Sweet Potato Sticky Buns – Sweet dough is wrapped up with a sweet potato paste, baked in a gooey sauce, and then finished off with a homemade marshmallow fluff that get’s torched until lightly burnt on the outside.
Sticky buns are a favorite of mine. I love the gooey, sticky tops and the chewy dough centers. But today I have a sticky bun that beats all stick buns. Not only are these buns filled with cooked sweet potato, they are also topped with homemade marshmallow fluff that is toasted until slightly burnt.
These are my Sweet Potato Sticky Buns!
Making these sticky buns
Sticky buns are very similar to cinnamon buns, with the main exception being the sticky goo that the buns are cooked in. These sticky buns are an even larger departure from cinnamon buns because the filling is made of sweet potato, not cinnamon sugar.
To start off the buns, the dough is made, kneaded, and left to rise until doubled in size. Then it’s rolled out into a large 12×20 inch rectangle.
Sweet potato filling
The sweet potato filling is made by baking the sweet potatoes until the flesh is soft. The sweet potato is then mixed with spices, butter, sugar, and salt until creamy. There is not a lot of sugar in the sweet potato because the buns will be cooked in a sugary goo and get more sugar on top in the form of marshmallow fluff.
The sweet potato mix then gets spread over the rectangle dough into one even layer. The dough gets rolls up tight and then cut into 8 rolls.
The goo
Before the rolls are added to the baking dish, the goo is made over the stove by boiling sugar, honey, water, and cream together until thickened.
The cooled goo is then pouring into the bottom of a 9×13 dish. The cut rolls are added to the dish, covered, and left to rise until almost tripled in size, about 45 minutes.
The buns are then baked until golden brown on top, about 35-45 minutes.
Marshmallow fluff
Finally, the buns are finished off with homemade marshmallow fluff. The fluff is made with egg whites and melted sugar that are whipped together until glossy. A little vanilla bean paste is added to give the fluff extra flavor.
Tips & Tricks
- Baking sweet potatoes. To add a little shortcut to this recipe, I microwave the sweet potatoes instead of baking them. This shaves off about 30 minutes.
- Use a thermometer. To ensure the sugar is cooked long enough, make sure to use a thermometer.
- Storing leftovers. You’ll want to store leftovers in the fridge after toasting the marshmallow fluff. If you don’t toast the fluff, the sugar will leak out of the egg whites.
Sweet Potato Sticky Buns
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast (1 package)
- 2 tablespoons warm water
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk scalded and cooled
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 2 large eggs
For the goo:
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
For the sweet potato filling:
- 24 ounces sweet potatoes
- ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- ¼ cup dark brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup butter melted
For the marshmallow fluff:
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup water
- 3 tablespoons light corn syrup
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 large egg whites
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste
Instructions
For the sweet potato filling:
- Prick sweet potatoes all over with a fork. Place on microwave safe plate and microwave oh high until softened, about 9 to 12 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes. Cut potatoes in half and scoop out the flesh with a spoon and into a 2-cup measuring cup until you have 1 ⅓ cup of sweet potato. Discard the rest or save for another use.
- Add sweet potato to a bowl of a food processor, along with vanilla bean paste, brown sugar, spices, and salt. Pulse until combined. With the processor on, slowly drizzle in melted butter. Stop processor when mixture becomes smooth. Set aside until assembly step.
For the dough:
- Proof yeast in a small bowl by adding it to warm water. Leave for 10 minutes or until the yeast has foamed up. If it doesn't foam up after 10 minutes, the yeast has died and you'll need to try again.
- In a bowl fitted for a stand-mixer, add flour, yeast mixture, salt, sugar, scalded milk, and eggs. Attach dough hook and mix ingredients on low for 3-4 minutes until all the ingredients are combined, scrapping down the sides, as needed, to incorporate all the ingredients. Once incorporated, increase speed to medium and knead for about 8 minutes.
- Put the dough in a large, greased bowl or plastic container and cover it with plastic wrap. Let the dough proof until doubled in size, about 1 hour 15 minutes.
