Buchteln (Austrian Sweet Buns)
Originally, Buchteln (singular: Buchtel) were a Bohemian sweet dish. However, in the course of time they have become part of the traditional Austrian Cuisine. This dough is yeast-based. In order to get nice, fluffy dough, the right combination of flour, milk and yeast is needed. Additionally, as a yeasted dough, this recipe is somewhat time consuming. This is indispensable as the dough needs to rise, and this takes some time. The joy for cooking and baking should be in the foreground in today’s hectic society. So, take your time and try this traditional Austrian sweet dish.
Dough
Flour 4 cups 500 g 100%
Yeast [note 3] 1 ⅛ cakes 20 g 4%
White granulated sugar 3 Tbsp + 3/16 tsp 40 g 8%
Butter ½ cup 120 g 24%
Eggs 2 ea. 100 g 20%
Salt 1 pinch 1/16 tsp 0.375 g 0.07%
Lemon (lemon peel) 2 tsp 4 g 0.8%
Milk (as required) [note 4]
Filling
Jam (optional)
Pans
Cooking oil or butter
Scald milk by bringing it to at least 180 °F (82 °C), then let it cool.
Put the yeast in a small bowl and add some lukewarm milk to it. Add 1 teaspoon of sugar. Let it rest for a moment, as yeast in general needs some time to ferment.
When ready, add the yeast mixture to the bowl with the flour. Put the remaining sugar into the bowl. Make sure the mixture has reached at least room temperature, then mix in the eggs and a pinch of salt. Finally, add ground lemon peel.
Knead it until you get nice, smooth dough.
Use a cloth to cover the bowl. Let it rest until the dough has risen significantly.
In the meantime, thoroughly oil or butter a baking pan, preferably of about 5 to 10 cm height.
When ready, take the dough and put it on a clean, floured surface. Roll the dough to 1 cm thickness. Divide it so that you get equal squares of about 4 x 4 square centimeters each.
Top each square with a dollop of jam. Pinch together the 4 corners of the square to enclose the filling, then roll the bun in your hands to round it out.
Place the buns side-by-side in the greased pan. Cover them with a cloth once more, and let them rest for 20 minutes.
20 minutes
Bake the buns in a preheated oven until they are golden brown.
- •Try dusting the buns with some powdered sugar.
- •For extra flavor, you may also serve them with some vanilla sauce.