Name: Buttery raisin buns
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 2 h 55 min
Yield: 12
Cuisine: Dutch
Ingredients: 250 ml milk; 200 ml water handwarm; 10 g dry yeast; 680 g flour; 70 g sugar; 2 tl salt; 55 g butter (at roomtemperature); 400 g raisins

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Recently, I had a craving for a delicious raisin bun, lovely with butter! Unfortunately, the store only had “butter” raisin buns that mainly contained palm fat, rapeseed oil, turmeric, vanillin, and a whole list of unnecessary ingredients. Fortunately, I found some recipes on the internet to make delicious raisin buns. I tried a few recipes and based on these, I made my recipe. If you prefer buttery currant buns, use currants instead of raisins or use a mix of both.

I now make this recipe every weekend because these buttery raisin buns are so delicious, you can’t have enough in stock!

Scalded milk

In this recipe, you heat the milk just below boiling point. In the past, milk was heated, also called “scalded milk,” to kill bacteria since the milk was not yet pasteurized. Nowadays, most milk is pasteurized, so the bacteria are already killed before the milk reaches your fridge. Heating the milk still ensures that some enzymes are broken down. This process, in turn, makes your baked goods much airier.

Additionally, I often forget to take the butter out of the fridge in time. By adding the butter after heating the milk, it becomes soft and easier to incorporate into your dough.

Baking supplies

Kitchen scale
Mixing bowls (1 small, 1 large)
Optional: food processor
Pan
Dough scraper
Tea towel or plastic wrap
Optional: thermometer

Ingredients

250 ml milk
200 ml hand-warm water
10 g dry yeast
680 g flour
70 g sugar
2 tsp salt
55 g butter (at room temperature)
400 g raisins

Instructions

Heat the milk just below boiling point (between 80 °C – 90 °C). Let it cool until it is hand-warm. Soak the raisins in lukewarm water for 15 minutes, then drain and dry well. I put the raisins in a dry bowl with some kitchen paper underneath and on top and press the moisture out of the raisins. Mix the hand-warm water, yeast, and sugar and let it stand for a few minutes until the mixture foams up.

Take a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your kitchen machine and mix the flour and salt. Then add the milk and butter mixture and the yeast mixture and knead it into a smooth dough. Knead in the kitchen machine for about 5-10 minutes or by hand for about 20 minutes. Add the butter in cubes of 1 x 1 cm after 5 minutes. Only add the next cube when the previous one has been incorporated into the dough.

When you can pull a thin membrane from the dough, through which you can see without it tearing, the dough is ready for the next step. Let the dough rest for fifteen minutes, then knead the raisins (and nuts, if desired) into the dough. This can be done by hand or with the kitchen machine.

If you knead the filling by hand, do it as follows. Take the dough out of the bowl and flatten it with your hands into a square. Place the filling on the dough and spread it evenly. Lift the left corner of your work surface and stretch it slightly, place the corner in the middle of the square, and repeat with the other three corners. You have now formed a diamond. Stretch the lower corner a little and then pull it back towards the center. Fold the side corners inwards and roll the dough tightly. Then put the side with the seams facing downwards and make a ball of the dough. Be careful not to let the dough tear; if it tears, it means it is rolled too tightly.

If you have kneaded the filling with the kitchen machine, take it out of the bowl after 1 or 2 minutes and make a ball out of it. Take the mixing bowl and add a tablespoon of oil to it. Put the dough ball in the bowl for the first rise. The first rise should last until the dough has roughly doubled in size, usually taking about an hour, but this depends on the temperature in your home.

Toward the end of the rising time, prepare one or two baking sheets. Grease them with butter and sprinkle some flour over them, or use parchment paper. Unfortunately, I no longer have a baking sheet (the coating came off and there are no separate baking sheets available for this oven size), so I now bake on the rack with parchment paper. This works fine in principle, but the only downside is that you can see impressions of the rack in your baked goods.

When the dough has doubled in size, you may remove it from the bowl and place it on the work surface. Be sure that the round side of the dough is facing downwards. Press the dough down with your hands so that the air can escape. Divide the dough into the correct amount with your dough scraper. For example, you can make 30 small raisin buns (pieces of dough weighing 55 g) or 15 large raisin buns (pieces of dough weighing 110 g) with this amount of dough. Make a ball out of each piece of dough by folding the corners inward, rolling it tightly, and then turning it over to make it round.

Place each raisin bun on the baking sheet and cover it with a tea towel or plastic wrap for the second rise. This rise is ready when a light impression remains in the dough when you press your finger into it. This will take about an hour again, depending on the temperature in your home.

Towards the end of the second rise, preheat the oven to 200 °C. Lower the temperature to 180 °C when the raisin buns are being baked. The baking time varies, depending on how large you have made the raisin buns, and will take between 20 minutes (for the small raisin buns) and 35 minutes (for the large raisin buns). Toward the end of the baking time, measure the temperature inside a currant bun with a thermometer. When the temperature is 95 °C, the raisin buns can be removed from the oven.

Place the raisin buns on a rack, spread some butter over them (I simply rub the butter block over the raisin buns), and let them cool. Enjoy your raisin buns!

Roomboter rozijnenbollen op een houten plank

Tips

You can store these buttery raisin buns in the freezer, they will stay fresh for up to 3 months.
For some more variety, you can also add a teaspoon of cinnamon, speculaas spices (a typical Dutch spice mix), or pumpkin spice!
Delicious with a generous layer of butter and a slice of cheese.
If you, like me, have forgotten to take the butter out of the refrigerator on time, you can add it to the heated milk. Be careful not to let it completely melt, as this can affect the consistency of your dough. I therefore only add the butter for a few minutes before adding the milk to the dough.
Is your dough too sticky? Add one tbsp of four at a time to the dough while kneading it.
Is your dough too dry? Add one tbsp of water at a time to the dough while kneading it.
For some more flavor dept replace 100 g raisins with some nuts (I love adding pecan).