Barefoot Bloggers: Easy Sticky Buns

Melissa of Made by Melissa picked this super fast recipe for this week. I don't think they are in the same league as my version of a Cinnabon I made this Christmas (I'll have to post that sometime) but they are really fast and tasty, perfect for a non-holiday time.
My one issue is that frozen puff pastry it is not all natural. So I think normally I'll stick to bread dough buns, but I have to admit these were goooood. My husband tried one, and then ate another one right away!
The only modification I made was to leave out the raisins, since we are not big fans. Instead, I threw a few more pecans inside the roll.

Easy Sticky Buns by the Barefoot Contessa
Makes 12 (I halved this recipe)

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 cup pecans, chopped in very large pieces
1 package (17.3 ounces/2 sheets) frozen puff pastry, defrosted for the filling
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup raisins

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place a 12-cup standard muffin tin on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the 12 tablespoons butter and 1/3 cup brown sugar.

I decided to make this recipe even easier by not dragging out my mixer. I just softened the butter in the microwave, and mixed in the brown sugar with a fork!

Place 1 rounded tablespoon of the mixture in each of the 12 muffin cups. Distribute the pecans evenly among the 12 muffin cups on top of the butter and sugar mixture.

Lightly flour a wooden board or stone surface. Unfold one sheet of puff pastry with the folds going left to right. Brush the whole sheet with half of the melted butter. Leaving a 1-inch border on the puff pastry, sprinkle each sheet with 1/3 cup of the brown sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons of the cinnamon, and 1/2 cup of the raisins.

Starting with the end nearest you, roll the pastry up snugly like a jelly roll around the filling, finishing the roll with the seam side down.

Trim the ends of the roll about 1/2 inch and discard. Slice the roll in 6 equal pieces, each about 1 1/2 inches wide.

Place each piece, spiral side up, in 6 of the muffin cups. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry to make 12 sticky buns.

Bake for 30 minutes, until the sticky buns are golden to dark brown on top and firm to the touch. Allow to cool for 5 minutes only, invert the buns onto the parchment paper (ease the filling and pecans out onto the buns with a spoon), and cool completely.