Jam Filled Yeast Buns (Buhtle)

Food trends come and go, but some recipes remain close to my heart forever. These jam filled yeast buns (buhtle) are just like that.

My grandma gave me her own recipe for these long ago, and, over time, I somehow made it my own. Without any hesitation, I can say that, for me, these are the best jam-filled buns, or as we call them in Croatia – buhtle – in the world! What I love about this recipe is that these buns stay soft and nice even the next day!

What are Buhtle

Buhtle are pull-apart, sweet buns made of enriched yeast dough. Here in Croatia, they are typically filled with plum or apricot jam, but some type of chocolate spread can be used, too. My grandma often called them “bukte” and I’m pretty sure that’s because of Hungarian influence on the Slavonian cuisine (Slavonia is the region in Croatia where I grew up). They call them lekváros bukta.

For Austrians, they are buchteln/wuchteln and often served with homemade vanilla sauce, which is not the case here in Croatia. We like to enjoy our buhtle with a cup of milk or with some coffee. So yes, buhtle aren’t something that only we Croatians like to eat, but with time they become so popular here that I think we can freely call them ours, too.

One thing is certain though: these fluffy, soft jam buns simply call to…slow down.

Take a break.

And forget about all problems, for just a glimpse of time.

Essential Ingredients For Jam Filled Buns

• Flour – all-purpose flour. I recommend sifting.
• Milk – fresh, full-fat milk.
• Yeast – one of the very few recipes in which I use fresh yeast. Instead of fresh yeast, you can use instant dry yeast too.
• Sugar – you’ll need regular, granulated sugar. If you want, you can play around with the amount of sugar in this dough, but personally, I never put too much sugar in these jam buns because the filling is sweet enough.
• Oil – regular sunflower oil, refined.
• Eggs + egg yolk – for binding the dough and richer taste. One egg as an eggwash before baking.
• Salt – for flavor and better gluten development.
• Lemon zest – freshly grated, from organic lemon. If you have a large lemon, the zest of half of it will be enough.
• Bourbon vanilla – I use vanilla powder in this recipe, but you can also use vanilla extract or bourbon vanilla sugar.
• Jam – use whatever jam you prefer, but I recommend that it is a bit thicker. Plum jam is a classic, but I also like to use apricot or rosehip jam. You can also use Nutella, ganache, or something similar.
• Powdered sugar – we need it at the very end, for dusting freshly baked buns before serving. Don’t do it immediately while the jam buns are still hot, otherwise the sugar will melt.

How to Make Jam Filled Buns

Be sure to check out the recipe card at the end of this post. It has the exact amounts of ingredients and detailed recipe instructions!

1. STEP: Activate the yeast

Mix some sugar, lukewarm milk, and crumbled fresh yeast and stir until dissolved. Leave covered for 10-15 min.

2. STEP: Knead the dough

Start by adding the dry ingredients first and then the wet ingredients at a lower speed. This dough needs a lot of time to knead properly, so don’t rush anything. At first, it will be quite soft and sticky, but as the gluten develops, it will become shiny and pliable, and it will stick to the hook of a standing mixer more and more.

During the kneading, you can add a tablespoon of flour or two, but not too much, otherwise the final buns won’t be so soft.

3. STEP: Shape the dough and leave to proof

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and shape it into a smooth ball.

Grease the surface of the dough with some oil and put it in a bowl. Cover and leave in a warm place to proof until it doubles in volume.

4. STEP: Fill with jam and shape into buns

Transfer the proofed dough to a working surface and roll it out to about 1 cm/0.4 inch thickness. Cut into 16 squares, then put a jam of your choice on each. Connect the ends as shown in the images below and form into a ball.

5. STEP: Second rise

Place the buns in the prepared pan next to each other, leaving a little space in between because they will still expand a lot. Cover and let them rise for another 30-40 minutes. During this time, preheat the oven.

6. STEP: Brush with eggwash and bake

7. STEP: Dust with powdered sugar and serve

After the jam filled buns (buhtle) are baked, remove them from the oven and cover them with a clean kitchen towel. Let them cool down for 10-15 min and cover with powdered sugar. Enjoy with a cup of milk or tea.

Tips and Tricks For The Best Jam Filled Buns

• Before you decide to prepare these jam buns, make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature. This will allow us to knead the dough properly and yeast will do its job faster. And believe me, you want to try these buns ASAP!
• Milk should be a bit warm, but not too much (up to approx. 40°C/104°F). If the milk is too hot, you can easily kill the yeast which means the dough won’t rise.
• One of the key steps is to knead the dough properly. Do it for at least 15-20 minutes. You can do this by hand, but I recommend leaving that step to a stand mixer.
• While kneading the dough, it will seem quite sticky and soft. Don’t worry, that’s what we want! Just keep kneading until gluten develops. You can add a tablespoon or two of flour during the process but don’t overdo it. This process is somewhat similar to the process I used when making brioche burger buns.
• Brush the kneaded dough with some oil and let it rise. That way, the dough will be easier to separate from the bowl after the first rise, you won’t need to flour the surface too much when rolling out and the balls will be so much easier to form. Also, the dough will not dry out that easily during the process of shaping the buns.
• Leave enough time for the second proofing, after the buns have been shaped and filled with jam. At least 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven on time and don’t bake these jam filled buns at too high temperature. I find the temperature of 170°C/338°F to be perfect for me but know that every oven is different. If by any chance the buns start to get very dark on the outside, but they aren’t baked on the inside, cover them with some aluminum foil.

How Long Jam Filled Buns Can Last

These homemade jam filled buns can last up to 3 days, although they are the best on the first day. Always store them at room temperature because refrigerating them will dry them much faster.

If you want to reheat the leftovers, do it in the original baking pan covered with some damp kitchen towel and put over an aluminum foil. Do it in the oven at 120°C/248°F for only a few minutes.

If you enjoy baking all kinds of yeast doughs, try some of these recipes, too:

• RASPBERRY BRIOCHE BABKA RECIPE
• DELICIOUS CHOCOLATE GLAZED YEAST DONUTS
• BEST BRIOCHE BURGER BUNS RECIPE
• PINCA – SOFT AND SWEET CROATIAN EASTER BREAD

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Bake with love,