Soft Danish Christmas buns (juleboller)
Recipe for the softest Christmas buns, gently flavoured with warm Christmas spices.This recipe makes 12 buns.
Servings 12 buns
Ingredients
- 500 g
plain flour
- 50 g
butter, at room temperature
- 250 ml
water, lukewarm
- 1
egg
- 25 g
fresh yeast
- 2 tbsp
sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp
ground cardamom
- 1 tsp
cloves, ground
- 1 tsp
salt
- 1 tbsp
flour, for kneading after the first rise
- 1
egg for glazing, beaten
Pearl sugar (nib sugar) and finely chopped hazelnuts, for topping
Instructions
- Dissolve the yeast in the water, then add the sugar and a little of the flour until the mixture has a porridge-like consistency.
- Add the salt, the Christmas spices and the egg, and stir them into the dough.
- Add the rest of the flour a little at a time, and finally the butter.
- Knead the dough thoroughly until it comes away from the sides of the bowl, ideally in a stand mixer, otherwise well by hand. The dough should be slightly sticky but still come away from the bowl.
- Cover the bowl with cling film and a tea towel and leave the dough to rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
- Turn the dough out of the bowl, knead it together briefly with a little flour, then divide it into 12 equal pieces of about 75 g each.
- Shape the buns into rounds without using too much flour – ideally none; the dough should stick slightly to your hands. If you like, tighten the dough by folding it under the bun until the top is smooth, then roll it gently between your palms – this gives you beautifully round buns.
- Place them on a baking tray and leave to prove for about 30 minutes.
- Brush with the beaten egg and sprinkle with pearl sugar and chopped hazelnuts.
- Bake for about 10 minutes at 225°C in a conventional oven (top and bottom heat) – or use the bake/steam programme if your oven has one.
- Leave the buns to cool on a wire rack before packing them in airtight bags.
Notes
These Christmas buns are made with plain white flour only – the dough simply takes its colour from the spices.