Cooking In, Dessert, Event, Quick PostKerry Alaric CheeseboroMarch 10, 2014bacon, baked, Breakfast, brown sugar, Brunch, bun, buns, butter, cinnamon, confections, Cooking In, Dessert, event, extract, glaze, icing, nutmeg, nuts, pastries, pastry, powdered sugar, Quick Post, roll, salty, smoked, smoky, sticky, sugar, Sunday brunch, sweet, sweets, vanilla, walnutsComment

Sticky Sweet Sunday

STICKY CINNAMON BUNS with WALNUTS & BACON | Sticky Puff Pastry Cinnamon Swirl Rolls with Crushed Walnuts, Bacon, Vanilla Glaze

SO, THIS PAST SUNDAY I hosted what I hope to be the first of many "Pajama Parties" on Facebook with almost 100 of my Facebook friends and their friends. The idea was spawned a few weeks ago when two completely separate friends posted pics of them lounging right before bedtime—in their pajamas.

They both were wearing red plaid flannel PJs, as was I, and through that interesting coincidence was borne the idea to dedicate a day for as many of my willing comrades as possible to join me in celebrating a universal social media soirée of jammies, brunches, dog-walking, and all around Sunday morning relaxing.

Also borne of that idea was a recipe combining two popular morning pastries: the sticky bun and the cinnamon roll.

So a sheet of puff pastry was liberally covered in a mix of brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and crushed walnuts. That sheet was then rolled up, cut into inch-thick medallions, and arranged on their sides in a cake pan into which had been poured a warm reduction of butter, more brown sugar, concentrated orange juice.

As they baked for 20 minutes, I stirred powdered sugar into some condensed milk with a few drops of vanilla in a small saucepan. I crumbled some pre-cooked, crispy bacon into the what became a glaze, and then spooned the glaze on top of the finished sticky side-up cinnamon rolls that came out of the oven. Then I crumbled more bacon on top of the glazed rolls, then added more crushed walnuts, then drizzled more glaze over each whole roll.

As they cooled, the interior of the rolls remained airy, flaky, and light, while to tops started to set into near candy-like gooey-ness. The very crispy bacon bits added some fun, homey smokiness, and a wondrous counter-balance of salt, while the crushed walnuts added great and welcomed nutty flavor and texture.

My Pajama Party friends shared their meals as well, a lovely variety of dishes, from poached eggs with any number of accoutrements, to oatmeal with fruit, to just Bloody Marys. People posted pics, music, activities, and were glad to share those fun hours together with, for most, relative strangers to each other.

And I personally have avow that they only thing as delicious and sweet and warm as these rolls that I made, was the company I kept and the great time I had during our Facebook Friends Pajama Party.

So keep your eyes open—and your palates cleansed—for the next one!