Buchteln are Austrian sweet yeast buns that are commonly filled with fruit jam or poppy seeds and topped with powdered sugar. This recipe is naturally leavened and incorporates orange zest, which perfectly complements the fruit jam filling that I opted to use. The bread is only a little sweet and makes for a perfect breakfast or and dessert
Sourdough Buchteln
Adapted from here.
Ingredients
50ml warm milk
40g granulated sugar
1 egg
60g melted butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp orange zest
1/4 tsp salt
200g active, fed sourdough starter, 100% hydration
225g all purpose flour
about 5 tbsp apricot jam, or other fruit jam of choice
1/2 tbsp melted butter
Instructions
- Dissolve sourdough starter in warm milk.
- Whisk in sugar, egg, melted butter, vanilla, orange zest, and salt.
- Add flour. Mix until well combined, then knead by hand or using the dough hook attachment on a stand mixer. Knead until the dough is soft and smooth.
- Cover and let rise for 4-5 hours, depending on the warmth of your kitchen. The dough will come close to doubling in size.
- Deflate the dough and divide into 12 equal portions (about 52g each). Shape each portion into a round ball. Cover and let rest for 15 minutes.
- Flatten each ball and use a lightly floured rolling pin to roll to a circle 3-3.5 inches in diameter.
- Place about 1 tsp of apricot jam (or other fruit jam) in the center of the circle. Bring the edges of the dough up around the filling and pinch to seal, being careful not to get jam too close to the edges. Round the buns and keep finished buns covered while you work on the rest.
- Grease a 9 inch springform pan with melted butter. Place shaped buns in the pan; they will be close together but not squished. Brush the tops of the buns with the rest of the melted butter.
- Cover and let rise for about 3 hours, depending on the warmth of your kitchen. The buns will be significantly puffier after the second rise.
- Bake at 375 degrees F for 20-25 minutes, or until a thermometer inserted in the center bun reads 190 degrees F.
- Let cool for 5-10 minutes, enjoy with or without powdered sugar.
