Beef Sticky Buns

By Ginny Tauer of Indiana Beef

If you love sweet sticky buns, you'll delight in a savory option for breakfast or brunch. Beef sausage crumbles, mushrooms, onion, spinach and Cheddar cheese are tucked in prepared pizza dough, rolled, sliced and baked to make perfect pinwheels of scrumptious-ness.

Total recipe time: 1 to 1-1/4 hours  Makes 4 servings or 8 sticky buns

Ingredients

1.        1 recipe Basic Country Beef Breakfast Sausage (recipe below)

2.        1 cup sliced button mushrooms

3.        3/4 cup diced onion

4.        3 cups fresh baby spinach

5.        1/2 cup reduced-fat shredded Cheddar cheese

6.        1 package (13.8 ounces) refrigerated pizza dough

7.        1/2 cup jalapeño pepper jelly, warmed (optional) or Cream Cheese "Frosting" (optional, recipe below )

Instructions

1.        Prepare Basic Country Beef Breakfast Sausage. Set aside 2 cups beef in large bowl; reserve remaining beef for another use. Add onion and mushrooms to same skillet sprayed with cooking spray over medium heat; cook 5 to 7 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally. Add spinach to skillet; stir to wilt spinach. Add vegetable mixture to beef; set aside 20 to 25 minutes or until mixture is cooled completely, stirring occasionally. Stir in cheese.

2.        Preheat oven to 425°F. Unroll pizza dough on flat surface; pat or roll dough evenly to 14 x 10-inch rectangle, pinching together any tears, if necessary. Spread beef mixture on dough, leaving 1/2 inch border on short side furthest from you. Starting at closest short end, roll up jelly-roll style, pinching to close. Slice dough into 8 pieces using serrated knife and careful sawing motion; place cut-side-up on greased baking sheet.

3.        Bake in 425°F oven 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove buns to cooling rack. While still warm, drizzle with melted jalapeño pepper jelly, if desired.

Basic Country Beef Breakfast Sausage: Combine 1 pound ground beef (96% lean), 2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage or 1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper in large bowl, mixing lightly but thoroughly. Heat large nonstick skillet over medium high heat until hot. Add beef mixture; cook 8 to 10 minutes, breaking into 1/2-inch crumbles and stirring occasionally. (Cooking times are for fresh or thoroughly thawed ground beef. Ground beef should be cooked to an internal temperature of 160°F. Color is not a reliable indicator of ground beef doneness.) Makes 2-1/2 cups crumbles

Cream Cheese "Frosting": Combine 1/4 cup softened reduced-fat cream cheese and 1 tablespoon milk in small bowl, stirring until smooth. Drizzle over warmed beef buns.