Iced buns: a retro bake that’s just the right mix of sweet and savoury. With a little bit of help, older kids will love owning this baking project – just make sure they remember to share the finished product!
Mix together the flour, salt, sugar and yeast in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and set aside. With adult supervision, put the milk and butter in a small pan and warm over a low heat until the butter has just melted and the milk is steaming. Pour into the well in the flour, then add the egg. Stir until a wet dough forms.
Dust a surface with flour and knead the dough for 10 mins. If it’s too sticky, add extra flour, a little at a time (adding up to 50g). When it’s ready, it should feel elastic, smooth and no longer sticky. Clean and lightly oil the bowl, then put the dough in. Cover with clingfilm and leave in a warm place to rise for about 1 hr or until doubled in volume. Knock the air out of the dough using your fist, then divide it into 15 pieces (each weighing about 60g). Dust the work surface with flour, roll each piece of dough into a ball, then into a fat sausage shape about 10cm long.
Oil a large baking tray and place the dough on it in rows, leaving a 2cm gap between each piece. Lightly oil a piece of clingfilm and lay it over the buns. Allow to rise in a warm place for 30-45 mins until puffed up and just touching. Preheat the oven to gas 6, 200°C, fan 180°C. Bake for 10 mins or until lightly golden (an adult should take things in and out of the oven). When cool enough to handle, move to a wire rack and allow to cool completely. Gently pull the buns apart.
Divide the icing sugar between 3 wide, lipped bowls, then add 1 tbsp water and a couple of drops of a different food colour gel to each and mix until smooth (a little gel goes a very long way, so just start with small amount). Dip 5 buns into each bowl to just cover the tops with icing, scraping any excess off on the side of the bowl.
Return to the tray and scatter over the sprinkles. Allow to set for 15 mins or until the icing is just hard. Will keep in an airtight container for up to 2 days but are best eaten the day they are iced.
We've prepared a simple shopping list so you can easily get all you need to make these iced buns. Be sure to note down the ingredients or take a screenshot before heading to the shops.
500g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting1 tsp salt50g caster sugar 7g sachet dried yeast 300ml semi-skimmed milk 40g unsalted butter, cubed 1 large egg, lightly beaten vegetable oil, for greasing
For the icing 240g icing sugar pink, yellow and orange food colour gel (swap the pink for blue or green to make vegetarian)1½ tbsp sprinkles
Makes 15 buns
of the reference intake Carbohydrate 47.1g Protein 5.3g Fibre 1.2g
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