For the goo:
- While the dough rises, melt butter over medium heat. Add brown sugar and cook to combine. Once it starts to bubble, remove from heat and add honey, cream, water, and salt. Whisk together to combine. Let it cool for 30 minutes while we roll out the dough.
For the assembly:
- Remove ball of dough from fridge. Place dough floured surface and begin rolling out into a rectangle until it is 12×20 and about 1/4-inch thick. Position the rectangle so that the short side is facing you.
- Spread sweet potato filling all over the rectangle of dough in one even layer. Begin tightly rolling the rectangle into a log, starting on the short side closest to you and ending on the other short side. The log should be 12 inches long.
- Using a serrated knife, cut log into 8 even slices. Pour all of the goo into a 9×13 pan so that it coats the bottom evenly. Place all 8 slices of the dough into prepared pan and space them out evenly. Cover with a towel until they almost triple in size. This will take about 45 minutes. When you have about 20 minutes left of rise-time, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Bake buns in a preheated oven for 35-45 minutes, until the tops are deep golden brown.Let the cooked buns cool for 20 minutes so that the molten goo doesn't burn your mouth. Once cooled, use a spatula to invert a bun one at a time onto a serving plate. Spoon marshmallow fluff over the top (recipe below). Torch marshmellow fluf just until the outside gets burned. Serve immediately.
For the marshmallow fluff:
- Add sugar, water, corn syrup, and salt in a small sauce pan and whisk together. Bring to a boil and continue boiling until mixture reaches 240 degrees. While the mixture heats up, add egg whites to a clean bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on medium with beater attachment until egg whites begin to foam. Add cream of tartar and then increase spead to medium until egg whites form soft peaks.
- Once sugar reaches 240 degrees and soft peaks have formed with the egg whites, slowly drizzle sugar into egg whites, while the mixer is on medium. Add vanilla bean paste with the mixer running. Increase speed to medium high and beat until egg whites turn glossy and form stiff peaks. This should take about 2 minutes. Serve on top of baked sticky buns and then torch to toast up the marshmallow.
Notes
Pin for later:
More recipes you’ll love:
Pecan Sticky Buns
Sweet Potato Cornbread
Sweet Potato Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
A richer taste is from the carmelizations of the sugars by Baking the Sweet Pototoes.
The best sticky buns recipe ever! The sweet potato is genius! We loved this recipe, and I will make these for Thanksgiving this year!
Wow! These sweet potato sticky buns are AMAZING! My family was so excited to have them for breakfast. I enjoyed mine with coffee.
What a unique recipes. I love sweet potatoes and this was such a fun, delicious way to enjoy them in more of a dessert (or breakfast??) recipe. Yum!
Oh my gosh I cannot wait to make these!!
These were so easy to make and so yummy!! Can’t wait to make them again 🙂
These sticky buns are DIVINE! Even better that they use one of my favorite fall foods – sweet potato! I love the torched, fluffy whipped topping. So yummy!
Wow! These are my kind of sticky buns. Fabulous Fall flavors and super delicious!
Oh wow! These buns sound fantastic with the sweet potato paste and homemade marshmallow fluff. Gorgeous with such amazing flavors.
Immediately obsessed with these Sweet Potato Sticky Buns!
We adore these sticky buns! The homemade marshmallow fluff is just perfect, such a great treat for the fall. Thanks for the recipe!
Oh that goooo! I love this! Thanks so much for sharing! Now I have another recipe under my belt to prepare for the entire family!
I am a sweet potato and a sticky bun lover, so why not combine the two! Sounds delicious! I plan on making these on my day off tomorrow! Thanks for the recipe share!
I’m such a sucker for cream cheese frosting i’ve never thought about marshmallow fluff but this sounds amazing and now i HAVE to try it!!!
This is my new favorite recipe for sticky buns for the holiday season! They are absolutely delicious and my whole family loved them 😉
I am drooling. These sticky buns look amazing! I cannot wait to try these.
oh my! These are naught but soooo nice! Fantastic recipe thank you from all of us.
This is one of the best sweet potato sticky bun recipes I’ve ever tasted. The marshmallow fluff on top really set these apart from the other sweet potato buns I’ve tried in the past.
Oh these were SO good! I love the sweet potato flavor in these, and it was such a nice twist from regular!