Warm, gooey, sticky buns are just what you need with your morning coffee. Add some apples and you have just the treat you need for this fall season. It can’t get any better than caramel and apples!

If you have been following my blog you will know that I love to bake with sourdough. Fermenting the dough makes it easier for your body to digest. Some people who are sensitive to gluten can eat sourdough bread since it has been fermented which breaks the phytic acids down. To me, there is something special about taking flour and water and turning it into a bubbling starter.

Sourdough bread is made by fermenting the dough naturally using occurring lactobacilli and wild yeast. This was the usual form of leavening bread down into the Middle Ages until it was replaced by other products. French Bakers brought sourdough techniques to California during the Gold Rush where it remains large part of the culture today.

My starter, pictured below, is over 8 years old. From this jar, I have sent our thousands of jars/packs of starter to help others begin their journey into this intriguing world of baking. If you would like to purchase a mature starter to give you a jumpstart into baking you can purchase one on the “Buy it Now” page.

You can also purchase Sourdough Kits, Around the Family Table Cookbook with or without a free packet of sourdough starter and just Sourdough Starter on this page….Buy It Now!

I have tried for some time to make a sugar-free THM E sticky bun without great success. The sticky part on regular buns requires large amounts of butter, brown sugar, and molasses. I have finally found a way to duplicate the sticky part using ChocZero Caramel or Maple Syrup. These syrups are a personal choice since they do have liquid vegetable fiber in them. I have found the syrups just helps to make a wonderful sticky bun. Other sugar-free syrups will work but I do love the way this syrup works in this recipe.

With adding apples to this recipe I had to omit the water in the sticky” part since the apples release their juice when baked.

I used active sourdough starter in this recipe which means it was starter that I had fed with in the last 12 hours. A well fed starter is the key to making good sourdough rolls and bread items.

Caramel Apple Sticky Buns, THM E, DF, SF

• Dough:
• 1 cup active sourdough starter
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 egg whites
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted (dairy-free use coconut oil)
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/4 cup fat free Greek Yogurt
• 2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon Vital Wheat Gluten
• 1/3 cup King Arthur Bread Flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon yeast, optional*
• oat fiber, for dusting your work area when rolling the buns out
• Cinnamon mixture:
• 2 tablespoons Brown Sugar Sweetener or Gentle Sweet’
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon water
• Sticky part:
• 2 tablespoons butter, (dairy-free use coconut oil)
• 3/4 cup ChocZero Caramel syrup or any Sugar-free syrup
• 2 cups peeled, chopped apples
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• Mixing the dough with a mixer: Mix starter, water, egg whites, butter, honey, Greek Yogurt together in mixer bowl. Add White Whole Wheat Flour,  vital wheat gluten, and vanilla. Mix well. Add King Arthur Bread flour, salt and yeast. Mix for 3 minutes. Place in a greased bowl and cover with a lid. Let rise 6 hours, kneading down if necessary.
• Mixing the dough with a Danish Dough Whisk: Mix starter, water, egg whites, butter, honey, Greek Yogurt together in large bowl using you dough whisk. Add White Whole Wheat Flour,  vital wheat gluten, and vanilla. Mix well. Add King Arthur Bread flour, salt and yeast. Mix until you have a shaggy mass. Allow dough to rest for 1 hour. Do one set of stretch and fold…taking one side of the dough, stretching it, and folding into the center. Repeat with the other side. Allow dough to rest for an hour. Repeat the stretch and folds one more time. All the dough to ferment for a total of 6 hours counting from the time you mix it until you shape the rolls.
• The sticky part: heat the syrup and butter until the butter melts. Pour into the bottom of a 10 inch round pan (will fit 8 rolls) and a small 8 inch pie plate. Sprinkle the apple pieces over the sticky part. Sprinkle with cinnamon.
• Shaping the sticky buns: Dust your work surface with oat fiber. Gently pat the dough out until it is 1/2 in thick. You will have a rectangle approximately 15 inches by 18 inches. In a small bowl combine the Cinnamon part. Spread it carefully over the dough. Roll the dough starting with the long edge. Cut with a knife or a piece of string/dental floss works even better. Slide the string/dental floss under the roll. Cross the two edges of the floss to cut the roll. Lay the cut rolls on top of the syrup. Allow to rise until doubled.
• Baking the sticky buns: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake individual rolls for 22 minutes and a larger pan for 27 minutes. When rolls are baked, remove from oven. Allow to cool for 5 minutes. Invert onto a serving plate or platter. 12 sticky buns.
• *I add just a bit of Instant yeast to this dough. I think it just helps give a better rise.

When I measure out the starter, I always measure the water first. Then I measure the starter on top of the water. Your starter won’t leave quite as much of a mess in your measuring cup. My starter is quite sticky and will stick to everything.

