raisin + spice buns
overnight, easy, delicious with hot cross bun- ish flavors
Welcome to mamaeats, a twice-weekly newsletter (Tues. & Sat.) inspired by a simple + seasonal home life. I’m a mother of three, avid reader, gardener, and home cook who focuses on nourishing, whole food meals with a focus on plants. This newsletter is my labor of love, and it means so much that you are here. If you are not already, and are able to do so, please consider becoming a subscriber to support my work here. This gives you access to all the archives and recipes (find the recipe index here), as well as cook-along videos which go along with most recipes.
I am finally getting around to sharing this recipe, which is always requested when I share photos or videos of me making it. With this week being Easter, I thought it would be a good time to publish. These are not hot-cross buns (which are made with an enriched, sweetened dough and have a cross piped on top), and which I make every year, too—but they have really similar flavors, and are relatively wholesome, making them a nice alternative for small children.
I make these fruit buns all winter and spring and they have been a staple in our house ever since I first made them years ago. The recipe originally came from my friend Ellen, who is a wonderful cook and is always making good things for her family. What a gift it is to bake!
These buns are leavened with sourdough. I’ve never tried making them with dry yeast, although I’m sure they’d work. I’d suggest starting with 1/4 tsp dry yeast and 1 1/3 cups of water (about 320g) instead of the called for starter + water, and letting it ferment 14 hours before shaping. If you want to make your own starter from scratch (yes! you should!), it’s quite easy and fun, and I wrote a whole newsletter about it. Bake with it when you want to, chuck it in the fridge when you don’t.
starting.
creating a reliable, vigorous sourdough starter from scratch- with video showing each step and what things look like as it gets going. Simpler than you think!
I hope these buns will find a happy home in your kitchen as they have in ours. I can’t tell you how many times I have baked these to share with friends, taken them to the park for snack, packed them in lunchboxes, made them for tea or to brighten gloomy mornings. They also freeze perfectly (I recommend slicing them in half before freezing for easy toasting).
sourdough raisin buns
notes: I’ve given cup/volume measurements here as it’s how the recipe was originally given to me. Mostly I bake using grams now, as it’s more precise, so I added those measurements as well. The starter I use is 100% hydration (meaning I feed it with equal parts water and flour). This recipe is very forgiving! This is how I make our everyday recipe, but there are lots of ways to vary it and make it fancier. You can use chopped candied orange peel instead of the zest, you can add leftover mincemeat instead of the raisins, or use currants or whatever dried fruit you’ve got. You can soak the raisins in rum or amaretto to give it extra flavor. Try baking them with half whole grain flour, or all spelt flour. If you want the buns more spiced, double the amounts- also play with adding other spices, such as ground cardamom and/or cloves.