Christmas buns
Christmas buns are a delicious, festive fruit filled bun. If you love sweet buns or cinnamon rolls these are the perfect bake for the holiday season.
Christmas buns are the perfect festive bake. We’ve taken a basic sweet bun recipe and given it a twist for holiday season with some festive fruits and flavours. They’re soft, delicious and smell oh so Christmassy!
What makes these buns Christmassy?
You could add any number of things to these rolls to make them Christmas buns but we’ve added in dried cranberries and used some essential festive spices like cinnamon, mixed spice and ginger. Your house will smell divine while these are baking.
Can you make them more Christmassy?
If you want to present these in a really festive way, why not arrange them into a Christmas tree before you bake them?
Rather than putting 12 rolls into a baking tray in a regular rectangular pattern as we have, make 15 and lay them out into a Christmas tree shaped triangle. Place one at the top, then 2 in the next row, three, then four then five. Then you’ll have the most wonderful Christmas tear and share to serve to friends and family.
You could also add things leftover from your other festive baking. Marzipan, orange zest or other dried mixed fruits would fit in this beautifully.
How can kids help make Christmas buns?
This Christmas bun recipe is surprisingly easy to do making it a great bake for kids to try.
As well as measuring all the bun ingredients out and mixing them together, kids will enjoy getting to knead the dough before leaving it to prove. To make life a bit easier, if you have a bread machine or free-standing mixer you can let it do the hard work for you and just knead the last bit by hand. Either way, getting to play with and knead the dough is such a fun, hands on job for kids.
For kids who love playing with playdough, they can also have a go at rolling out the bun dough before spreading on butter sprinkling on the spiced sugar, and fruit.
I always let my kids help roll up the rough to make the buns as well. Having an extra pair of hands is actually really helpful for this job, so a great way of involving kids.
One thing you will need for this Belgian bun recipe is a bit of patience. The dough needs a few hours to prove and the buns will need a bit of proving time as well once they’re shaped. This means you wont be able to make these in a hurry, but it also means your kids can dip in and out and help with the different steps as you go along.
How long do Christmas buns keep?
The buns will keep for a few days in an airtight container. You can also make them in advance before reheating them, adding the icing and serving. This makes them a great make ahead treat or breakfast for Christmas morning.
Other easy Christmas bakes for kids
Find all of our easy Christmas baking recipes or check out some of our favourite Christmas bakes for kids below.
Christmas tree brownies
Easy mince pie recipe for kids
Easy gingerbread recipe for kids
Lebkuchen
Easy snickerdoodle recipe
Chocolate crinkle cookies
Easy Christmas sugar cookies
Gingerbread house
Useful equipment
You might need the following baking tools/gadgets to make these Christmas buns:
Digital scales
Freestanding mixer
Mixing bowl
Measuring cups
Measuring spoons
Rolling pin
23 x 30cm baking tin
Pastry brush
Lemon juicer
Wire rack
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.. You will not be charged anything extra for this. Please refer to my Privacy Policy Page for more details.
Ingredients
For the buns
500g (4 cups) strong bread flour
1 x 7g packet of dried fast action yeast
3 tbsp caster sugar
300ml (1 ¼ cups) milk
40g (¼ cup) butter
1 egg
For the filling
50g (3 tablespoons) butter, melted
75g (1/3 cup) soft brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon mixed spice
½ teaspoon ground ginger
100g (¾ cup) cranberries
30g (3 tablespoons) sultanas
For the topping
150g (1 1/2 cup) icing/confectioners sugar
juice of a lemon/orange
How to make Christmas buns
Mix all the dry ingredients together
Get your kids to measure out the flour and caster sugar and add them to a large mixing bowl, bread machine or free-standing mixer.
Pour the 7g packet of yeast in.
Add the wet ingredients
Measure out the milk and butter. Get your kids to chop the butter into small pieces, then put them in a microwavable bowl or pan. Heat them up gently in the microwave or the hob until the butter has just melted and the milk is warm but not hot. You should be able to put your finger in it without burning it.
Add it to your mixing bowl.
Crack the egg into a small bowl then add it to your mixing bowl. Cracking it in a small bowl first makes it easier to fish out any rogue shell. If shell does go in, simply fish it out with a larger piece of shell – it will stick to that more easily than your finger.
Make the Christmas bun dough
Mix everything together with wooden spoons or the dough hook of your mixer or bread machine.
Once it’s all come together, knead the dough for 5-10 minutes. To make life easier use your mixer, if you have one, to knead the dough at first, then tip it on to a floured work surface before finishing it by hand.
To knead the dough, let your kids pull and stretch it and bring it back together before repeating that until the dough stops being too sticky and becomes smoother and stretchy. It is quite a soft dough so if you’re finding it very sticky sprinkle a little more flour on top to make it more manageable.
My kids love getting to knead dough but don’t necessarily do it for long enough which is why we start with out mixer. It also means it’s already less sticky by the time they get involved.
