Sticky Buns/Cinnamon Buns

After watching Throwdown with Bobby Flay twice - Episode Sticky Buns, I had to have some! I didn't try Joanne Chang's or Bobby Flay's recipe, although I would like to give it a try in the near future. Somehow I was led to Anita's Sticky Buns - her beautiful pictures enticed me!
In my humble opinion, the sticky buns were good (if caramel not overcooked), but the cinnamon buns were a little bland & lacking in complexity (even though I increased the zest, extract, etc). Complexity meaning flavor, richness & wow factor. To me, the amount of spices, zest and/or extracts & butter need to be bumped up a level. If I'm going to spend many many hours putting together a yeast dough, it better be darn good & worth it, in this particular case - meaning more butter & spices! For next time, following Joanne's recipe, I'll probably try a brioche dough & following Flay, I'll probably slather on some butter, a lot of spices & up the zest. I'm sure the addition of nuts would be wonderful, but I'm trying to avoid roasted nuts - maybe raw nuts sprinkled on the gooey goo after the buns come out of the oven. Although the end result may not have been the best ever, nonetheless, there's always something special about homemade goodies that make them taste very heart warming & comforting.