Homemade Honey Sticky Buns

Recipes · Bread & Baking

Honey yeast rolls with a honey-butter swirl and brown sugar honey caramel — a cinnamon-free sticky-bun option with an overnight make-ahead plan for Christmas morning.

Sticky honey butter buns coated in glossy honey caramel on a light serving platter

This recipe idea started because one person in my family really dislikes cinnamon. A pan of cinnamon rolls may sound like the perfect special breakfast to most of us, but it is not much of a treat for someone who would rather skip cinnamon completely.

So I wanted a second option that still felt warm, soft and special without simply making a cinnamon roll and leaving one ingredient out. This version is built around honey, butter, brown sugar and vanilla, with honey worked into the dough, filling and sticky caramel.

The sticky layer starts underneath the rolls. As the buns bake, the honey-brown sugar caramel bubbles around them, and after a careful flip, that bottom layer becomes the glossy topping.

My Christmas-morning plan is to use these as the cinnamon-free option alongside the published Christmas Morning Sourdough Discard Cinnamon Rolls. The sticky buns are designed for overnight assembly, while the sourdough discard cinnamon rolls keep their own same-day method.

ABMH transparency note: This recipe is currently researched and untested in the ABMH kitchen. The images in this guide illustrate the planned recipe and process; they are not photographs from an ABMH test batch. I will update the post with firsthand notes and original test-batch photos after I make and document it.

Jump to Recipe Overnight Option

Oven 350°F Pan 9 × 13-inch metal pan Portion 12 buns Make Ahead Refrigerate shaped buns 8–12 hours

Why These Sticky Buns Are Cinnamon-Free

Cinnamon rolls are a classic special-breakfast recipe, but they are not a good fit for everyone. In my family, one person simply does not like cinnamon, and that was enough reason for me to plan another option.

I did not want that option to read like a stripped-down cinnamon roll. The goal is for honey, butter, vanilla and brown sugar to give these buns their own flavor and their own place on the breakfast table.

Honey is used in three layers. It flavors the dough, filling and caramel.
No replacement spice is needed. The recipe stays focused on honey rather than swapping cinnamon for another dominant flavor.
The caramel bakes underneath the buns. After baking, the pan is inverted so the sticky layer becomes the topping.
No frosting is necessary. The caramel provides the sweetness and richness on top.

A Bit More Homemade: This is not a cinnamon-roll recipe with the cinnamon removed. The dough, filling and caramel are intentionally built around honey, butter and vanilla so the recipe has its own identity as a cinnamon-free holiday breakfast option.

What Makes a Sticky Bun Sticky?

Sticky buns are assembled over a buttery sugar mixture in the baking pan. As the rolls bake, that mixture bubbles underneath and around them. Once the pan is inverted, the bottom layer becomes the glossy topping.

Here, that topping combines butter, light brown sugar, honey, heavy cream, vanilla and salt. Heavy cream keeps the caramel rich and helps it stay soft rather than turning into a hard candy-like coating.

Ingredients You’ll Need

Flour, milk, cream, eggs, butter, honey, brown sugar, yeast, vanilla and salt for sticky honey butter buns

Soft Honey Dough

¾ cup (180 g) whole milk, lukewarm
3 tablespoons (64 g) honey
2¼ teaspoons (7 g) instant yeast
1 large egg, about 50 g without shell
1 large egg yolk, about 18 g
1 teaspoon (5 g) vanilla extract
3¼ cups (390 g) all-purpose flour
1¼ teaspoons fine salt, about 7 g
5 tablespoons (71 g) unsalted butter, very soft

Honey-Butter Swirl

6 tablespoons (85 g) unsalted butter, softened
⅓ cup (70 g) packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons (42 g) honey
2 tablespoons (15 g) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon (5 g) vanilla extract
⅛ teaspoon fine salt

Sticky Honey Caramel

6 tablespoons (85 g) unsalted butter
¾ cup (160 g) packed light brown sugar
⅓ cup (113 g) honey
¼ cup (60 g) heavy cream
¼ teaspoon fine salt
1 teaspoon (5 g) vanilla extract

Raw dough safety: Flour and eggs are raw ingredients. Do not taste the dough or filling while they are uncooked, and wash hands, utensils and work surfaces after handling raw dough.

Ingredient Notes

Honey

Use a honey you enjoy eating. A mild or medium-flavored honey lets the butter, vanilla and brown sugar stay in balance while still making honey the defining flavor.

Why There Is Flour in the Filling

A small amount of flour helps the butter, honey and brown sugar form a thicker spreadable filling instead of behaving like a loose syrup as soon as the rolls warm up.

