These Sourdough Sticky Buns make a delicious vegan breakfast or dessert. They are gooey, sticky, fluffy, crusted with caramel-coated pecans, and absolutely scrumptious!
If eating sugar-laced foods for breakfast or dessert makes you sigh with guilt instead of satisfaction, give you attitude a makeover with these sourdough sticky buns.
I am not making a case for the healthfulness of sugary foods because, sorry, there is no such thing. But it is also true that when you bake with sourdough, your desserts actually get less unhealthy because the sourdough digests the starches in the white flour, bringing down its glycemic levels. So you can actually have your sourdough sticky bun, eat it too, and feel pretty good.
You will need a healthy sourdough starter to make these sticky buns. If you use discard, make sure it is from a thriving starter fed no more than a couple of days ago. If you are looking to use up a discard that's been fed about a week ago, try adding it to these recipes, including sourdough roti, sourdough waffles and sourdough pancakes, or even to this amazing no-knead sourdough bread.
Table of Contents
Why you will love this recipe
- Delicious. Just think of sinking your teeth into these fluffy, soft buns with cinnamon-scented, pecan-y sweetness in every bite. Yum.
- Easy. This is an easy enough recipe, although it does involve a few steps. But they are straightforward and so long as you follow instructions you should taste success. Also plan for an overnight rise.
- No added yeast. The sourdough starter is all the leavening you need for these sticky rolls.
- Versatile. These buns can be eaten for breakfast or serve them for dessert. They also make a great after-school snack!
Ingredients
- Sourdough starter. Use a starter that's strong and fed no more than two days ago.
- Sugar. Any granulated sugar is fine. If you use a sugar with larger crystals, like turbinado, give it a quick turn in the blender to break down the larger crystals. This will help the sugar melt evenly in the oven.
- Maple syrup. This is optional. You can use more sugar instead.
- Non-dairy milk. Use any milk of choice, including almond milk, oat milk or soy milk. I used oat milk.
- Neutral oil. Avocado oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil and grape seed oil or any neutral-flavored oil. I used avocado oil.
- Unbleached all-purpose flour.
- Spices: cinnamon and nutmeg.
- Pecans. Walnuts will work too.
- Pure vanilla extract
- Vegan butter. This is for the pecan glaze. Make sure you melt it before use.
How to make sourdough sticky buns
Place all ingredients for the sourdough buns except the flour in a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer.
Mix thoroughly. The starter will bubble a bit.
Add 2 ½ cups of flour to the bowl and mix in, then continue to add the flour, ¼ cup at a time, until the dough forms. You may not need to add all of the flour, or you might need a little more
Continue kneading the dough until it's quite smooth and supple, around 4-5 minutes. Place in an oiled bowl, making sure the top is covered with oil. Cover tightly and set aside in a warm place to rise overnight. By the next morning the dough should have doubled.
Place the cinnamon sugar ingredients in a bowl--sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix well.
In another bowl or cup, mix the melted butter and vanilla.
Turn out the risen dough on a lightly floured surface. Roll into a rectangle about 16 inches in length and 9 inches width.
Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the dough, leaving a one-inch border clear along one long side.
Starting with the long edge covered by the sugar mixture, roll the dough carefully into a log. Use a sharp or serrated knife to cut into 16 1-inch pieces lengthwise.
Sprinkle the glaze ingredients--first the sugar and maple syrup, if using, at the bottom of a 2-quart baking dish. Sprinkle the pecans evenly over the sugar.
Place the cut cinnamon rolls into the baking dish. Cover with cling wrap and set aside in a warm spot to rise.
After 2-4 hours, depending on the strength of your sourdough starter, the rolls should have doubled and will be quite puffy.
Half an hour before the rolls have fully risen, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit/180 degrees Celsius. Place the rolls in the oven and bake 35 minutes or until the rolls are golden-brown.
Let the rolls cool in the baking dish placed over a cooling rack for 5-10 minutes. Then place a serving platter over the baking dish and quickly but very carefully (the baking dish will be quite hot) invert the rolls onto the platter. Pull the rolls out and enjoy!
Storage instructions
- Refrigerate: The rolls will keep in the fridge for up to a week.
