Chelsea Buns

Today I’m showing you how to make these super easy Chelsea buns.

I’ll be honest, I hadn’t made these since I was in college back in 2016 but came across the recipe again in my write up book and thought it would be the perfect recipe to share this week.

If you haven’t heard or seen these buns, I’ll give you the run down on them. So, a Chelsea bun is enriched roll, which is filled with a cinnamon brown sugar butter filling, along with mixed dried fruit. They’re then finished with a simple syrup, so the water evaporates and leave behind a sticky texture.

If you like cinnamon rolls, these are the perfect recipe for you try. This is one of those recipes which is perfect to try on a day where the weather is lousy and it’s a staying in type of day – trust me its the perfect thing to make during a lazy baking session.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients: 

Dough:

500g Bread flour.

5g Salt.

50g Fresh yeast.

75g Butter.

75g Granulated sugar.

15g Milk powder.

1 Large egg.

175ml Water.

 

Filling:

80g Butter.

50g Light brown sugar.

5g Ground cinnamon.

235g Mixed dried fruit.

 

Methods:

Before you get started on making these buns, you’ll want to do some prep. Start by weighing up all your ingredients and preparing the equipment you need, such as a stand mixer and silicon spatula.

To start on the dough, grab your mixing bowl and place in the bread flour and salt. Give the two of them a good mix, just to incorporate the two.

Then you can go ahead and add the fresh yeast, butter, sugar. milk powder, egg and water. Start to mix the dough on a low speed to start, for around 2 minutes, then work your way up to a medium-high speed and mix for a further 6 minutes. The dough should be soft, this is because the dough is enriched.

Sprinkle a good amount of bread flour onto your work surface, then place the dough on top. Then give the dough a brief knead, for around 3-5 minutes or until the dough is less soft and both smooth and elastic.

Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave it somewhere warm and allow it to proof for around and hour or until it has doubled in size.

While you wait for your dough to proof, its the perfect time to get clean and tidy and to make the filling.

Once you’ve had a tidy up, you can make the filling – which is super easy!

Grab yourself a medium mixing bowl and into it, place the butter, light brown sugar and ground cinnamon. Whisk it all together until its lighter in colour and consistency – set aside until its needed later on.

Now the dough has proofed, flour your work surface with a small amount of bread flour and knock it back. Knocking the dough back is the simple process of removing the gasses that have built up in the dough during the proof. Bring the dough back into a ball shape and process it.

Grab yourself a rolling pin and roll the dough out into a 30cm x 17.5cm rectangle – this may take a few minutes as the dough will resist being rolled out.

Once you have your rectangle, you’ll want to take your filling you made earlier on and place into the centre of the dough and spread it out until there is a smooth and consistent level of the filling all over the dough. Then you can take the mixed fruit and equally scatter that on top of the dough.

It’s now time to roll the dough up. Starting with the long side which is nearest to you, roll the dough up, keeping the roll tight.

Now that the roll is done, you can cut the individual buns. I recommend you cut the ends away to ensure a little more consistency but its optional. You’ll want to cut 12 equal portions and then transfer the rolls into a lined deep sided 9×13 inch cake tin. Cover with clingfilm and allow to proof for around an hour.

While the rolls are proofing, you can go ahead and preheat the oven to 220˚c/430˚f and make the simple syrup. To make the simple syrup, place the water and granulated sugar into a saucepan and place over a high heat until it reaches a boil, then take it off the heat. You’re best to use it cold, that’s just my personal opinion.

Once the rolls have proofed, you can then remove the clingfilm and place the tray into the preheated oven and bake for 13-18 minutes or until they are golden brown.

Now that the rolls are fully baked straight from the oven brush over the simple syrup, giving them a good coating. Allow to cool fully before you enjoy them.

That’s all for today guys, I hope you enjoyed. If you did, don’t forget to share this recipe with your family and friends and enjoy it. I’ll be back soon with another blog post and YouTube video, so join me then. In the meanwhile, don’t forget to check out my other social’s – Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. The YouTube tutorial will be linked down below.