Sticky Pecan Caramel Rolls

I am a morning person. I love morning-time. I am happiest in the morning and, as a rule, it's rare for me to be unhappy in the morning. As the adage goes, there's an exception to every rule.

Today I woke up annoyed and got progressively more annoyed as I went through my morning routines of coffee, checking email, and MMWI. Yesterday, I had prepped everything so that it would all be ready for me to pull together for an early morning treat. Sadly, the thought of dealing with it annoyed me along with everything else.

Until I started playing with it. The dough, which had been in the refrigerator overnight, had the satiny smooth texture that enriched dough should have. I rolled it out, sprinkled it with butter, sugar, & pecans, and rolled it into a log. I used my kitchen shears to cut the log into 8 nice even buns. They went into a cake pan that had been schmeared with more butter, more sugar and more pecans. I had time to clean the kitchen while they rested and rose. A good use of my time, since the damn newspaper wasn't here yet -- and I thought I was done being annoyed for the morning!

It was hard to wait for them to come out of the oven. Of course when they did, the caramel was scorchingly hot, but it was so seductive that I couldn't resist. I took the risk and dipped my finger in for a lick. I love that first little taste.

Sticky Pecan Caramel Rolls, using Challah dough from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day