- Freeze: Separate the rolls and freeze them in an airtight, freezer-safe container for up to four months.
- Reheat: Reheat rolls in oven or in the microwave until warmed through.
More sourdough recipes
Sourdough Sticky Buns Recipe
Equipment
- Small bowls
- 2-quart baking dish (or two round cake pans)
Ingredients
For the sourdough buns:
- 1 cup sourdough starter (made with my recipe. Starter should be recently fed, no more than two days ago.)
- ¼ cup sugar
- ¾ cup nondairy milk
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup neutral oil (any flavorless oil, including avocado oil, grape seed oil, safflower oil or sunflower oil)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 ½ cups unbleached all purpose flour (you might not need all of it).
For the glaze:
- 1 cup pecans (coarsely chopped)
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup maple syrup (optional. Can replace with more sugar instead).
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoon vegan butter (melted)
Instructions
- Place all ingredients for the sourdough buns except the flour in a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Add 2 ½ cups of flour to the bowl and mix in, then continue to add the flour, ¼ cup at a time, until the dough forms. You may not need to add all of the flour, or you might need a little more
- Continue to knead for 4-5 minutes until a smooth, supple dough forms. Roll the dough into a smooth ball and place in an oiled bowl, turning over once to coat the top with oil. Cover tightly with a lid or cling wrap and let it rise overnight in a warm place. The dough should have doubled by morning.
- To make the sourdough sticky buns, lightly grease a 2-quart baking dish. Coat the bottom of the dish evenly with the sugar and then pour on the maple syrup, if using. Sprinkle the chopped pecans evenly over the sugar.
- Make the rest of the glaze by mixing the melted butter with the vanilla extract. Pour over the pecans and sugar in the baking dish.
- Lightly flour a work surface. Place the risen dough on it, then roll into a rectangle about 16 inches in length and 9 inches in width.
- Make the filling by mixing together the cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar. Spread it evenly over the dough, leaving a 1-inch border clear along one of the long sides of the rectangle.
- Starting with the long edge covered by the sugar mixture, roll carefully into a log. Use a sharp or serrated knife to cut into 16 1-inch pieces lengthwise.
- Arrange the sticky bun rolls in the baking dish. If any sugar has fallen out while you were rolling the dough into a cylinder, sprinkle it on top of the buns. Cover the buns and set aside in a warm place to rise. After 2-4 hours, depending on the strength of your starter, the buns should have risen and become quite puffy.
- About ½ hour before baking, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit/180 degrees Celsius. Place the buns in the oven and bake 35 minutes until golden-brown
- Let the rolls cool in the baking dish placed over a cooling rack for 5-10 minutes. Then place a serving platter over the baking dish and quickly but very carefully (the baking dish will be quite hot) invert the rolls onto the platter. Pull the rolls out and enjoy!
Recipe notes
- If using a sugar like turbinado, which has larger crystals, give the sugar a quick turn in the blender to break down the crystals, which will help them melt more efficiently in the oven.
- Refrigerate: The rolls will keep in the fridge for up to a week.
- Freeze: Separate the rolls and freeze them in an airtight, freezer-safe container for up to four months.
- Reheat: Reheat rolls in oven or in the microwave until warmed through.
Nutrition
And here are Five Delicious Vegan Recipes for Sourdough Discard
Bread baker
These are the best! so soft and moist. My new go-to
Vaishali
Awesome! So happy to hear.
Fiona
These stickies are absolutely delicious! I used honey instead of maple syrup. The sourdough worked well thanks to my sourgrrls! Would highly recommend.
Vaishali
So happy you loved them, Fiona!
Megan Streb
This was really easy recipe, and they turned out great -- only mistake I made was letting them cool in the pan so the maple syrup hardened. (Warming it back up made them MUCH easier to remove!)
Thanks!
Vaishali
Hi Megan, so thrilled you loved them! Yep you do have to get them out of the pan asap because the sugar will harden as it cools.
D
This looks great! How do you calculate the sub of eggs for aqafaba+oil
I'm thinking maybe 1/4+1/4 = 2 eggs?
Vaishali
Yes!
Renee
These look fantastic! I need to bake more with my sourdough-- making these for breakfast this weekend!
Vaishali
Awesome!