Caramel Apple Sticky Buns

One of my favorite things about fall, and October specifically, is caramel apples. This is in addition to soup, stews, colorful trees, seasonal squashes, spiced baked goods, and apple cider. But caramel apples! I'm pretty sure I would try to eat a dozen caramel apples if you put them in front of me, or succumb to the sugar coma while trying. Last year I went to the Apple Festival at the pick-your-own farm near the city, and was horrified to learn that they were SOLD OUT OF CARAMEL APPLES. Now, I'm a grown-up human being, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't sulk for a few minutes when I found out.

Couple that craving with the fact that I've been wanting to make sticky buns for a long time, and you've got yourself a delicious idea. So when I saw a picture of a Caramel Apple Cinnamon Bun from the Farmers Market, it was like hearing a choir of angels singing, "Hey, you should make that. But Sticky Buns instead of a glazed Cinnamon Bun. Also, aaahhhhhh!"

So, I did. I pieced together a few caramel sauce recipes from the internet, used the dough from the Vegan Brunch cookbook, and the remaining apples from my Labor Day pick-your-own fruit adventure and voila: a delicious fall Sunday morning treat, totally worth the Saturday night prep.

You should be advised of a couple things from the outset:

1. This takes about 2 hours worth of prep the night before (or the morning of, if you're an early bird). The majority of that time is spent waiting for your dough to rise, but there's a good bit of assembly at the end, so make sure you start it early enough.

2. It makes 12 huge rolls, so if you think this might be a nice treat for you and a friend, you'd be right, and then some. Feel free to halve the recipe, or freeze individual unbaked rolls right after you cut them to bake later. Just be sure they thaw before you bake them.

Caramel Apple Sticky Buns

For the dough:

3½-4 c. flour

1 tsp cinnamon

½ c. warm water

2¼ tsp yeast

¾ c. warmed almond milk

¹/₃ c. vegetable oil

¾ tsp salt

For the Caramel Sauce:

½ c. light corn syrup

½ c. brown sugar, lightly packed

8 TBSP Earth Balance

For the Filling:

5-6 small apples, peeled, cored, and chopped

4-5 TBSP brown sugar

1 tsp lemon juice

dash cinnamon

8-9 tsp Earth Balance

Cinnamon Dough

In a large mixing bowl, mix yeast, 1 tsp sugar, and the warm water. Let sit, and the yeast will bubble and foam. Once you see that, add the remaining sugar, milk, oil, salt, cinnamon, and 2 cups of flour. Using the dough hook on a mixer, add flour by the half cup, until you have added 3½ cups total. Continue to need in mixer or by hand, for 5-7 minutes, until you have a smooth ball of dough. Place in a greased bowl and leave in a warm place so that dough can rise, about an hour. 

While the dough is rising, make the Caramel Sauce and Apple Filling.

Once the dough has risen, punch it down and let sit for 10 minutes.

Caramel Sauce

Combine all the ingredients in a sauce pan over medium heat. Stir constantly until the Earth Balance has melted and then whisk to combine. Once the sauce starts bubbling, remove from heat. Set aside to cool.

Apple Filling

Combine apples, lemon juice, and brown sugar in a medium sized bowl, making sure the apples are all coated more or less evenly, and then set aside.

Sticky Bun Assembly

Pour the Caramel Sauce into a large baking dish [mine is 10x15, but 9x13 will work as well], making sure the entire bottom is covered. Set nearby.

On a lightly floured surface, gently roll the dough into an approximate 12x18 inch rectangle. Spoon tsp sized dollops of Earth Balance evenly across the dough. Give your Apple Filling a good stir in the bowl, so make sure that all the apple pieces get to sit in the juices, before using a slotted spoon to spread the apple evenly across the dough. [In the photos you can see that I did not use a slotted spoon, so my dough was kind of juicy. This is fine, but it makes the rolling process a little messy, so my advice is to limit the amount of juice that gets inside your dough.]

Slowly roll the dough long-ways, making sure the apples get rolled too, not just pushed along to the other edge. Roll as tight as you can, but if it's not impenetrable, it's not a big deal. Tuck the ends under, and use a little bit of water to seal the seam along the top.

Cut the dough roll into 12 even slices. [Deb from Smitten Kitchen has excellent advice for how to slice through the dough without smashing down the roll: using a serrated knife, hold the handle gently, in your finger tips, and use a back and forth motion using only the weight of the handle as the downward force.] Place the slices face-down in the Caramel Sauce, evenly spaced. You should be able to get 2 rows of six, but if you have to sneak one in a corner or in the center, that's fine too. Cover with plastic wrap or a clean dish towel, and let sit in a warm place for 30-45 minutes. They will just barely double in size.

**If you are prepping these for the next morning, this is the point at which you can finally go to bed! Make sure your raw rolls are wrapped with plastic, and stick them in the fridge over night. Just let them sit out for about 20-30 minutes before you bake them the next morning.**

To Bake

You worked so hard to prep these, so here's the easy part: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake the rolls for 20-22 minutes, or until light brown on top. If you have a big enough serving dish, or even a cookie sheet with sides, you should flip the sticky buns out of the casserole dish, being sure to scrape all the remaining sauce over the plated buns. Slice and enjoy!