Sticky Buns = Yumm!! :)

Dear Readers,

Christmas is only two days away and I should be filled with excitement but all I'm left with is sadness. You see every year when it gets close to the holiday season, I get beyond excited. I even start listening to Christmas music as early as September, I'm a bit obsessed. If there was a land that was filled with Christmas time all year round, I would be there front row and center. Sadly there is not such a place that exists and that's almost as depressing as watching Bristol Palin on Dancing With The Stars. It seems that immediately right after Christmas people start taking down their lights, the radios stop playing Christmas music and the cheer seems to go away as fast as it came. Well despite the fact that Christmas is in two days, I wanted to leave you with a little Christmas cheer that hopefully will stay in your hearts forever. It's one of my favorite holiday recipes that my mom and I make every year. Hopefully it will encourage you, if you have children or if you want a little baking craft to do with your loved ones; parents, daughters, sons, grandparents, etc. It's as delicious to eat as it is fun to make. Now I'm afraid I cannot take credit for inventing these yummy treats. It seems that I got the idea for these amazing treats by watching too much Food Network during the holidays season. It seems that whenever you turn on the Food Network during the holiday season, there is always someone baking or cooking something tasty and savory. Well it just so happens that about four years ago I was watching one of my favorite cooking shows, Barefoot Contessa and discovered a miracle. It just so happens that she was making these festive sticky buns, I knew from that very moment I had to get the recipe and get to baking. So every year since then my mother and I would bake the famous Sticky Buns and every year, we'd devour every crumb. Thankfully I have good genes and hardly ever gain a pound when I eat a feast, if that weren't the case, I'd be on a treadmill immediately right after the those decadent Sticky Buns. So instead of rambling on about my weight, I'm just going to hand over the recipe once and for all. I hope it will bring you many timeless memories as it has brought me. Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and enjoy!!

STICKY BUNS = YUMM

Ingredients

• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1/2 cup pecans, chopped in very large pieces
• 1 package (17.3-ounces/ 2-sheets) frozen puff pastry, defrosted

For the filling:

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 2/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 cup raisins

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. 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, combine the 12 tablespoons butter and 1/3 cup brown sugar. Place 1 rounded tablespoon of the mixture in each of the 12 muffin cups. Distribute the pecans evenly among the 12 muffin cups on top of the butter and sugar mixture.

Lightly flour a wooden board or stone surface. Unfold 1 sheet of puff pastry with the folds going left to right. Brush the whole sheet with the 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 teaspoons of the cinnamon, and 1/2 cup of the raisins. Starting 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 pieces, each about 1 1/2 inches wide. Place each piece, spiral side up, in 6 of the muffin cups. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry to make 12 sticky buns.

Bake for 30 minutes, until the sticky buns are golden to dark brown on top and firm to the touch. Be careful - they're hot! Allow to cool for 5 minutes only, invert the buns onto the parchment paper (ease the filling and pecans out onto the buns with a spoon) and cool completely.