Raspberry Muesli Buns

This is a post that has been 'hanging around' into the depths of my drafts for a while. I don't know why - I loved the outcome of my own creation and the pictures that I took, especially because I could share a story with it. So that's what I am going to do with you now.

I love milk rolls - or sweet buns. It's a sweet childhood memory, eating them (still warm) fresh from the bakery around the corner with some butter (and jam) and with a cup of hot chocolate. Or just plain as they were as a sweet treat in between. While I was studying in the north of Germany, this was the first thing I always got when coming home, because I missed them so much. The bakeries in the north always baked them with raisins - and I hate raisins. Unfortunately I never managed to bake them on my own, they always would get a hard tasteless mess - I have to mention that during that time I still suffered from my fear of making dough with yeast. Years later I did overcome that fear thanks to the challenges of The Daring Kitchen. But trying those sweet buns again never came to my mind again because they were easily availiable here and I didn't have that craving for them anymore...

... until I read the 2012 March/April Issue of the Jamie Oliver Magazine. It contained a feature about sweet buns (British bun recipes, of course) and this feature ignited my love for sweet buns again. Was I willing to try to bake some again, after failing so many times before? I definitively was! And as I had an obsession with raspberries and muesli at the same time (it was raspberry season), I decided to combine everything together. I took the recipe of the Chelsea buns and adapted it to my needs. I loved the outcome - I wonder why I didn't bake them again ever since ...

Raspberry Muesli Buns
adapted from the Jamie Oliver Magazine March/April 2012 Issue
makes 9 buns

Dough:

• 1 package of dry instant yeast (12 g)
• 50 ml milk
• 500 g flour, all-purpose
• 50 g sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 20 g butter, at room temperature
• 1 egg, beaten
• 150 ml lukewarm water
• zest of one lemon
• 1 egg, lightly beaten with some milk or buttermilk, for brushing

Filling:

• 90 g muesli/granola of your choice (preferably with oats)
• 90 g set yoghurt (I used Greek yoghurt with 10% fat)
• 1 teaspoon raspberry jam
• about 30 raspberries (fresh)

In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients, stirring with a wooden spoon. Mix until you get a soft and sticky dough. Let rest for 5 minutes. Knead the dough with floured hands for about 8 to 10 minutes, stretching and slapping it in between, until you get a smooth and elastic dough. This step is crucial! This was one of the reasons my first yeasted dough attempts failed - I just didn't knead enough (and let the dough rest long enough afterwards). Place the dough back in the bowl, cover with a kitchen towel or cling film and let rest in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size. Divide into 9 equal portions and shape buns. Place onto a baking try or into a springform pan if you want your buns stick together afterwards. I used my 23x23 cm rectangle springform pan (don't forget to grease it). Let the buns rise for another 30 minutes. Meanwhile preaheat your oven to 200 °C and mix the muesli, yogurt and raspberry jam into a bowl until completely combined. When your buns have doubled in size, press a mould in the middle of the buns, fill with the muesli mixture and top with some (three) raspberries. Brush with the egg-milk-mixture. Bake for about 15 minutes, until golden.