft homemade dough, for the cinnamon sugar filling, and for the maple caramel sauce.
• Yeast: You’ll need a pack of fast-action yeast for the fluffiest rolls!
• Salt: Just a little to balance everything out.
• Pecans: Duh! A few roughly chopped pecans, and a few whole ones!

Making the sticky bun dough…

This vegan dough recipe is super easy to make, and very forgiving. Microwave plant milk in a medium bowl for around 20-40 seconds or until lukewarm. If you accidentally heat it for too long and it becomes warm or even hot, allow it to cool before moving on to the next step. This is crucial, as adding yeast to hot plant milk will kill the yeast. Into the lukewarm milk add a little light brown sugar and the instant yeast. Allow to rest for 5-10 minutes or until the warm milk mixture becomes foamy at the top. And while it becomes foamy, melt the salted vegan butter in the microwave. Mix in flaxmeal. Adding hot butter will also kill the yeast, so allow the melted butter to cool slightly before using. Once the butter has cooled, mix it into the warm milk mixture.

Add flour into a large bowl with granulated sugar and salt. Whisk together and then, pour in the wet ingredients. Mix it together with a spatula, and once it starts to come together, use clean hands to knead for around 5 minutes. You can knead the dough directly in the bowl, or kneed it on a clean work surface dusted with very little flour. I like to do a little of both. Once the dough is no longer sticking to clean, dry hands, shape it into a ball.

Grease a large clean bowl with a generous amount of vegan butter, and carefully place the yeast dough ball in the center of the greased bowl. Grease the tops of the dough with a little butter too. This is the secret to my buttery soft rolls. Instead of using plastic wrap, cover the bowl with a tea towel, and place the dough in a draft-free, warm place. I like to either place it near the heater or in the microwave (with the door closed). Allow to rest for 45 minutes or until doubled in size.

All about the sticky maple caramel sauce…

Before making the sticky sauce, you’ll need to prep the baking dish because as soon as the caramel sauce is done simmering, you’ll need to pour it into the baking pan immediately. Line the baking pan with parchment paper. The beauty of this recipe, and using parchment paper is it means you don’t have to grease the pan! Sprinkle the pecans into the baking dish. They should be in a fairly even layer, so just use your hands to spread them out a little.

In a medium saucepan heat, the vegan salted butter, maple syrup and light brown sugar over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, bring the mixture to a simmer, and cook for 2 minutes. Carefully pour the sauce evenly over the pecans. If you find there are parts that have no caramel sauce, you can very quickly, nudge it with a spatula. The caramel starts to harden up pretty quickly so make sure you do it super quick! Set the pan aside.

The swirled cinnamon sugar…

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Just like classic cinnamon rolls, you’ll need to swirl cinnamon sugar into the dough. Melt the vegan butter and set aside for it to cool down a little. In a small bowl combine light brown sugar with ground cinnamon.

Then tip the risen dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll it into a 12 x 18-inch large rectangle. I like to use my hands to stretch out the dough a little, and then go in with a rolling pin. Spread the melted vegan butter over the dough, and sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar.

Tightly roll the dough into an 18-inch log. With a serrated knife, score the log into 12 equal rolls. Using dental floss (seriously), cut the rolls into 12 rolls. The way you do this is by placing the dental floss underneath the log, and the pull, and twist the floss over the rolls. This is the best way to cut through the rolls because you’ll have perfect rolls with clean cuts.

Place the swirled cinnamon sugar buns over the cooled maple caramel sauce. Cover with a tea towel for the final, second-rise. Place the baking dish in a non-draft area.

Final touches…

Remove the tea towel, pop the maple pecan sticky buns into a preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the tops start to become golden. Allow the rolls to cool in the pan for around 5 minutes.

With oven gloves, very carefully place a large enough dish over the warm buns. I actually used another baking tray that I lined with parchment paper because I don’t have any dishes that are big enough to fit all the rolls! Carefully, and I mean very carefully, flip the buns onto the dish or baking tray. Lift the baking tray with the buns baked it. Peel off the parchment paper and serve these maple sticky buns warm!

Once you try this vegan maple sticky buns recipe, please leave a star rating and review below! I try my best to respond to you all. Oh, and don’t forget to tag me on Instagram – I can’t wait to see your images!!

More vegan recipes you’ll love…

• Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Sheet Pan Pecan Crusted Chik’n
• Apple Crumb Cake
• Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls With Maple Coffee Icing

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