I was introduced to Stollen by my German flatmate way back in my college days and it still is one of my favourite festive bakes. I created these easy Stollen buns for Christmas day breakfast and they were absolutely lovely.
This recipe makes quite a large quantity of dough. You can split it and create two different kinds of buns – mincemeat works really well as filling, as does cinnamon. This is a variation of my best cinnamon rolls recipe.
Try to use good quality marzipan and roll it out thinly – funnily enough Ikea do a great one, so remember than when you are stocking up on pickled herring.
Ingredients
Makes 16 buns
240ml | 1 cup Total Classic Greek yoghurt
75g | 1/3 cup unsalted butter
3 eggs, lightly beaten
3 eggs, lightly beaten
500g | 4 cups white bread flour + more for dusting & rolling
100g | 1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 tsp dry active yeast
2 tsp dry active yeast
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
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50g | 1/3 cup mixed peel
100g | 1/2 cup raisins
Zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon
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400g | 14oz marzipan (you may not need all of it)
Egg wash: 1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp milk
6 tbsp flaked almonds for topping
Juice of 1 lemon + icing sugar for glazing (optional)
Method
1. Put the yoghurt and butter in a small saucepan and heat gently until the butter is melted. Set aside to cool slightly.
2. Put all the dry ingredients in the bowl of your stand mixer and mix together briefly. Add the yoghurt and eggs and mix on medium-low speed using the dough hook for about 10 minutes. Alternatively knead by hand for about 15 minutes until the dough is no longer sticky and forms a glossy ball.
3. Leave the dough in the mixing bowl, (or put a large, lightly greased bowl) cover and leave for 1-2 hours until nearly double in size.
4. Tip dough onto a floured worktop and knead lightly to deflate. Add the raisins, zest and mixed peel and knead them in. Divide into two sections and keep covered.
5. Flour your rolling pin then roll half the dough out into a rectangle shape. Brush it with some of the egg wash.
6. Roll out half the marzipan into a rectangle about the same size as your dough. Place on top of the dough.
7. Roll the dough, starting from the short side, into a roll. Trim the edges. Cut into 8 even pieces using a pastry cutter. Place the buns on a lined tray (or a buttered dish as shown), spacing them slightly apart. Cover with greased cling film and let them rise about an hour. Repeat process with the remaining dough.
8. Brush the buns with the egg wash then sprinkle the flaked almonds on top.
9. Preheat your over to 190C/375F. Bake for about 25-30 minutes. If your rolls are colouring too rapidly, cover with some foil after 15 minutes.
10. Mix the lemon juice with enough icing sugar to create a thick glaze and drizzle over the cooled buns.
Philly Abe says
My house smells like almond heaven. This is a great recipe. The dough is perfectly sweet, chewy, easy to work and rises reliably. For fruit I used dried sour cherries and golden raisins that were softened in orange juice and amaretto. I also added cardamom to the fruit, dough and egg wash. I think the rise is better with fat free or lowfat yogurt with no problems substituting. I plan to use the dough recipe for other bun variations.
Lucy Parissi says
Thanks so much for your comment I love this recipe too! Time I updated it with decent photos
anthony harrington says
have bookmarked this one, they look wonderful!
Sam Williams says
I tried these yesterday, and the recipe worked brilliantly
William G says
I love stolen, and the best thing is, my wife doesn't!
Ann Robinson says
The stollen buns looks really good, there too much temptation with your recipies
Natalie Crossan says
STOLLEN!!! wow this looks gorgeous x
prwilson says
Love stollen.
Tracy K Nixon says
These look delicious for a change!
Helen says
I loved the sound of this recipe when you shared it, and I've now got an occasion to bake it for. As it makes a large quantity I thought about putting half the uncooked buns in the fridge, then baking them fresh the next morning. Do you think that would work ok? Thanks Helen
Lucy Parissi says
Hi Helen,
Yes you can definitely put the uncooked buns in the fridge (loosely covered with greased cling film). They will rise slowly overnight. In the morning take them out of the fridge and bring back to room temperature before baking – maybe 30m to an hour. Hope they turn out well!
Helen says
Hi Lucy. This is such a delicious recipe and it worked really well putting half of the batch in the fridge overnight to enjoy fresh again the next day. Everyone really enjoyed them and I will definitely be baking them again. Thank you, Helen
Rebecca says
Growing up in Germany I also know and love Stollen 😉 I think it is a funny idea to take the classic Stollen and make some modern buns out of it 🙂 Sweet idea 😀