12 buns
BREAKFAST
Ina Garten Back to Basics (p. 240)
Unsalted butter - 1 3⁄4 sticks
Light brown sugar - 2 cups
Pecans - 1⁄2 cup
Raisins - 1 cup
Ground cinnamon - 3 tsp
Frozen puff pastry - 2 sheets
Butter - bring 1 1/2 stick to room temperature, melt 2 tbl of butter and let cool
Pecans - rough chop
Puff pastry - defrost
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place a 12-cup standard muffin tin on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or by hand), combine the 1 1⁄2 sticks of room temperature butter and 1⁄3 cup of brown sugar. Place 1 spoonful of the mixture in each of the muffin tins and then distribute the chopped pecans evenly among the 12 muffin cups on top of the butter and sugar mixture.
Lightly flour a wooden board or stone surface. Unfold one sheet of puff pastry with the folds going left to right. Brush the whole sheet with half of the 2 tbl melted butter. Leaving a 1-inch border on the puff pastry, sprinkle each sheet with 1⁄3 cup of the brown sugar, 1 1⁄2 tsp of cinnamon and 1⁄2 cup of raisins. Strarting with the end nearest you, roll the pastry up snugly like a jelly roll around the filling finishing the roll with the seam side down. Trim the ends of the roll about 1⁄2-inch and discard. Slice the roll in 6 equal slices about 1 1⁄2-inches thick. Place each piece, spiral side up, in 6 of the muffin cups. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry to make 12 buns.
Bake for 30 minutes, until the sticky buns are golden to dark brown on top and firm to the touch. Allow to cool for 5 minutes, only, then invert the buns onto the parchment paper (use a spoon to scrape the pecan butter sugar filling out if it's sticking to the muffin cup) and cool completely before serving.