Nothing beats warm, sticky Chelsea Buns fresh from the oven. Follow this easy recipe for soft and fluffy buns filled with plump dried fruits and brushed with a sweet apricot jam glaze.
I have always preferred a Chelsea bun over a gooey cream cake any day of the week.
I’ve adored the fruit studded sticky buns since I was a little girl, when my Saturday morning usually involved buying one (truth be told we usually ended up buying quite a few goodies) from the Bakers van that went around the town. It was always such a treat.
how to make chelsea buns
(Scroll to the bottom of the post to find printable recipe and detailed instructions)
- Place strong white flour, sugar, salt and yeast in a large mixing bowl (keep the salt and yeast separate otherwise the salt could kill the yeast.)
- Warm butter and milk together over a low heat in a saucepan. Don’t let the mixture get too hot – you just want it warm. When the butter has melted, remove from the heat. Again if the milk has become on the hot side, leave it to one side for a few minutes. Pour the warm milk over the flour mixture. Add a beaten egg and stir to mix.
- Knead the dough for at least 5 minutes using a stand mixer or 10 minutes if kneading by hand until you have a smooth, shiny and elastic dough. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover and leave until doubled in size – about 1-2 hours.
- When the dough has doubled in size, roll out the dough into a rough rectangle on a lightly floured work surface.
- Brush the dough all over with melted butter and sprinkle over ground mixed spice, light brown sugar and raisins and sultanas.
- Starting from one of the long ends, roll up the dough as tightly as possible. Cut the dough into 10 equal sized pieces and place each piece in a greased and lined baking tray or roasting tin, leaving about 1/2 inch of space between each one to allow for spreading.
- Loosely cover the tin with a warm tea towel for 30-45 minutes or until the buns have risen.
- Bake the Chelsea buns for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
- Brush with warmed apricot jam while they are still warm.
- When the chelsea buns have cooled, drizzle with an icing glaze or simply sprinkle with sugar.
They are irresistible…soft, sticky and so sweet!
more sweet dough recipes
Orange, cranberry and white chocolate hot cross buns
There’s many a joke about Paul’s buns for sure. I’ve been wanting to make these for a while and yours look incredibly delicious. No soggy bottoms there. I could certainly eat 5, but would need to follow that with a run in the Baltic weather. Maybe just as well I’ve not made them yet…. π Tracey
OMG, now I want to make this too! You pick the best recipes! YUM!
I made these too, originally without the sugar, as the recipe said, and the texture was a bit off. Then someone clued me in and I tried again and they were lush. I also made a chocolate and caramel variation that I invented…. I ate 5 in the space of a few hours. Dee-lish!
Thank you. They are certainly impossible to resist. I may need to start thinking about going back to the gym…:-)
Thank you! You should definitely make them, they are so good!
Oh my word, chocolate & caramel ones sound amazing! Stop me now!! π
They were totally amazing. If you’re interested:
http://lindsaymarsh.wordpress.com/2012/11/22/chocolate-and-caramel-chelsea-buns/
Oh my! I adore Chelsea buns, I expect Mr Hollywoods buns to be especially good π
Thanks! Now these sound really good. I’ll definitely give them a go.
They really are π I’ve tried a few of his recipes now with great success. I’m glad I bought his book.
These do look amazing!
My god! This should’ve carried some sort of 18 warning – it’s food porn!
Lol π Yes these definitely belong in the food porn category!
He makes them look so easy to make. They do look delish so I will be making some
They really are gorgeous Carolyn, I’ll need to make some again soon βΊ
You had me at soft and fluffy buns. So wishing I could take one of these with me to work today to keep me going. They look so delicious.
So I’m a baker here in New Mexico, USA and was intrigued by the importance of a proper bake, (as per the hosts of the British Baking Show) when it came to the Chelsea Bun. So I gave this recipe a try and had great success! I even used my Old Country Roses China to give it a little bling for the photo. One thing I did do different, was to use 17.5 g of Active Dry Yeast instead of Instant Yeast. When I warmed the milk to 110Β°F – I added the yeast to the milk and let it… Read more »
That looks perfect! I’m so pleased you liked the recipe Kathy!