Early morning rise

This morning I woke up at 4.30am when my son called out from his room. I was daft and checked the time before I went in, which meant as soon as I got back to bed, I knew it was almost time to get up and my head didn't let me go back to sleep. I started thinking about all the meetings I have on today, then about some of the projects I have at work, then about what we're doing for Mother's Day, then I checked Facebook and Instagram (surprisingly not many updates from last night). Then I started asking myself if I should just get up and if I did get up, what I could do... This all feels less crazy when I'm lying there in these moments than it does writing it out now. Anyway, I remembered a recipe I found the other week for a sticky bun. It takes about 20 minutes prep time, an hour to rise and then about 30 minutes to bake. I didn't have the time last week, however being awake so early this morning and knowing I'm leaving for work a bit later today, I thought "why not get up now and make that bun!". So, I did. And here it is in it's gooey, warm, goodness! YUM. Hope your breakfast was as delicious ;-).

Sticky Honey Pecan Bun
Adapted from Taste.com.au

50g butter, melted
1/3 cup honey
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup pecans, roughly chopped
1/2 cup milk
50g butter, chopped
pinch of white sugar
8g sachet instant dry yeast
2 1/2 cups plain flour
2 eggs at room temperature
1/4 cup caster sugar
extra brown sugar
extra pecans

Grease a 22cm round spring-form cake pan. Line base with baking paper. Combine melted butter, honey and brown sugar in a bowl. Pour mixture into pan. Sprinkle with pecans.
 
Heat the milk in a microwave or over the stove, you want it just before the boil. Add chopped butter and pinch of white sugar and stir until butter melts. Add yeast. Stir to combine then cover with plastic wrap and set aside for about 5 - 10 minutes, or until the mixture becomes frothy. Tip - make sure you have completely covered the bowl as if air can get in, your mixture won't froth.

In a food processor, add the flour, eggs and caster sugar. Process until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the milk and process again for about 1 to 2 minutes, or until mixture forms a ball. Place dough on a floured surface and knead until dough is smooth and elastic.
Divide dough into 8 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball then using a rolling pin, roll the balls out into discs, about 1cm thick. Sprinkle the extra brown sugar and pecans over the balls, then roll them back into a ball, similar to how you would when making scrolls. Place, in a single layer, over sticky pecans in your tin. Cover with plastic wrap and stand in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size. Preheat oven to 180°C.

Bake bun for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden and hollow-sounding when tapped on top. Stand in pan for 5 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack lined with baking paper. ENJOY!