Petite Sticky Buns

I'm a long time subscriber to Taste of Home, and this recipe jumped out at me in my most recent issue as a must-try. It was simple to make and a big hit with the peanut gallery. The very best part is scrounging the bits of caramel left behind in the muffin tins...ooooh la la. I made one very minor modification to the original recipe, which I'll note. I will be making these again this weekend for a family gathering, and may even get all crazy and experiment with adding a bit of toasted coconut.

Rolls:

3-3 1/4 cups flour (I used 3 1/4, and think I should have been content to leave it a little stickier and softer)
1/4 cup sugar
1 package active dry yeast (2 1/2 t.)
1 t. salt
1 1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1 egg

Topping:
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter, cubed
3/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted
2 T. honey
1 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. maple flavoring (I used 1 t. vanilla instead)

In a large bowl, combine 2 cups of flour, sugar, yeast and salt. In a small saucepan, heat the milk and butter to 120-130 degrees. Add to the dry ingredients and beat just until moistened. Add egg, beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a firm dough (dough will be sticky). Do not knead. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about an hour.

In a small saucepan over low heat, cook topping ingredients until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls into 24 well greased muffin cups.

Stir dough down. Fill greased muffin cups half full. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes. (This was the point where I was wishing for a less stiff dough, because it was a little tricky to divide out. I wound up with buns of many different sizes, which I'll just choose to believe is good because we had appetites of many different sizes.)

Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 2 minutes before inverting onto baking sheets. Let it rest for 30 seconds or so before lifting the muffin pan up to allow all the caramel to drip down. Transfer to serving platters and serve immediately.