flour bakery in cambridge, ma was the first bakery i truly fell in love with. in college, i’d walk the 15 minutes from my dorm on tuesday late afternoons to order my usual breakfast sandwich and a pot of tea, sitting by window doing homework until whoever was closing that day had to politely ask me to leave (also can we agree that breakfast sandwiches are not just reserved for breakfast, and deserve to be eaten at any time of day?).
as an asian american woman who also grew up in flyover states and also went to university in boston, i consider joanne chang to be one of the greats, one of my life heroes.
i’ve adapted her original sticky bun recipe to include ripe sourdough starter rather than yeast. sourdough and brioche sweet bread might seem counter intuitive, but the sourdough doesn’t negatively affect the flavor at all.
whenever i eat these i first get hit by the melt-in-your-mouth gooey goodness, and then by a huge wave of nostalgia. i’m not sure which feeling i enjoy more, and i hope these do the same for you.
notes
like many brioche doughs, this is a fairly wet dough. don’t panic if it seems unwieldy! the dough strengthens with folds and refrigeration.
you could swap the heavy cream in the goo for whole milk, though you will end up with a much thinner (albeit still tasty) goo.
sticky buns are best eaten warm, within 4 hours of baking. share with friends and after a bite, you’ll be their favorite friend.
you can store them in an airtight container for up to 1 day and reheat with microwave or oven. i’ve also stashed them in the freezer for longer term storage. i swear they taste just as good straight out of the freezer, microwaved for a couple of minutes.
baker’s percentage & basic timetable
baker’s percentages are percent weight relative to total flour, and refer to the dough only (excludes goo topping)
| ingredients | baker’s percentage |
| all purpose flour | 86% |
| bread flour | 14% |
| levain | 65% |
| whole milk | 48% |
| granulated sugar | 14% |
| egg | 32% |
| sea salt | 2.3% |
| butter | 16% |
| step | time |
| levain build | 8 hours |
| bulk rise | 4 hours |
| cold proof | 6 – 12 hours |
| final proof | 2 – 3 hours |
sourdough sticky buns
formula
- 25 g levain
- 100 g water @ 85°F
- 25 g king arthur whole wheat flour
- 100 g king arthur all purpose flour
- 300 g king arthur all purpose flour
- 50 g king arthur bread flour
- 227 g levain
- 170 g whole milk, room temp
- 50 g granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 8 g sea salt
- 55 g butter, room temp
- 175 g butter
- 275 g light brown sugar
- 100 g honey
- 80 g heavy cream
- 80 g water
- 2 g salt
- 70 g chopped pecans, toasted
- 50 g light brown sugar
- 30 g granulated sugar
- 50 g chopped pecans, toasted
- 1 g cinnamon (1/4 tsp)
method
- refresh your starter using levain build formula, and stiff starter method.
- cut your room temp butter into small, 1/4-inch chunks, and set aside.
- using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle hook, combine the flours, levain, milk, sugar, salt, and the eggs. beat on low speed for 3 to 4 minutes, or until all the ingredients are combined.
- pause the mixer as needed to scrape down the bowl to make sure all the flour is incorporated into the wet ingredients.
- once the dough has come together, let dough rest for 10 minutes
- then, using the dough hook attachment, work the dough on low speed for another 5 to 7 minutes.
- slowly cut in the butter pieces on low speed, one piece at a time, until all the butter is incorporated, about 10-15 minutes. don't panic if the dough looks wet! resist the urge to add more flour. dough is done when it starts pulling away from the sides
- butter a large bowl with a lid, and transfer the dough. cover, and let dough rise for 4 hours at room temperature.
- this dough needs 4 folds, one every hour.
- let the dough continue rising, covered, overnight in the fridge, for at least 6 hours.
- in a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. whisk in the brown sugar while cooking, stirring to combine. it'll look separated, and that's ok.
- remove from heat, and continue to whisk in the honey, cream, water, and salt.
- let cool for at least 30 min, or until at room temperature. cover and store in fridge for up to 2 weeks.
- toast 120 g pecans on a baking sheet at 350°F for 5-6 minutes, or until aromatic. let cool completely before storing. reserve 50 g for the filling and 70 g for topping.
- in a small bowl, mix the sugars, cinnamon, and 50g of the pecans together.
- roll out the brioche dough (like pie crust) into a rectangle about 12 by 16 inches and 1/4-inch thick on a lightly floured surface. the dough should feel like cold, damp playdoh.
- sprinkle the filling mixture evenly over the rolled out dough.
- take the shorter end of the rectangle, and begin rolling up the rectangle like a jelly roll (or a fruit rollup!). roll this tightly to achieve a more defined spiral — i recommend going pretty slowly to ensure getting the middle and edges.
- trim off the ends (about 1/4 in), so that the roll is even.
- using a bench scraper, divide the roll into 8 pieces, about 1.5 inches wide per piece.
- pour the goo into a 13×9 inch pan, covering the bottom. sprinkle the remaining pecans evenly across the goo.
- place and arrange the buns evenly into the pan (4 wide and 2 across).
- cover the buns, and let rise in a warm place for 2 to 3 hours, until puffy, pillowy, and touching.
- preheat oven to 350°F.
- place baking pan on middle rack and bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until buns look golden brown.
- let buns cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before serving.
- sticky buns are best eaten within 4 hours of baking! to serve, invert buns one at a time onto serving dish, and spoon extra goo on top. sprinkle additional toasted pecans if desired, and enjoy!
I’m confused how you get from 200g of ingredients for the levain build to 227g for the dough. What am I missing?
Hi Blaine, oops, you’re not missing anything, that’s my mistake there. Thank you for pointing that out! I’ve just updated the levain build formula in the recipe.
So glad I came across this recipe! It turned out so perfect. I followed it exactly except I doubled the pecans that went on top, and added extra cream in place of water for the goo. Always looking for other ways to use my sourdough starter and these are now my all time favorite pecan rolls.
Erica, tried and delicious! A bit stiff due to slight confusion. Could you clarify? I keep a 60% levain and note here
https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/stiff-sourdough-starter-recipe (which I think you are referencing)
the final stiff starter is 60% hydration.
In this formula´s levain build, are you using a stiff starter to begin with or a 100% hydration?
Will try your formula again but “refresh your starter using levain build formula, and stiff starter method.” is a bit vague for me.
Thanks! Flor de María
Hi Flor, thank you for your question, and apologies for the confusion! That indeed is vague, and I’ll be sure to update the wording. When I say “stiff starter”, I am referring to my 80% hydration starter — I maintain it at 80% hydration and that is what I normally use in my recipes. Please do let me know if you have other questions.
Just made some — sooooo gooood! Followed the recipe to the T and turned out perfect (baked for 45 min). Worst part was all the waiting!
I had already made some SD brioche dough for cinnamon buns but wanted to try a few with a sticky pecan goo topping… I tried this “goo” recipe and it came out perfect!! The person I made them for said it was DELICIOUS….. She said some recipes miss it…but the flavor of this topping was spot on!! Thanks so much for a recipe that is a “Keeper”!!