Easy Sticky Buns with Caramel — The easiest stickiest buns ever! Ready in 30 minutes and made with store-bought biscuit dough to save time. Drenched in salted caramel sauce for maximum stickiness!
Shortcut Pillsbury Sticky Buns
Sticky, sweet, gooey, messy. And so fast and easy!
These are the easiest sticky buns you’ll ever make because there’s a shortcut. I really like shortcuts. Especially when I’m having people over for brunch, and I want to focus on the people. Not on bread dough.
I have many scratch cinnamon roll recipes, and some that are even ready in one hour, but sometimes shortcuts save my sanity.
The caramel sticky buns are made with a tube of refrigerated Pillsbury Biscuit Dough (or alternatively you can use Crescent Roll Dough), a quick little brown sugar-butter sauce, and store-bought salted caramel caramel.
The little bit of cinnamon gives some depth and extra flavor to the otherwise buttery dough. It’s amazing how well biscuit dough stands in as great cinnamon roll dough.
They’re super soft, gooey, and the caramel flavor is rich and abundant.
Between the homemade buttery dark brown sugar mixture that caramelizes in the oven and the salted caramel, they’re a caramel lover’s dream.
Ingredients in Caramel Sticky Buns
To make these easy stick buns with Pillsbury biscuit dough, you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter
- Dark brown sugar
- Salt
- Pillsbury biscuit dough
- Salted caramel sauce
- Ground cinnamon
Dark brown sugar is richer and more caramely than light brown because they’re twice the amount of molasses, but light brown can be used.
How to Make Sticky Buns
Whether you call them caramel rolls or sticky buns, the process is the same. Here’s an overview of how the recipe is prepared:
- To make the caramel for the caramel rolls, whisk together melted butter with dark brown sugar and a pinch of salt.
- Pour the sauce into the bottom of a pie dish. It looks like a lot, and it is, but I hate sticky buns that aren’t super sticky, well-coated, and extra juicy.
- Open the can of biscuits. Make one long row of biscuits, gently pressing the seams together.
- Drizzle with caramel sauce, sprinkle with cinnamon, and roll up the dough starting with a long side.
- Bake for about 20 minutes. The caramel sauce in the bottom of the pan should be a little bubbly and will have thickened up some.
Can This Recipe Be Made in Advance?
Absolutely! I made these the night before the brunch I was having and allowed the buns cool overnight in the pan before inverting it the next morning. Overnight lots of the sauce absorbed into the buns.
I chose to invert the pan so the sauce would be on top, but you can spoon it out of the pie dish and drizzle it back over the buns.
Tips for Making Sticky Buns with Biscuit Dough
Caramel sauce: If you want to make your own salted caramel sauce, go for it. However, I was all about the ready from start-to-finish in less than 30 minutes aspect.
Slicing the sticky rolls: To slice the dough log into segments, I use unwaxed dental floss. It’s truly the best for making clean cuts without squishing and compressing the log.
I used to think it really didn’t matter much and would use a knife until I had crushed one too many logs.
Biscuit dough: If you can’t find biscuit dough in your area, crescent roll dough may be substituted.
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Salted Caramel Sticky Buns
These are the easiest sticky buns you’ll ever make because they’re made with a shortcut: refrigerated Biscuit Roll Dough. The buns are super soft, gooey, and the caramel flavor is rich and abundant. Between the homemade buttery dark brown sugar mixture that caramelizes in the oven and the salted caramel, they’re a caramel lover’s dream. As the buns cool and rest, some of the saucy mixture re-absorbs and making them the night before and cooling until morning is okay. I inverted the pan, but it’s not necessary. Either way, spoon the sauce pooled in the bottom of the pan back over the top of the rolls to make sure they’re well-coated and nice and sticky.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar (light may be substituted)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- one can Pillsbury Biscuit Dough
- about 6 ounces salted caramel sauce (I used just over half of a 10-ounce jar of Trader Joe’s; or make it here] or [here
- 1 to 2 tablespoons cinnamon, or to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 9-inch pie dish with cooking spray, set aside.
