All Farida (a blog reader) had to do was ask me: “Please make some gee eff buns for the Feast of St. Lucia, on December 13.”
I had no idea who St. Lucia was, much less her buns. But I really like talking about buns. And I really like Farida.
So I googled. And I found something pretty, with an interesting explanation for St. Lucia Buns. And I pinned it on Pinterest. So I tested – again and again. Took my lumps. And finally … eureka!
The ways in which I switched up the recipe with each try were subtle — but the differences in the final product were often dramatic. There was a lot of cursing.
Forgive me, St. Lucia. I know not what I do. Ask anybody.
Play it safe, now. Follow the recipe, and divide the dough, then shape each piece into a log. You won’t have to offend St. Lucia like I did.
Twirl the top. Then twirl the bottom.
Let them rise. Then brush with egg wash.
Garnish. Then bake, and serve warm. The saffron makes this sweet, soft roll so elegant and fragrant. Two attributes, I must admit, that have never been assigned to yours truly. No matter. I have my buns.
| St. Lucia Buns |
- 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup to 1 cup milk, at room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads, crumbled
- 2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour (I use Better Batter)
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if using Better Batter)
- 1 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 extra-large egg plus 1 egg white, lightly beaten
- Egg wash (1 egg beaten with a tablespoon water)
- Small dried fruit, such as raisins, as garnish
- In a small microwave safe bowl, combine the butter, 3/4 cup milk and crumbled saffron threads. Heat in the microwave on high for 30 seconds and stir. Microwave for another 15 seconds, and stir. If the butter is not melted, heat for another 15 seconds until it is. Set the milk mixture aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, xanthan gum, yeast and sugar, and mix to combine. Add the salt, egg and egg white, and mix to combine. Add the milk and butter mixture and mix until the dry ingredients have incorporated the wet ingredients. Turn the mixer up to high and allow it to beat for a minute or so. Some of the dough should begin to pull away from the sides of the bowl, and should be relatively smooth (but tacky to the touch). If the dough seems at all too stiff, begin to add the remaining 1/4 cup milk, a tablespoon at a time, beating in between additions until the proper consistency is reached.
- Turn the dough out onto a very lightly floured surface, and divide with a bench scraper into 10 equal portions.
- For each portion of dough, sprinkle very lightly with flour, and roll back and forth into a rope about 9 inches in length that tapers slightly at each end (see photo). The dough should be pretty easy to handle. Place the rope of dough perpendicular to your body, and curl one end of the dough toward the right, and back on itself in a coil. Curl the other end of the dough back on itself in the opposite direction in a coil (see photos). Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough.
- Place the pieces of shaped dough on a nonstick or parchment lined rimmed baking sheet, about 2 inches apart from one another. Place them in a warm, draft-free area for about 25 minutes, or until the rolls have risen to about 1 1/2 times their original size (see photo).
- While the rolls are rising, preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
- Once they have risen, brush the rolls liberally with the egg wash. Place one piece of dried fruit in the center of the two coils at the end of each roll (see photo).
- Place the rolls in the center of the preheated oven and bake, rotating once during baking, for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm.
Adapted from http://oneperfectbite.blogspot.com/2009/12/st-lucia-buns-blue-monday.html
There are many gluten-free flours on the market today. I have not tried many of them. But the only flour blend with which I have had success in making shaped yeast breads is Better Batter. I’m not sure why many of the others do not work with shaped yeast breads, but they don’t. I’m just the messenger.
Love,
Me
P.S. What special holiday recipe do you wish you could make gluten-free, for taste or nostalgia? ‘Tis the season, and I’m in a giving mood. :)
P.P.S. See you tomorrow.
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Oh, Thank you so much for this. My mom just went to the San Francisco Lucia Festival, this is such a tradition, that I have had to miss out on. Will be making these. Thanks again….
You’re so very welcome, Anna. You should never miss out! :)
xoxo Nicole
They look wonderful!
Thank you, Nicole, for developing this recipe! You deserve to be immortalized in song. Let me work on it…
xo,
Farida
Now that would be a treat, Farida!
Happy to help. Sincerely.
xoxo Nicole
Thanks for reminding me of St. Lucia! Spent the Decembers of my college years singing “Santa Lucia” in Danish & wearing candles on my head!
I would love to figure out how to make pfeffernusse gluten-free. Haven’t made them since I went gluten-free, but it used to be a Christmas tradition. I don’t think it would be that hard, just needing to sub gluten-free flour.
Hi, Dana,
I’m not proud of this fact, but I’ve never worn candles on my head. No one ever gave me the option.
Pfeffernusse — if you have a recipe you love that’s conventional (gluten-containing), you should be fine to just sub in Better Batter cup for cup. :)
xoxo Nicole
I will try that!
Good memories :) A bunch of 19 year-olds with candles on our heads. The cheerleaders had nothing on us! :)
I’m going to have to really like Farida, too, because I need to have these buns! I have a St. Lucia costume and electric candle wreath for one of my girls to wear on Dec 13th, and haven’t had any buns for two years! Grammy will be delighted when she finds out that we are back to the tradition for this year . . . thanks, Farida and Nicole! You are the best!
Anneke
You can count on me (and Farida) for buns. I’ve got buns I’ve scarcely heard of, Anneke.
