These enormous 9" buns elicit a smile from everyone who sees them. "Cool! A giant sticky bun!" While you won't be eating an entire 9" sticky bun yourself (you'll end up serving it in slices, as coffee cake), sometimes it's just plain fun to transform a familiar recipe into something brand new.
To make the dough: Weigh your flour; or measure it by gently spooning it into a cup, then sweeping off any excess. Combine all of the dough ingredients — by hand, mixer, or bread machine — and knead to make a smooth, supple dough.
Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover the bowl with lightly greased plastic wrap or your favorite reusable wrap, and allow the dough to rise for 1 hour. It'll become very puffy.
Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled work surface, and divide it in half. Divide each of the two pieces in half again; you now have four pieces of dough.
Cover the dough with plastic wrap or a damp towel, and let it rest while you prepare the topping and pans.
To make the topping: In a small bowl, whisk together the syrup, rum (if you're using it) and melted butter.
Divide this mixture evenly between two 9" round cake pans.
Sprinkle the brown sugar and nuts over the topping in the pans.
To shape the buns: Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll it into a 30" to 32" rope, about 3/4" to 1" in diameter. If you've used the dough relaxer, this dough will be very easy to roll out. If not, roll it under your palms lightly and when it starts to resist, give it a 2-minute rest. When you're just about done rolling, dust the rolling surface with the cinnamon sugar and roll the logs in it thoroughly.
Starting in the center, loosely coil one of the ropes into one of the pans; it should fill about the middle two-thirds of the pan. Leave about 1/2" of space between the loops of the coil to allow for the expansion of the dough as it rises.
Take a second rope, pinch its end to the rope in the pan, and coil it to fill the remainder of the pan.
Repeat the process with the second pan and the remaining two ropes of dough.
Cover the pans and let the dough rise for about 60 minutes; it should just about fill the bottom of the pan.
While the buns are rising, preheat the oven to 350°F.
Bake the buns for 25 to 30 minutes, or until they're golden brown. Remove them from the oven, and immediately turn each pan over onto a serving plate, so the buns drop out onto the plate. Scrape any nuts or sugar left in the pan onto the bun.
Allow the buns to cool a bit before serving. To serve, cut into slices, wedges, or chunks.
Store any leftovers, loosely covered, at room temperature for 4 days; freeze for up to 3 months.
