Blueberry Sweet Buns (Jagodzianki)

Written by on in Dessert

When I used to live in Poland, during the early summer days and holidays, before I woke up and the heat had not yet set in, with the crispy freshness of the summer sunrise, my mother would go to the local bakery and bring us some sweet blueberry buns for breakfast. These yeasty, soft rolls are filled with tart blueberries and sprinkled with luscious crumble. Enjoyed warm, straight from the oven, they remind me of my time in Poland.

In order to bring back those memories and introduce my children to some Polish flavours, the scents of buttery dough baked wrapped around the blueberries together with the warming notes of cardamom and a pinch of nutmeg. I paired them with the bitterness of lemon zest and juice, both in the dough and the filling, to counterbalance the sweetness.

Baked goods with yeast, be it savoury or sweet, are one of the Polish staples that I hope you will also savour.

Blueberry Sweet Buns (Jagodzianki)
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Blueberry Sweet Buns (Jagodzianki)

Recipe by monicooked.comCourse: DessertCuisine: PolishDifficulty: Medium
Servings

4-6

servings
Prep time

2

hours 

30

minutes
Cooking time

30

minutes

These yeasty buns filled with blueberries rounded up by bitterness of the lemon are a perfect summer treat. Best enjoyed freshly baked from the oven.

Ingredients

  • Zaczyn (the yeast mixture)

  • 150ml milk

  • 1 tbsp flour

  • 2 tbsp sugar

  • 15g fresh yeast

  • Dough

  • 330g flour

  • 1tsp salt

  • 70g brown sugar

  • 1 tbsp lemon zest

  • 80g butter

  • 2 tbsp lemon juice

  • 1 egg

  • 1 egg yolk

  • Crumble

  • 60g flour

  • 30g cold butter

  • 10g almond flour

  • 20g brown sugar

  • To make the filling:

  • 300g blueberries

  • 1 tbsp lemon zest

  • 1 tbsp potato starch

  • 1/2 tsp cardamom

  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg

  • Other ingredients:

  • 1 egg for egg wash

Directions

  • To make zaczyn:
  • Warm up the milk to 35 degrees C, then crumble in the fresh yeast and add the flour and sugar.
  • Mix all the ingredients together and cover with a cloth.
  • Let it sit on the countertop at room temperature for 25 minutes or until at least doubled in sized and foamy.
  • To make the dough:
  • In a bowl of a stand mixer, put together sieved flour, salt, brown sugar and lemon zest. Stir in to combine.
  • In the meantime, melt the butter and let it cool down.
  • Make a well in the flour mixture and pour in the zaczyn. Using a spatula, stir it into the flour mixture to combine.
  • Add the lemon juice.
  • Add the egg and the egg yolk.
  • Knead the dough for 10 minutes either by hand or on a medium speed with a hook attachment.
  • Pour in the melted butter and knead for another 5 minutes. Beware that the dough will be sticky. Shape the dough into a ball.
  • Grease a big bowl with neutral oil and add the dough to it, moving it around so that it is al covered with some oil – this will prevent the dough sticking to the bowl while it is rising.
  • Cover the bowl with a cloth or a plastic foil and let it sit at room temperature and rise for at least 2 hours.
  • To make the crumble:
  • Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix them with your fingers until the mixture resembles sand. Set aside in the fridge until ready to use.
  • To make the filling:
  • Mix the washed blueberries with the lemon zest, potato starch, cardamom and nutmeg.
  • Finishing the buns:
  • Prepare two baking trays covered with parchment paper.
  • Once the has proven (doubled in sized), take it out on the lightly floured surface, release the air and divide it into 8 equal portions.
  • Form each portion into a ball and roll it out until around 1cm thick.
  • Add 2 tbsp of the filling and bringing all the sides together, enclose the filling into the dough, forming a ball, pinching it to close. Put a ball on the baking tray sealed side down.
  • Repeat the process for the remaining portions.
  • Cover the dough balls with cloths and let them sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to prove.
  • Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C fan.
  • After finishing the proving, whisk an egg in a cup and brush the dough balls with the egg wash and sprinkle with the crumble.
  • Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown.
  • Remove from the oven and transfer to a colling rack and let it cool down for 5 minutes.

Notes

  • If the zaczyn did not rise and is not foamy, it unfortunately has not worked and you need to repeat its preparation from the beginning.
  • Do not skip sieving the flour – it makes the ingredients combine better and makes the dough lighter and more airy.
  • The dough can also prove and rise in the fridge for 12 hours or overnight – just take it out around 2 hours before shaping into balls out of the fridge on the countertop in order to bring it to room temperature.
  • If you do not have potato starch, you can use cornstarch or regular flour.
  • If you are allergic to nuts, you can substitute these with sugar in the crumble.