Pull Apart Maple Pecan Sticky Buns

Once a month, the pastor's wives at my church Southbay Church, get together for some face to face time. It's a great way for us to spend time together, fellowship, pray together, share what's going on in each other's life, and grow together.

It seems funny that we see each other at church every week, live in walking distance from some of them, and live only a few miles from the others, and we still feel like we don't get to see each other, much less be able to talk in depth and create good relationships.

It's really important for us. Since our church is a church plant, we are all new to the area, moved here not knowing a soul other than each other, and are still a very new, growing church - so cultivating and maintaining close relationships with our own team is crucial. We celebrate birthdays together as staff families, have our monthly staff wives brunch, and are just very intentional about relationships with one another.

This past month, I hosted the brunch at my place. I tried to get a picture of all of us girls, and of course, everyone said "no, not today", so I can't show you our beautiful faces, but I'll try again next month! :)

I made these pull apart maple sticky buns - and they are amazing! They have cream cheese dipped in cinnamon and sugar wrapped around biscuits, drenched in butter, and covered with maple syrup and pecans!!! The recipe is from Kraftfoods.com

Have I told you about kraftfoods.com before? I haven't? Shame on me!! (and no, I definitely am not getting brownie points from Kraft to talk about them - I just love them)

This is the first website I started using when I first started cooking. There are hundreds of recipes for every kind of type. You can even put in three ingredients you have on hand and it will tell you what to make for dinner. There is a healthy living section, and enough desserts to make you the talk of the dinner party for months on end!! And they are EASY with not too many froo froo ingredients. The summer recipes and Christmas recipes are the best!

Check it out.... but for now, go make your hunny some sticky buns for breakfast!

PULL APART MAPLE STICKY BUNS (By: Kraftfoods.com)

Ingredients:

3/4 cup PLANTERS Chopped Pecans

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, divided

1/3 cup maple-flavored or pancake syrup

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 cans (12 oz. each) refrigerated flaky buttermilk biscuits

1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, cut into 20 cubes

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Sprinkle nuts onto bottom of 12-cup fluted pan or 10-inch tube pan sprayed with cooking spray.

3. Melt 2 TBSP. butter in small microwaveable bowl. Stir in syrup; drizzle over nuts in pan.

4. Mix cinnamon and sugar in a shallow dish.

5. Separate biscuits into 20 biscuits. Flatten each to 1/4".

6. Roll cream cheese cubes in cinnamon sugar mixture until evenly coated; place 1 in center of each biscuit.

7. Gather up sides of dough to enclose filling; press edges together to seal. Roll each into ball.

8. Melt remaining butter in small dish. Dip top of each ball into melted butter and then cinnamon and sugar.

9. Arrange half the balls, cinnamon sugar side up, in prepared pan. Repeat with remaining balls to form second layer. Top with any remaining butter and cinnamon sugar.

10. Bake 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 1 min. in pan.

11. Invert onto serving plate. Remove pan. Top buns with any remaining nuts in pan. Cool slightly.