Sugar Buns

Hello food lovers,

It's been a while since we last shared a bakery recipe on here.

How about some sugar buns? :-)

Personally, I love sugar buns whether it's for breakfast or as a snack. Spread with jam, honey or chocolate spread, they are so delicious!

This recipe is perfect for keeping your kids busy on a rainy afternoon... When I was little, I loved making them with my mum! :-)

To make 13 sugar buns, you will need:

- 340g of flour

- 1 tsp of honey

- 40g of sugar

- 15g of fresh yeast or 4g of dry yeast

- 166g of whole milk

- 1 egg

- 40g of butter

- 3g of salt

- 1 egg yolk

- 1 tsp of heavy cream

- Pearl sugar

First, pour 340g of flour into a bowl and add 1 tsp of honey.

I like to add honey to my bread/pastry preparations, as it helps with fermentation.

Crumble 15g of fresh yeast over the flour.

Heat 166g of whole milk in the microwave at 600Watt for 30 seconds, then pour it into your mixture.

If you are using dry yeast, mix it into the lukewarm milk before adding it to the flour.

It is very important that the milk is lukewarm and not hot. If it is too hot the yeast will no longer be active and the buns will not rise.

Now add 40g of sugar.

Crack 1 egg into the bowl and add 40g of cold butter.

Using the dough hook, knead the dough for 5 minutes at speed 1.

Once the 5 minutes are up, add 3g of salt. To be precise, I use a scale spoon — I love it, it's an essential tool to have at home. ;-)

Continue kneading for another 5 minutes at speed 1.

Then increase to speed 2 for 5 minutes.

You will get a smooth and elastic dough.

Remove the hook and shape the dough into a nice ball and leave it in the bowl. This will give it strength for the rise.

Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and let the dough double in size at room temperature for about 1h30.

Great, we now have a dough that has risen nicely.

Knock it back by giving it 3-4 punches.

Place your dough on your work surface. Lightly flour it. Don't flour too much or you won't be able to shape the buns properly.

Using a plastic dough scraper, divide the dough into small pieces of 50g. This will give you 13 pieces.

Place a perforated mat on a perforated baking tray, this will ensure a nice even bake.

Shape the small pieces into balls, making sure to always keep any imperfections on the bottom.

Here is an explanatory video to help you shape the buns:

Place the balls on the perforated mat leaving space between each one.

Cover the buns with a damp cloth and let them rise at room temperature for about 45 minutes.

Once the 45 minutes are up, preheat your oven to 200°C, fan-assisted.

In a bowl, place 1 egg yolk and add 1 tsp of heavy cream.

Quick tip: I add heavy cream to my egg yolk to give a shine when baking.

Using a fork, mix the egg and cream together.

Remove the cloth from your tray, you will see that the buns have puffed up nicely.

Brush them with the egg yolk/cream mixture using a pastry brush.

Sprinkle the top of the buns with pearl sugar.

Bake them in the middle of the oven for about 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, our sugar buns are done. The hardest part now is letting them cool before eating them. ;-)

They will keep for 2 to 3 days at room temperature, well wrapped.

Quick tip if you want to prepare them in advance: You can (once the buns have cooled) freeze them in freezer bags. Simply take them out the evening before breakfast and let them thaw quietly in the fridge. ;-)

I hope you enjoyed this recipe! ;-)

Wishing you a lovely Sunday, food lovers.

Sophie

P.S.: All the equipment used can be found at the bottom of the recipe