Holiday baking: Bubble bread sticky rolls

I don’t remember exactly when we started our Christmas traditions, but there are a few that we have: we always go out to dinner on Christmas Eve, and then to the local park to take the tram around the Christmas lights. On Christmas Day, Brianna and I always wear matching pajamas, and I make some type of sticky roll on Christmas morning. I can’t say that we consciously started doing these things and made them “traditions” but we’ve been doing them long enough that Brianna knows them now. This was driven home to me about a month ago when she randomly said to me one day, “Can you make special sticky rolls for Christmas breakfast?” I’m glad she’s getting a sense of tradition through the years and I hope that it makes the holidays special for her!

Sometimes when I’ve been using a recipe for a long time, I don’t always remember where I got it. But like the much favored cracker candy, this one came from my friend Jennifer. I think she must have brought these to a brunch years ago and everyone loved them so much, we demanded the recipe. And thus, my Christmas morning tradition was born. These are SO EASY that I can’t say enough about them. I’ve tried other recipes, but they never turn out quite the same, and this year I toyed with the idea of homemade cinnamon rolls before I stopped myself for the craziness of this thought. I can throw these together in minutes. Why spend hours when you already have perfection?

Bubble Bread Sticky Rolls

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup pecan halves (optional, I usually skip the nuts)
• 18 frozen dinner rolls (the frozen dough kind that come in a bag. NOT cooked rolls)
• 1 (3.5 ounce) package cook and serve butterscotch vanilla pudding mix (I don’t like butterscotch anything)
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) to 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) butter
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup brown sugar (how much butter/sugar you use depends on how “sticky” you want them to be)

Directions

Spray a bunt pan with cooking spray or butter generously. Sprinkle nuts at bottom of pan. Spread rolls evenly in the pan. If you don’t have a bunt pan, a 9×13 pan will work as well.

Melt butter and pour over frozen rolls. Mix dry ingredients together and poor over the frozen rolls. Cover with towel. Let rise overnight. (I place mine in the oven–cold oven–to rise overnight)

In the morning, place the bunt pan on a cookie sheet (to catch spillage) and place in a pre heated oven. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes. Turn pan upside down over a serving plate.

Alternate directions:

Out of interest, I looked this recipe up on Allrecipes.com. They used slightly different directions, which I’m including here. I make them the above way and they always turn out, but some people prefer this method.

1. Generously butter a 9×13 inch baking pan. Sprinkle pecans in bottom of pan. Place frozen dinner rolls in a single layer on top of pecans. Sprinkle dry pudding mix over the top.
2. Combine butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan. Heat until boiling then pour over rolls. Cover with plastic wrap or wax paper and allow to stand overnight.
3. In the morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
4. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until golden brown.
5. Turn upside down onto serving platter.