Heavy Cream

Heavy cream adds richness to the caramel and helps create a soft, glossy topping after the buns are inverted.

Salt

Salt is especially useful in a cinnamon-free sweet roll because it keeps the combination of honey, brown sugar and butter from tasting flat or simply sweet.

Equipment

9 × 13-inch metal baking pan
Large mixing bowl or stand mixer with dough hook
Small or medium saucepan
Rolling pin
Digital kitchen scale, if available
Instant-read thermometer
Unflavored dental floss or a sharp thin knife
Large rimmed platter, sheet pan or heat-safe board for inversion

How to Make Sticky Honey Butter Buns

1. Warm the milk.

Warm the milk until it feels comfortably warm rather than hot, about 100–110°F.

2. Mix the dough.

In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the warm milk, honey, yeast, whole egg, egg yolk and vanilla. Add the flour and salt and mix until no large dry pockets remain and a shaggy dough forms.

3. Knead before adding the butter.

Knead for 2–3 minutes to begin developing the dough.

4. Knead in the butter.

Add the softened butter about one tablespoon at a time, allowing each addition to begin incorporating before adding the next. Continue kneading until the dough is smooth, elastic and slightly tacky, about another 6–8 minutes in a stand mixer on low to medium-low speed.

Soft honey bun dough with softened butter being incorporated in a mixing bowl

Keep the dough soft: Enriched dough should feel soft and a little tacky. Avoid adding extra flour just because it does not feel dry.

5. Let the dough rise.

Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover and let it rise in a comfortably warm place until very puffy and approximately doubled. Allow roughly 60–90 minutes as a guide, but use the appearance of the dough rather than the clock alone.

6. Make the sticky honey caramel.

Melt 6 tablespoons butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the ¾ cup brown sugar, ⅓ cup honey, heavy cream and ¼ teaspoon salt. Stir until combined.

Bring the mixture to a gentle boil and cook, stirring, for 2–3 minutes, until smooth, glossy and still pourable. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.

Lightly grease a 9 × 13-inch metal baking pan. Carefully pour the warm caramel into the bottom and spread it evenly.

Hot sugar safety: Cooked caramel can cause serious burns. Keep hands away from the hot mixture, use appropriate heat protection and never touch or taste hot caramel to test its texture.

7. Make the honey-butter filling.

Mix the softened butter, ⅓ cup brown sugar, 2 tablespoons honey, 2 tablespoons flour, vanilla and ⅛ teaspoon salt until evenly combined and spreadable.

8. Roll out the dough.

Gently deflate the risen dough and place it on a lightly floured work surface. Roll it into approximately a 14 × 18-inch rectangle.

9. Add the filling.

Spread the honey-butter filling evenly over the dough, leaving about ½ inch uncovered along one long edge.

Honey butter brown sugar filling spread over a rectangle of rolled sweet dough

10. Roll the dough into a log.

Beginning with the filled long edge opposite the bare border, roll the dough into an approximately 18-inch log. Keep the roll snug without stretching the soft dough. Pinch the seam closed.

11. Cut 12 buns.

Cut the log into 12 pieces, each about 1½ inches wide. Unflavored dental floss works especially well because it cuts the soft dough without compressing the spiral.

12. Arrange the buns over the caramel.

Place the 12 rolls cut-side up over the honey caramel in a 3 × 4 pattern, leaving a little room between them for the second rise.

Unbaked sticky honey butter buns arranged over honey caramel in a metal baking pan

13. Let the shaped buns rise.

Cover the pan and let the rolls rise until noticeably puffy and beginning to touch. Allow roughly 45–75 minutes as a guide, depending on dough and room temperature.

14. Bake.

Near the end of the rise, preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake the buns on the center rack and begin checking around 25 minutes.

The tops should be golden, the caramel should be bubbling around the edges, and the center rolls should look set rather than wet or doughy. If using an instant-read thermometer, check the bread portion of a center bun and look for approximately 190°F. If the tops darken too quickly, tent the pan loosely with foil and continue baking.

15. Rest briefly, then invert.

Remove the pan from the oven and let the bubbling caramel settle for about 3–5 minutes.

Place a large rimmed platter, sheet pan or heat-safe board over the baking pan. Wearing oven mitts and holding both pieces securely together, carefully flip the pan so the buns release onto the serving surface. Lift away the pan and scrape any caramel left behind over the buns.

Use extreme care when flipping: The caramel will still be very hot and fluid. Use a rimmed surface large enough to catch any flowing caramel, wear oven mitts and keep hands and arms away from the edges while you invert the pan.

16. Let the caramel settle.

Let the buns cool for at least 15–20 minutes before serving. The caramel will thicken as it cools while remaining soft and sticky.