So glad Grammy will be excited you’re back in the saddle with your buns. :)
xoxo Nicole
I believe these will be perfect with our lentil stew tonight! You have made my holiday baking such a treat this year, Nicole! Thank you so much!
Lisa
Hi, Lisa,
It’s been my pleasure, thank you. And we’re not done yet! Lots of recipes before the end of the month…
Let us know how the rolls go!
xoxo Nicole
Very pretty and can’t wait to read up on the history of these. Question for you, I’ve never used saffron before. What type of flavor is it?
Hi, Kadren,
Try reading this explanation of what saffron is like. I find it nearly impossible to describe, since it has such a singular taste and aroma. It is commonly used in Spanish paella, but since paella has so many other competing flavors, it is almost used simply for the beautiful yellow-orange color. It is expensive, but a little goes a long way. I wish I could describe it to you better!
xoxo Nicole
I think of saffron as tasting like spiced butter… but not spiced butter. –Farida
Thank you both very much!! I will have to try them. ;)
Hello Nicole,
I just wanted to drop by and tell you that reading your blog for these few months since I’ve discovered it has given me the courage to adapt my Great Grandmother’s Christmas cookie recipe! My father bought me some Better Batter, so I tried it with that. They turned out magnificently. So, so delicious. I have eaten a dozen, no kidding.
Keep up the great work, thanks for all of the recipes and inspiration!
Hi, Tay,
I’m thrilled to hear about your confidence and courage, which led directly to your success. You did it! Thank you for checking in. I hope you’ll post again. :)
xoxo Nicole
I would LOVE to make Gluten Free Cream Wafers. We made these cookies growing up and I haven’t had them in years since I went GF. You might just be my hero if there is a way! I can practically feel them melting in my mouth already… :)
This recipe looks fairly similar to how we made ours, so you know what I’m talking about: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/cream-wafers/
Hi, Emily,
I’d never heard of those. I love hearing about things like this. Thank you so much for mentioning them! That recipe from allrecipes seems like an easy one, and like it would work a treat with Better Batter. I would be honored to give it a try. They look delicious. I love how simple they are – mostly just flour, butter and cream. Heaven.
xoxo Nicole
Oh, I’m so excited! They bring back such wonderful memories of my grandma…she was the Cream Wafer Queen. We all made them, but somehow Grandma’s were absolutely perfect in every way!
I just got my first box of Better Batter – thanks to your recommendation. So looking forward to trying it out with my holiday baking. :)
So no pressure, then, right? ;) I know what you mean, though, Emily. Food can be almost painfully nostalgic. I will try my Gluten-Free Best.
xoxo Nicole
No, no pressure! ha :)
Thanks Emily for asking for this recipe. I decided to read through all the comments before I asked for the Cream Wafer cookie recipe to be made GF. Love Love Love them and our family had always made them from the 1964 Betty Crocker Cookie Cookbook. I can hardly wait to hear what Nichole comes up with!!
Lots of Cream Wafer hype. I hope I don’t disappoint!
xoxo Nicole
Hi Nicole,
The St. Lucia buns look lovely!
I would love to find a reasonable GF/DF fascimile to my mother’s Greek Kourambiethes cookies, these are similar to an italian wedding cookie, but no nuts. My mother’s recipe uses 1 lb of butter(no joke), 1/4 c orange juice, I think about 1/4 c powdered sugar(plus more for dusting after they come out of the oven), then cornstarch & flour(I can get you exact amounts if you want) you roll these into balls & bake them just until set, sprinkle w/ the sugar & let them cool. They are these tasty little “snowballs” that melt in your mouth!! It won’t be the same w/out them this year. Even if you have any suggestions for how to sub out all that butter, and still achieve the right texture(they are not chewy or crispy, but slightly crumbly and melt in your mouth), I would be ever so grateful!!
BTW, I made your cornmeal cranberry cookies for Thanksgiving(subbing spectrum & best life for the butter), and they were awesome! I am about to put a batch in the oven that I made w/ walnuts & DF choc. chips, I can’t wait to try them!!
Sherry
Hi, Sherry,
As you guessed, your biggest struggle is going to be in the butter department. No butter substitute is going to have that same mouth feel as butter, but shortening will come relatively close. I would suggest using 1/2 pound nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening and 1/2 pound Earth Balance soy-free margarine. And keep the COLD before you bake them. You shouldn’t need to change the amount of dry ingredients.
So glad you’re enjoying the cornmeal cranberry cookies. Your newest batch sounds divine!
xoxo Nicole
Thanks Nicole. I will try your suggestiion and see how things turn out and, as always, I will let you know.
P.S.
The cornmeal cookies w/ walnuts and choc. chips are delish. I of course had to do a quality control check while they were warm out of the oven;)
Keep up the delicious work, thanks to your efforts, no one on Team Gluten Free should feel deprived this holiday season!!
Sherry
Quality control is very important, Sherry. Somebody’s gotta do it.
Team Gluten Free is in full force! Go team!
xoxo Nicole
I have a recipe for cinnamon rolls that my family loves. I have not made them for almost 5 years because my daughter cannot eat them. I tried a couple of times with a gluten free flour mix and it was a flop. I’m going to pick up some Better Batter and substitute in my recipe. Hope it works as this would be a great Christmas surprise for her. If you have any tips, please let me know!
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