vegan strawberry caramel sticky buns
Get cozy with some freshly baked buns! These vegan strawberry caramel sticky buns are the perfect indulgent comfort food.
Servings 12
Ingredients
sticky bun filling
- 1 ½ C frozen strawberries, thawed overnight in the fridge, divided (½ C you will dice)
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- ½ C golden brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (or ground nutmeg)
- 3 tablespoon vegan butter
strawberry vanilla caramel
- ¼ C room temperature vegan butter
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ C golden brown sugar
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
that dough
- 3 C all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoon quick-rise instant yeast
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 ½ C warm water (between 120°F to 130°F)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- To make the strawberry sticky bun filling, line the baking dish you will be using for the sticky buns with parchment paper. Combine 1 cup of the thawed strawberries with the granulated sugar and bake for about 25 to 28 minutes. The strawberries should be broken down and a little darker looking. There should still be residual strawberry juice in the pan.
- Continue prepping the filling by combining ground cinnamon, golden brown sugar, orange zest, and freshly grated nutmeg in a bowl and set aside. You will sprinkle this onto the roasted strawberry filling later on.
- To make the strawberry vanilla caramel mix together vegan butter, maple syrup, vanilla extract, light brown sugar, and ground cinnamon in another mixing bowl and set aside.
- To make the dough using a stand mixer, add the dry ingredients into the mixing bowl and stir to combine. Add the vegetable oil and warm water, while using the dough attachment to combine the dough together until it forms a sticky ball and cleans the sides of the mixing bowl. Let it rest for 10 minutes covered with a damp dish towel before rolling out.
- When the roasted strawberries are done remove the dish from the oven and reset the oven temperature to 350°F. Transfer just the roasted strawberries into a separate medium bowl, leaving the residual juice behind in the pan. Mash the roasted strawberries with a fork and add 3 tablespoons of vegan butter so it melts with the warm strawberries. Chill in the fridge for about 10 minutes.
- Use a rubber spatula to scrape all the leftover strawberry juice off the parchment paper into the pan, and discard the parchment paper. Add the remaining ingredients for the strawberry vanilla caramel including vegan butter, maple syrup, and the brown sugar mixture into the roasting pan and mix well with the residual strawberry liquid until smooth. Set aside.
- Roll out the dough into a rectangle approximately 18 x 12-inches. Use an offset spatula to spread the chilled roasted strawberry butter paste onto the dough, leaving 1-inch of one long side without filling. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar filling mixture on top of the roasted strawberry paste. Then sprinkle evenly with diced strawberries.
- Starting on the long side closest to you with the filling to the edge, roll the dough up tightly into a log shape. Use a knife or dough cutter to make 12 cuts about 1 ½-inches wide.
- Place each roll into the baking pan on top of the strawberry caramel. Cover with a damp tea towel and allow to proof and rise for about 1 hour.
- Remove the tea towel and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Let the sticky buns cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before serving. To serve, flip the sticky buns over onto a large platter so the side that was face down in the strawberry caramel is now facing up. Serve immediately while still slightly warm.
Notes
During testing I found that using a metal baking pan was ideal for the best results, but an enamel or glass tray will work too.
