Macadamia Sweet Rolls

As I've mentioned in the past, on special holidays we like to enjoy an extra special breakfast as a family. This is something that my family did as I was growing up (except that our "special breakfast" back then usually consisted of either Pillsbury cinnamon rolls or store bought cinnamon rolls...) and it's a tradition that I've continued on now that I'm married.

Some of our old standby's for special breakfasts include Cinnamon Rolls and Monkey Bread. I decided that it's high time I try my hand at a Sticky Bun. I usually shy away from sticky bun recipes because they call for pecans, which I never have on hand...and I find to expensive to buy when the bag usually is only big enough for one recipe. So when I stumbled upon this recipe over at Allrecipes, I finally decided enough was enough and why couldn't I substitute something for the pecans? I opted to go with macadamia nuts, as I had some on hand with the intentions of making cookies.

These rolls are soooo sinfully delicious that I couldn't stop at just one! I felt kind of guilty eating two...but then decided that a special occaison could mean calories don't count for the day, right? These rolls actually get better with age. Hubs and I both had one straight from the oven, piping hot and all. They were good, but I had one a little while later, once they had cooled a bit and the "sticky" portion of the rolls had a chance to set up and they were ten times better than piping hot from the oven!

This recipe is also super great because you can do all the prep work the night before, toss them in the refrigerator, and then just bake up the morning of! Just toss them in while your kids are hunting for their Easter baskets! And the smell that will waft through your house as these bake up is absolutely amazing! So amazing that your kids will probably (I said probably!) forget about their full of chocolate Easter baskets for long enough to get some real food in their tummies before they fill up on sugar and chocolate (well. just chocolate. these rolls are plenty high in their own sugar count!).

Ingredients and Directions...

...1 c. warm milk (heat in microwave for about 1 minute)
...1 egg
...2 T. butter
...2 T. sugar
...1/2 tsp. salt
...3 1/3 c. flour
...1 1/2 tsp. yeast

Place ingredients in stand mixer and mix until dough pulls away from the sides and is smooth and elastic. Place in a greased bowl and let rise, covered, in a warm draft free place for one hour. (this step can also be done in your bread machine).

...1/3 c. butter
...1/2 c. brown sugar
...2 T. milk
...1/2 c. chopped macadamia nuts (but you can substitute any nut really...)

Place butter in a saucepan over low heat until melted. Add milk and brown sugar. Stir until well combined. Add in nuts. Pour into a greased 9x13 pan and set aside.

...1/4 c. butter, melted
...1/2 c. brown sugar
...2 tsp. ground cinnamon
...1/4 c. chopped macadamia nuts (or other nut you have chosen)
...1/2 c. raisins

Once dough has finished rising, roll out onto a lightly floured surface into a rectangle. Spread with 1/4 c. melted butter. Sprinkle on cinnamon and brown sugar, followed by nuts and raisins. Roll up like a jellyroll on the long side. With a greased butchers knife, slice roll into 1" pieces. Place the slices in the prepared pan, on top of the sauce prepared earlier. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. If you choose to refrigerate overnight and bake in the morning, let rise and then place in refrigerator, covered. Baking time may need to be lengthened a few minutes. Once baked, turn upside down onto a platter immediately upon removal from oven. Let cool to allow the sauce to set up for a few minutes before serving.