At this time of year, even people who don't do much cooking begin to turn toward the kitchen — making gifts for friends, preparing for family guests, whipping up contributions to office and club potlucks and holiday parties. And baking is a favorite pastime of people who otherwise don't consider themselves cooks.

But most of us have to fit our baking in around other responsibilities — few have the luxury of staying home all day to make a sweet dough, let it rise, form it, embellish it and bake it.

This recipe and technique from the Culinary Institute of America's "Breakfast and Brunches" book (Lebhar-Freidman, 2005, $35) allows you to spread the work of making sticky buns over two days. And the basic dough can be used for variations on the sticky-bun theme, such as cinnamon rolls. (To make cinnamon rolls, skip the pan smear but use the cinnamon smear. After the rolls are baked, top with a cinnamon glaze, along with a basic white-sugar glaze or cream-cheese glaze — see recipes, Page F2).

In addition to offering a convenient alternative when you have overnight guests or early breakfast plans, the slow rise of the dough in the refrigerator makes the already mouthwatering buns even more moist, tender, and flavorful.

Overnight sticky buns are made exactly like those baked the same day. The only difference is that the prepared rolls are stored in the refrigerator up to 24 hours before baking. Just remove the pan from the refrigerator the next morning and allow the buns to warm to room temperature. Depending on the temperature of your kitchen, this can take anywhere from one to two hours.

There's another way to streamline the production of sticky buns to satisfy sudden sweet cravings or unexpected guests. Marc Haymon, lecturing instructor in baking and pastry arts at The Culinary Institute of America suggests, "Freeze the prepared rolls instead of placing them in the refrigerator overnight. Stored in airtight containers between sheets of waxed paper, unbaked sticky buns will retain their quality for about one month.

"The day before you'd like to serve them, place the frozen rolls in prepared pans, store in the refrigerator to thaw, and bring them up to room temperature the following morning before baking."

Note: A candy thermometer is essential for preparation of the sticky buns.

STICKY BUNS WITH PECANS

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

3/4 cup milk, warmed to 110 degrees

4 cups bread flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon salt

Egg wash (1 egg whisked with 2 tablespoons cream or milk)

1/2 cup pecans

2 cups Pan Smear (recipe follows)

1 cup Cinnamon Smear (recipe follows)

Place the yeast and warm milk in the bowl of a mixer and stir to dissolve; let stand about 5 minutes. Combine 2 1/2 cups of the flour with the sugar, butter, eggs and salt. Mix on low speed using the dough hook just until the dough comes together. Add as much of the remaining flour to the mixture as needed so dough is no longer sticky. Increase speed to medium-high and mix until dough is soft, smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.

Shape dough into a ball and place in a lightly greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 2 hours. Fold the dough gently over on itself in three or four places. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. While dough rises, toast and chop the pecans, and set aside; prepare Pan Smear and Cinnamon Smear, and set aside.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare two 9-inch square baking pans by pouring 1 cup of Pan Smear into each of them; sprinkle with the toasted, chopped pecans. Roll dough into a rectangle 8-by-14 inches and about 1/4-inch thick. Dust dough and rolling pin with flour to prevent dough from sticking. Brush a 1-inch-wide strip of egg wash along the long side of the dough closest to you. Spread the Cinnamon Smear evenly over the remaining dough. Roll the dough to form a log, starting with the edge opposite the egg-washed strip. Pinch the dough together to seal the seam. Slice into 12 equal pieces.

Place 6 rolls in each of the prepared pans. (You can refrigerate the rolls at this point for up to 24 hours, or freeze up to 1 month.) Cover the rolls and let them rise until they have nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Brush lightly with egg wash.

If sticky buns have been prepared in advance, remove them from the refrigerator and allow them to warm to room temperature before baking. Bake rolls until baked through and crust is golden brown, about 30 minutes. As soon as you remove the pans from the oven, turn each pan over onto a plate. Lift the pan away and cool rolls before serving.

Makes 12 sticky buns.