Ingredients
Method
Make the dough
- Prepare a large bowl by spraying it with canola oil. Set aside. This will be where the dough rises.
- In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup of the bread flour, sugar, yeast, and salt together.
- Meanwhile, in a small bowl, heat the milk, water, and butter together for about 1 minute, until it reaches 120°F. The butter doesn't need to be melted, it will melt on its own.
- Pour the wet ingredients over the dry (medium bowl), add in the egg, and beat with an electric mixer on low speed, for about 2 minutes.
- Next, add in the remaining cup of bread flour and whole wheat flour. Beat until blended and starts to come together.
- Then, using your hand, knead the dough in the bowl until you can form a ball. This is where you may need to add in some of the all-purpose flour, so it doesn't stick to your hands.
- Form the dough into a ball, roll it quickly around in the greased bowl from step 1, just to coat the ball. Cover and put into a draft-free, warm place to rise for at least one hour (I let it rise for 3 hours while I did housework), until it doubles in size.
Assemble the buns
- Once the dough has risen, spray a 13" x 9" pan with canola oil. Set aside.
- Combine the caramelized topping ingredients (except for the pecans) together in a small bowl. Microwave it for 1 minute. Stir until combined. Pour it into the 13" x 9" pan until it coats the bottom evenly. Sprinkle evenly with the pecans.
- In another small bowl, microwave the butter for less than 30 seconds until melted. In yet another small bowl, combine the sugars and cinnamon. Set aside.
- On a lightly floured surface, turn the dough out. Sprinkle the top with a little bit of flour and roll the dough into a 12" x 15" rectangle.
- Using a pastry brush, brush the butter all over the dough. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture over the butter.
- Rolling along the long side, roll the dough up tightly, pinching the edges to seal it.
- Using a pastry cutter, cut the dough into 12 even pieces. I cut off the tiny bit of end on each side because it didn't contain any of the butter or sugar and discarded it.
- Evenly place the buns on top of the caramelized pecan mixture in the pan. I did 3 rows of 4. Cover and let rise for at least 40 minutes, until the edges are slightly touching and when you lightly touch the dough, your finger leaves a slight indentation.
Bake
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Bake the buns for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown. Mine took 27 minutes.
- Covering the top with foil and a wire rack, flip the pan over but don't remove the pan. Let sit for 1 minute to let all of the caramelization to seep over the buns. Remove the pan and allow the buns to cool.
- Serve slightly warm, or cool completely and freeze them for a rainy day! I ended up separating the buns, placing them on a baking sheet, and freezing them. Then I transferred them to either a freezable container or gallon sized bag. You may have to line with parchment paper to keep from sticking. Then, when you need a quick breakfast, just pull one out and microwave it!
Notes
To freeze: separate buns, place on baking sheet, freeze, then transfer to container or bag. Reheat in microwave.
