10 Gooey Buns for National Sticky Bun Day

By: Amanda Marsteller

Yes, National Sticky Bun Day is real, and yes, it's clearly one of the finest gastronomic holidays ever created. Can you think of a better reason to celebrate the very random date of February 21st during the dead of winter? That said, it's time to break out those oven mitts and pay tribute to the stickiest day of the year with this glazed and gooey roundup of recipes from Cooking Channel and bun-loving bloggers around the web.

1. Blackberry-Hazelnut Sticky Buns (above) — Coming soon to a breakfast nook near you: Muscovado sugar-glazed, blackberry-dotted buns that are so sweet you'll want to sing old-timey folk songs about them from the nearest mountaintop.

2. Pumpkin Sticky Buns with Pecan Bourbon Caramel Goodness — The socially acceptable way to imbibe a bunch of bourbon for breakfast (just make it into caramel and nobody will say boo).

3. Gooey Turtle Brownie Sticky Buns — Making a seemingly unrelated food taste just like a tiny chocolate confection is the way of the future, so go boldly forth and glaze your buns with all the classic "turtle" toppings: melted chocolate, caramel and toasted pecans.

4. Giant Vanilla Salted Butterscotch Sticky Buns — How do you make real butterscotch? Butter + scotch. Both are generously represented in the filling and sauce for these behemoth buns. Top 'em with a flurry of vanilla salt and crown yourself king/queen of all sticky bun-dom.

5. Simple Stout Sticky Buns — Welcome to Sticky City, population: your face. Reduce your favorite stout or porter along with a squidge of honey to achieve this fiendish degree of stickiness. (Lightning bonus round: these buns are made with frozen puff pastry.)

6. Lemon and Marzipan Buns — Admittedly less outwardly sticky than other buns, these sophisticated rounds hide a gooey, molten marzipan center, otherwise known as a game-changer.

7. Hot Cross Sticky Buns — Buns of opposing families should never be at war. Combine the best attributes of both to form a spicy-sweet, raisin-studded and revolutionary bun hybrid. Finally, a happy ending for the Romeo and Juliet of the sticky bun world.

8. Caramel Peach Sticky Buns — Contemplating more ways to add booze to your breakfast plate? Try these buns and their fresh peach filling that gets a little schnockered thanks to a shot of rum. (Tell no one these are vegan.)

9. Pecan Sticky Buns — Scratch-made brioche dough makes these babies puff up like a runaway hot air balloon, unable to be tamed by man/cake pan/physics.

10. Bacon Sticky Buns — Buttery, bacon-stuffed scrolls are the things dreams are made of. Cancel all appointments and tell your friends that you won't be leaving the house today — there are some buns that require your undivided eating attention.

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