Cinnamon apple buns

Adorable apple-shaped yeast buns – filled with apples and styled to look like little apples themselves! With cinnamon “stems” and baked in a muffin tin to keep their shape, they are as delightful to look at as they are to eat. Made with stewed apples (or grated apples), they’re wonderfully soft, delicious, and stay fresh for a long time.

Makes 10 buns.

Ingredients for the dough:

• 230 g strong white bread flour
• 14 g fresh yeast or 7 g dry yeast
• 125 ml milk (1/2 cup)
• 2 egg yolks
• 50 g sugar
• 50 g butter, melted
• 16 g vanilla sugar (or seeds from 1 vanilla pod)

Additionally:

• 10 tablespoons stewed apples
• 3 cinnamon sticks (cut into smaller pieces)
• 1 egg, beaten (for brushing)

Cut cinnamon sticks into small pieces – these will be the “stems.” If thick, split them lengthwise first.

Mix flour with dry yeast (or prepare a starter if using fresh yeast). Add remaining ingredients and knead, adding melted butter at the end. Knead until soft and elastic. Place in a floured bowl, cover, and leave in a warm place until doubled in size (about 1.5 hours).

Grease and flour a muffin tin (or line with paper cases).

Knead the risen dough briefly, divide into 10 portions (about 50 g each), and shape into balls. Flatten slightly, place 1 tablespoon of apple filling in the centre, and seal the dough around it. Place each bun into the muffin tin. Insert a piece of cinnamon stick into each bun, pushing it down to the bottom. Cover and let rise again for about 40 minutes, until doubled. Brush with beaten egg.

Bake at 180°C for about 25 minutes. Cool slightly in the tin, then transfer to a wire rack.

Method for bread machine users:

Place all the yeast dough ingredients into the bread machine in the following order: liquid ingredients first, then dry ingredients, and finally the yeast. Select the ‘dough’ programme (kneading and first rise). Once the programme has finished, remove the dough, knead it lightly, and continue according to the main recipe above.

Enjoy!