This Danish Dough Whisk is an important part of my sourdough baking. It is so easy to combine ingredients with this whisk.

I mixed the dough until I have this shaggy looking mass….then I allow it to rest for an hour before doing stretch and folds.

As you can see, the dough is much smoother than it was when I first mixed it. In the top right hand corner you can see the cinnamon mixture ready to be spread on the dough.

Here is the dough spread with the cinnamon mixture. You will begin rolling starting from the top long edge and roll the dough down.

Here is the dough all rolled up and ready to cut. A Baker’s friend is a bench knife….I use it to help roll the dough when it sticks to my cutting board.

This is what my pan looks like before I add the cinnamon rolls. I find that the apples release my juice so the sticky part needs to with thicker.

Here are the rolls ready to rise. I set the pans on my stove top where they can get the heat from the oven being pre-heated.

This post has affiliated links, if you purchase items through these links, I receive a small commission but your price doesn’t change. Your purchase help support this blog, keeps new recipes coming, and assist with our move to a mission outreach of our church. Below are a few of my favorites listed under the affiliate store I purchase them. 

Amazon 

If you purchase a sourdough kit from my website store , this is the white whole wheat flour you will receive. I buy this brand in 50 pound bags for my personal use. Sourdough Kit Special the month of September is this—-you receive a free Danish Dough Whisk with each kit. You can purchase the kits through this link….Sourdough Kit.

This Vital Wheat Gluten does a great job with whole grain bread. I will purchase it is my wholesale supplier is out of vital wheat gluten in large bags.

I love my Danish Dough Whisk for quickly mixing bread. These stainless steel one will last a lifetime.

I am a member of Trim Healthy Mama Affiliate Program . Here is my link if you wish to purchase through it. I receive a few pennies but your price doesn’t change.

Gentle Sweet THM Vanilla Extract Mineral Salt

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Caramel Apple Sticky Buns, THM E

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 25 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Servings 12

Author Glenda Groff

Ingredients

• Dough:
• 1 cup active sourdough starter
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 egg whites
• 1 tablespoon butter melted (dairy-free use coconut oil)
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/4 cup fat free Greek Yogurt
• 2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon Vital Wheat Gluten
• 1/3 cup King Arthur Bread Flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon yeast optional*
• oat fiber for dusting your work area when rolling the buns out
• Cinnamon mixture:
• 2 tablespoons Brown Sugar Sweetener or Gentle Sweet’
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon water
• Sticky part:
• 2 tablespoons butter (dairy-free use coconut oil)
• 3/4 cup ChocZero Caramel syrup or any Sugar-free syrup
• 2 cups peeled chopped apples
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

Instructions

1. Mixing the dough with a mixer: Mix starter, water, egg whites, butter, honey, Greek Yogurt together in mixer bowl. Add White Whole Wheat Flour,  vital wheat gluten, and vanilla. Mix well. Add King Arthur Bread flour, salt and yeast. Mix for 3 minutes. Place in a greased bowl and cover with a lid. Let rise 6 hours, kneading down if necessary.
2. Mixing the dough with a Danish Dough Whisk: Mix starter, water, egg whites, butter, honey, Greek Yogurt together in large bowl using you dough whisk. Add White Whole Wheat Flour,  vital wheat gluten, and vanilla. Mix well. Add King Arthur Bread flour, salt and yeast. Mix until you have a shaggy mass. Allow dough to rest for 1 hour. Do one set of stretch and fold…taking one side of the dough, stretching it, and folding into the center. Repeat with the other side. Allow dough to rest for an hour. Repeat the stretch and folds one more time. All the dough to ferment for a total of 6 hours counting from the time you mix it until you shape the rolls.
3. The sticky part: heat the syrup and butter until the butter melts. Pour into the bottom of a 10 inch round pan (will fit 8 rolls) and a small 8 inch pie plate. Sprinkle the apple pieces over the sticky part. Sprinkle with cinnamon.
4. Shaping the sticky buns: Dust your work surface with oat fiber. Gently pat the dough out until it is 1/2 in thick. You will have a rectangle approximately 15 inches by 18 inches. In a small bowl combine the Cinnamon part. Spread it carefully over the dough. Roll the dough starting with the long edge. Cut with a knife or a piece of string/dental floss works even better. Slide the string/dental floss under the roll. Cross the two edges of the floss to cut the roll. Lay the cut rolls on top of the syrup. Allow to rise until doubled.
5. Baking the sticky buns: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake individual rolls for 22 minutes and a larger pan for 27 minutes. When rolls are baked, remove from oven. Allow to cool for 5 minutes. Invert onto a serving plate or platter. 12 sticky buns.
6. *I add just a bit of Instant yeast to this dough. I think it just helps give a better rise.