Pop the dough in an oiled bowl and cover it with cling film or a clean tea towel. Put it in a warm place for 1-2 hours until it has doubled in size.
Prepare the filling
Get your kids to measure the butter out then melt it in the microwave or in a pan on the hob.
While the butter is melting, measure out the sugar then add the spices. Make sure your kids use their finger to level the teaspoons so that you add just the right amount.
Finally, measure out the fruit, and set everything aside for now.
Make the Christmas buns
Tip the dough onto your work surface, knock it back (which means punch it a few times to get the air out and is a job my kids love doing!) Get your kids to roll it out to a 30cm x 40cm (12 inches x 15 inches) rectangle.
Start by spreading the melted butter all over your rectangle of dough with a pastry brush of the back of a spoon. Make sure your kids cover everywhere right up to the edges.
Next, sprinkle the spiced sugar all over the dough. Again, make sure you get a nice even coating all right up to the edges.
Finally, get your kids to add the currents and cranberries on top of the dough.
Now, starting with the long edge of your dough, get your kids to roll it up tightly into a nice spiral. You might need to help them so it’s nice and tight all the way along the roll. Having a few hands makes this job a bit easier.
Cut the spiral into 12 pieces using a sharp knife. We found the easiest way of doing this so that they were all the same size was by cutting it in half, then dividing each half in half again before cutting each piece into three.
Pop each Christmas bun on a lightly oiled baking tray, then cover and leave for 45 minutes until each bun has risen again.
Bake the Christmas buns
Preheat your oven to 190C / 170C Fan / 365F
Bake your buns for 20-25 minutes until they are cooked, and a nice golden brown colour.
Leave the buns to cool for a few minutes then remove them and leave them to cool completely on a wire rack.
Decorate your Christmas buns
Juice the lemon or orange then weigh out the icing sugar. Mix the icing sugar with a few teaspoons of lemon/orange. Mix it together until it is thick but runny enough to spread on your buns. If it’s too thick add a little more juice, or add more icing sugar if it’s too runny until it’s the right consistency.
Using a tea spoon, get your kids to drizzle/spread the icing on top of each bun and top.
Serve and enjoy.
Christmas buns
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Measure out the flour and caster sugar and add them to a large mixing bowl, bread machine or free-standing mixer.Pour the 7g packet of yeast in.
- Measure out the milk and butter. Chop the butter into small pieces, then put them in a microwavable bowl or pan. Heat them up gently in the microwave or the hob until the butter has just melted and the milk is warm but not hot. You should be able to put your finger in it without burning it.Add it to your mixing bowl.
- Crack the egg into a small bowl then add it to your mixing bowl.
- Mix everything together with wooden spoons or the dough hook of your mixer or bread machine.
- Once it's all come together, knead the dough for 5-10 minutes. To make life easier use your mixer, if you have one, to knead the dough at first, then tip it on to a floured work surface before finishing it by hand. Keep kneading until the dough becomes smooth and stretchy.
- Pop the dough in an oiled bowl and cover it with cling film or a clean tea towel. Put it in a warm place for 1-2 hours until it has doubled in size.
- Measure the butter out then melt it in the microwave or in a pan on the hob.While the butter is melting, measure out the sugar then add the spices. Make sure you use your finger to level the teaspoons so that you add just the right amount.Finally, measure out the fruit, and set everything aside for now.
- Tip the dough onto your work surface, knock it back (which means punch it a few times to get the air out) Roll it out to a 30cm x 40cm (12 inches x 15 inches) rectangle.
- Start by spreading the melted butter all over your rectangle of dough with a pastry brush of the back of a spoon. Next, sprinkle the spiced sugar all over the dough. Again, make sure you get a nice even coating all right up to the edges.Finally, add the currents and cranberries on top of the dough.
- Now, starting with the long edge of your dough, roll it up tightly into a nice spiral. Make sure it's nice and tight all the way along the roll. Cut the spiral into 12 pieces using a sharp knife.
- Pop each bun on a lightly oiled baking tray, then cover and leave for 45 minutes until each bun has risen again.
- Preheat your oven to 190C / 170C Fan / 365F
- Bake your buns for 20-25 minutes until they are cooked, and a nice golden brown colour.
- Leave the buns to cool for a few minutes then remove them and leave them to cool completely on a wire rack.
- Juice the lemon or orange then weigh out the icing sugar. Mix the icing sugar with a few teaspoons of lemon/orange. Mix it together until it is thick but runny enough to spread on your buns. If it's too thick add a little more juice, or add more icing sugar if it's too runny until it's the right consistency.
- Using a tea spoon, drizzle/spread the icing on top of each bun and top.
Pin it for later
Similar recipes
If you liked these Christmas buns you’ll love our other easy sweet bun recipes as well as our favourite easy bakes for kids.
Leave a Reply