- In a medium microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter, about 1 minute on high power.
- Whisk in the dark brown sugar until smooth.
- Whisk in the salt.
- Pour mixture into pie dish; set aside.
- Open can of biscuits and make one long, gently pressing the seams together with your fingertips. The row doesn’t have to be perfect, and the less you handle the dough, the better. It gets very limp, soft, and mushy quickly.
- Evenly drizzle with caramel sauce (eyeball it).
- Evenly sprinkle with cinnamon, to taste (eyeball it).
- Starting with a long side, roll up the dough into a tightly bound log,
- To slice the dough log into segments, I use unwaxed dental floss. It’s truly the best for making clean cuts without squishing and compressing the log; use a knife if necessary. I made 9 rolls.
- Transfer dough segments to pie dish, evenly spaced.
- Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the portion of buns that aren’t covered in sauce is set and firm to the touch. The caramel sauce in the bottom of the pan will be a little bubbly and will have thickened up some. I allowed the buns to cool overnight in the pan before inverting the next morning. Overnight, lots of the sauce absorbed into the buns. I chose to invert them so the sauce would be on top, but it’s not necessary and you can spoon it out of the pie dish and drizzle it over the buns. Fresh is always best (although I did make them the night before and they were just fine), but buns will keep airtight at room temp for up to 4 days; reheat gently in micro for a few seconds if desired.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
9Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 167Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 27mgSodium: 176mgCarbohydrates: 17gFiber: 1gSugar: 13gProtein: 1g
More Easy Cinnamon Roll Recipes:
One-Hour Homemade Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting — It’s possible to make soft, light, fluffy cinnamon rolls from scratch in 1 hour
Overnight Buttermilk Soft and Fluffy Cinnamon Rolls — Favorite cinnamon roll recipe with a make-ahead/overnight option. The rolls taste close to Cinnabon and are covered in frosting!
This post is brought to you by Pillsbury. Recipe, photography, and opinions expressed are my own.
Hi Averie, may I know the approx weight of one baked sticky buns with sauce? So I can gauge if my proportions are right. Thanks
I don’t weigh my food so I really can’t tell you. It’s “average” sized. Not jumbo, not tiny.
Could you use the Pillsbury cinnamon rolls? If so, would you alter anything as a result in the existing sticky bun recipe?
They’re already sweetened so by adding the brown sugar and caramel sauce, they will be very sweet.
these are the STICKIEST of sticky buns!!! omg that salted caramel, I’m drooooling!
Reminds me of the good old days of Monkey Bread!
Oh Averie, this post is basically full of all of my favorite things. These look beyond amazing. WOW!
So much caramel! I am IN! Pinned!
I love salted caramel anything!! And nice anthro plates ;)
That is one sloppy mess of a plate. I love every inch of it. Hello Weekend treat!
Oh Averie… This is dangerous. So dangerous. A 30-minute recipe this sweet, this decadent, this incredible? I’d want to bake sticky buns every day for the rest of my life, but I can’t nearly run enough miles to work them all off!
I love having a quick version when I need it! These look SO gooey and delicious! Must try!!
I am all about the shortcuts to save sanity! Especially when the shortcut looks SO GOOD! Gooey caramel, soaked cinnamon buns. Just stop it. Somehow that kale salad I just ate, is seeming really blah.
COME TO MAMA!! I am all about these buns, I should have been in SD the day you made these!!!!!!
Great mind DO think alike! High five for us – two obvious geniuses!
And your were totally from scratch and totally fabulous :)
I make something similar, but put chopped pecans or walnuts on the caramel before adding the rolls. Then you can call them “healthy”.
I love how saucy they are. And I looooove that you used the dough. OMG these are the best rolls ever!
