If you’re a donut person, a muffin person, or any other sort of something-sweet-with-your-coffee person, get ready to meet your new favorite. Seriously, I believe that these Butter-Eye Buns are that good! They’re moist and rich, fluffy and sweet. The base dough is perfectly seasoned with cardamom, and the butter and sugar “eye” is just divine. Plus, they freeze beautifully, which is good, because you’re always going to want to eat these hot.
My stomach is rumbling. Let’s continue.
If you haven’t already visited my blog post about pulla, start there. That pulla dough serves as the base for Butter-Eye Buns.
What you’ll need
- Baking sheets
- Pastry brush
Ingredients for Butter-Eye Buns
- Pulla dough. One recipe would make three dozen buns, or it can be halved to make 18. I sometimes make one braided loaf and two dozen buns. The possibilities are endless!
- Butter
- granulated sugar
- Pearl sugar
- Egg
How to make Butter-Eye Buns
Start with your pulla dough after it’s second rise, when it is ready for dividing. If you’re using the whole recipe for Butter-Eye Buns, you’ll divide it into three, then each third into one dozen buns. For the purposes of this post, I’ll describe making one dozen buns. You can repeat for each other section of pulla dough if you’re making more!
Divide pulla dough into twelve pieces. I recommend using a kitchen scale to first divide into thirds, then each third into fourths. I get them within 5 grams or so of each other, this helps them bake more uniformly.
Form each piece into a bun. They will be a little bigger than golf ball sized. Place each onto a lightly greased baking sheet.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Allow to rise until puffy, about 20 minutes.
Beat egg and use to brush each bun. Cut 4 Tbsp butter into 12 equal cubes and press one into the center of each bun.
Pour 1 tsp granulated sugar over each cube of butter. Sprinkle pearl sugar around the edges of the granulated sugar.
Bake 12-17 minutes, until golden brown.
Eat these hot! You will thank me. I highly recommend freezing any leftovers on the day of baking, then reheating in the oven when you’re ready to eat.
Finnish Butter-Eye Buns (voisilmapulla)
These are a divine sweet treat made with a rich cardamom flavored base and an "eye" made of butter and sugar.
Ingredients
- 1/3 to 1 recipe basic pulla dough
- 1 egg, beaten
- 4-12 Tbsp butter (4 Tbsp per dozen buns)
- granulated sugar
- pearl sugar (optional)
Instructions
- Begin with basic pulla dough after its second rise.
- If using the entire pulla recipe, break into three parts: the rest of the recipe describes making one dozen buns or one third of the total pulla dough recipe. Repeat for the other two parts of dough if desired
- Lightly grease a baking sheet (recommend one sheet per dozen buns)
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit
- Divide the dough into twelve equal parts
- Form each piece of dough into a ball shape, they will be a little bigger than golf ball size
- Place on baking sheet and let rise until puffy, about 20 minutes or so
- Brush each bun with beaten egg
- Divide 4 Tbsp butter into 12 equal squares and press one into the center of each bun.
- Pour 1 tsp granulated sugar on top of each cube of butter
- If desired, sprinkle pearl sugar around the edges of granulated sugar
- Place baking sheet in the oven and bake for 12-17 minutes, until golden brown and fragrant
- Enjoy!
Notes
I use a kitchen scale when dividing the dough to get them as close to equal size as possible. This ensures even baking. Divide first into three equal pieces, than each of those into four equal pieces.
How did they turn out? Are you, like me, considering swearing off donuts entirely in favor of Butter-Eye Buns? Let me know in the comments!
These look divine! If they taste as good as they look (which I’m sure they do) my family and I are in for a real treat!
Thank you Meredith! Let me know how it goes!
Oh my god this is what my breakfast dreams are made of! I can’t wait to try it
Let me know how it goes!
These look amazing! I can’t wait to try them.
Oh, I cannot wait to try these! They look incredible!