Ooey, Gooey Gluten Free Sticky Buns

Trust me when I say: Christmas morning is not Christmas without freshly made, mouth watering sticky buns.  This realization came like a swift kick up side the head when last year I broke this tradition. I was not trying to be the Grinch, I just did not know how to make these tasty treats gluten free.  That morning, I served a wonderful breakfast (sans the who-hash) keeping my fingers crossed in hopes that maybe, just maybe, no one would actually notice the sticky buns were missing. 

Who-woo!  Was I wrong!  The only who-singing was more like whining for sticky buns that lasted THREE days!  It became quite clear that skipping sticky buns was not an option.  Thus began the mission and my turn to complain.  Flop after flop only led to mediocre buns, with little success it was time to call it quits (I had to, my kids started looking scared at the very mention of sticky buns). 

It’s been months since the words “sticky buns” has been uttered in this house.  It’s been months since I have even thought of their wonderful smell and sweet flavor.  But, of course, it has been months since last Christmas (12 in fact).  So, I found it funny when this flash of brilliance hit me out of the blue (that seems to happen to me a lot).  I was protesting getting out of a warm bed, when a perfect sticky bun recipe came to me.  I jumped up in a flash threw open my recipe journal to jot it down.  Then came the moment of truth…I made my new recipe to find that ooey, gooey YUMMY gluten free sticky buns are REAL! 

Here is the recipe (trust me they are really, really good):

Gluten/Wheat Free, Kid Friendly, Vegetarian, Dairy Free Option

dry ingredients
1 cup tapioca flour
¾ cup sorghum flour
¼ potato flour (not starch)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
½ teaspoon salt

wet ingredients
¾ cup warm water (110 degrees)
1 yeast packet
2 tablespoons oil
2 eggs

toppings
1 package butterscotch pudding (Royal & Jell-o are gluten free*)
½ cup butter or gluten free, non-dairy butter substitute (I like Earth Balance*)
½ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup chopped nuts – optional

preparation
Whisk together all dry ingredients. 

Dissolve yeast packet in water that is 110 degrees.  Once you add the oil and eggs to dry ingredients start to mix using regular paddle on electric mixer.  Slowly pour in yeast mixer.  Continue to mix on med-low to medium speed for 5 minutes.

Using wet hands and a wet tablespoon, roll out 18-20 dough balls.  Place in well greased bundt pan, staggering balls as needed.  Let the outside of the balls dry a little bit, about a minute or two.  Evenly sprinkle dry pudding mix onto balls, turning to coat them. 

Melt together butter, sugar and cinnamon in a small saucepan over a low heat.  Pour into bundt pan over dough balls.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap.  Let sit 1 hour for the balls to double in size. 

Remove plastic, bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.  Immediately turn buns onto a serving plate after baking.  Scrapping anything left in pan onto buns.

Serve warm.  Enjoy! 

*Brands do change their recipes, so be sure to double check me.