I am torn between stuffing my face with all that fluffy carby goodness and swimming in that pool of salted caramel. Pinning it multiples times should help me choose, no? :)
The caramel sauce is to die for and I love that the buns are swimming in it! I’d be scraping out every last drop with a spatula. Great short cut too–crescent rolls are so versatile. These make me want to host a brunch–a whole batch of these for just Jon and I would be dangerous…who could stop at just one?!?!
Gooey, messy buns are the BEST! These are so calling my name, Averie!
Love how loaded with caramel these sticky buns are, such a great brunch idea!
Oh My Goodness! It’s like you knew that sticky buns and salted caramel top my list of favorite treats! They look amazing and I’d love to know how you managed to get all these lovely photos without eating them before taking the pictures. I never would have made it, there would just be an empty pan with a little bit of caramel stuck to the side to take a picture of.
This was one of those recipes where it was INSANELY hard to not faceplant into the food, asap! Seriously took every ounce of restraint I had :)
Ooooh – I do NOT like how easy these look to make! That means I will want to make them far too often and my waistline will not thank me whatsoever. My stomach on the other hand…
LOL and so true :)
These are so tempting! I love how messy and gooey they are. Great that generous amount of caramel sauce! We sometimes need to save more time to our beloved ones, so such recipes are perfect time savers! Pinning it!
Thanks for pinning! :)
mmkay so the name of these alone made my mouth water…YUM! can’t wait to try.
xo
welltraveledwife.com
I love the generous amount of caramel in these sticky buns! I like using crescent rolls for short-cuts, too.
How yummy! This is just the kind of recipe that I would make for my fam on the weekends. I have to admit I am not a fussy weekend morning cook (it’s a morning thing, weekend mornings are for coffee drinking and internet browsing ; )). They look do-die-for. Pinned!! : )
You got that right…chilling out is the name of the game & thanks for pinning!
I have never made cinnamon rolls/sticky buns from scratch. Not once. I don’t think I like them enough to bother, but I don’t say no to a nibble if offered. :D
Messy food is my FAV-OHH-RITE!!
Carmel Sticky Buns YUMMY, no need to say any more… Cant wait to make
http://www.laramealor.com/woot-woot-wednesday-defrazzle-4-stress-busters-really-work/
Oh my gosh, cannot even handle all that salted caramel sauce. Love that you made this a quick, shortcut recipe. We all need those from time to time! Also, inverting the pan so the sauce will be on top…best idea ever. :)
Drool! Seriously, this looks amazing and delicious!
These buns look so gooey and delicious! I love the canned dough for quick and easy buns!
I love the ratio of salted caramel sauce to the sticky bun – yummy! I love how quick and easy they are. :)
Love how these buns literally covered every inch with caramel. These sticky buns are kind of made for me and I kind of want to faceplant right into a plate ful of them! Sticky buns are usually so hard to photograph for me, and your photos look stunning as always. pinned!
Thanks for pinning :)
WOW!! These look absolutely amazing, Averie! Stunning photos!!!
Thanks, Marie!
These look so ooey-goooey delicious! I have a major weakness for sticky buns, and the fact that these are so quick and easy to make probably makes them a little dangerous. Can’t wait to try them!
Wowee! I can’t get over all that ooey gooey sticky delicious caramel. Delicious!
These look amazing and so easy! I love sticky buns :-)
These look fabulous as usual Averie! One thing I love about your blog is the variety – everything from healthier vegan baked goods to quick and easy recipes like this one! Pinned! :)
Thanks for pinning and thanks for noticing that I do try for variety…not everyone wants every single thing, and no one wants the same thing over and over, so I do try to showcase a variety of things! Thank you for saying that :)
This looks so amazing! They look so sticky and so delicious!
The Macadame. xx
http://www.creamstop.com
These cinnamon rolls are literally bathing in salted caramel goodness. This is my kinda sticky bun
You wicked temptress, you;)