Paleo Sticky Buns

I did the Whole 30 (super strict paleo) for over 30 days and it was great!  Better measurements for my wedding dress are always a nice outcome 🙂  And I don’t need to sweeten my coffee anymore.  Not that I drank much coffee anyway, if you’re lucky I might drink a 60z cup of it.  Normally I just like a little for the flavor, that’s it.  But no stevia meant I couldn’t sweeten it during the Whole 30.  And now I like it with just a little cream (coconut milk creamer or normal organic cream when I cheat).  Unless of course I’m drinking coffee from someone/somewhere who can’t make coffee, then out comes the emergency stevia packet!  I won’t torture myself with bad coffee.

Now that I’m totally off topic, this creation was my first treat following Whole 30.  My fiancé was complaining that I don’t make him breakfast ever (apparently frittatas don’t count) and I decided to see if it would be possible to make plaeo sticky buns.  Figured if it worked it would be a yummy breakfast, but still paleo.  Success 🙂  This recipe is a little more complicated than most of my baking recipes so if you are tackling it make sure you have some time.

Paleo sticky buns

Ingredients:

Dough:

4oz container unsweetened applesauce

1 large egg

1/2 cup coconut oil, melted

1/2 tsp. kosher or sea salt

2 tbl. honey

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups blanched almond flour

1 cup arrowroot powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

Filling:

5 pitted dates

1/2 cup raw pecans

2 tbl. cinnamon

1 tbl. maple syrup

2 tbl. coconut oil, melted

The icing:

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1/8 cup arrowroot powder

1 tbl. maple syrup

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Method:

For the dough:

In your stand mixer combine the wet ingredients followed by the dry ingredients.  Mix until a wet/sticky dough forms.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Spread the dough over the parchment paper and cover the dough with a second sheet of parchment paper.  Using a rolling pin spread the dough out between the layers of parchment paper until it is about the size of the baking sheet.  Now chill the dough until it is firm.

While your dough is chilling prepare the filling:

Add dates, pecans, cinnamon, coconut oil, and maple syrup to your food processor and process (scraping down sides as needed) until you have a finely ground sticky filling (it will begin to ball up in the food processor).

Assembly:

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Peel the top sheet of parchment paper off the dough and ensure that the dough is stiff.  Using the back of a large spoon, spread the filling in a very thin even layer over the dough.  Carefully, while using the under layer of parchment paper to assist you, roll the dough along the short side (so your rolled dough will be shorter and thicker).  If any cracks form (mine did at the beginning) just press the dough gently together where it cracked.  Once the dough is rolled cut it into eight even pieces.  Place the pieces cut side up in a round cake pan lined with parchment paper and bake at 350°F for 20 minutes.  While the rolls are still int he oven raise the temperature to 400°F and bake an additional 20 minutes.  Remove from the oven and cool.

Icing:

Blend coconut oil, arrowroot powder, maple syrup, and vanilla in your stand mixer.  Spread icing over cooked and cooled sticky buns.  Warning: my icing absorbed sometime between taking the photo and finally eating one.  To try to prevent this chill your sticky buns before icing them and store them in the fridge as well.

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