Soft finger buns are a classic bakery treat. Fluffy, sweet rolls topped with a thick layer of icing and sprinkles these iced buns are so nostalgic.
Ingredients
- 455 g strong white bread flour (3 ½ cups / 1lb)
- ⅓ cup white granulated sugar (66g / ~2 ¼oz)
- 2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast (or active dry yeast) (1 sachet / 7g)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg room temp
- 1 cup whole milk (250ml)
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil (80ml)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup sultanas or raisins optional (75g/~2 ½)
FOR THE ICING
- 1 ¾ cups icing sugar (powdered sugar) (225g / 8oz)
- 1-2 tablespoons milk
- 1-3 drops pink or red food colouring
- 100’s and 1000’s or desiccated coconut for topping
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Instructions
- MAKE THE DOUGH: To the bowl of a stand mixer (with a dough hook attachment (or see notes if you don't have a stand mixer), pour in the warm milk (around 40C or warm to the touch, not hot), one tablespoon of the sugar and all of the yeast. Whisk it together and let it sit for 5-10 minutes to make sure it starts to puff up.
- Add the flour, remaining sugar, salt, egg, oil and vanilla and use the dough hook with your hand to just mix it roughly together.
- Knead on low-medium for around 10-12 minutes until the dough is smooth but elastic (just gently indent with a fingertip and it should bounce back out). Or, knead by hand for 15-18 minutes trying to resist the urge to add much, if any, flour to stop it sticking. It will become less sticky, the more you knead it.
- Add the sultanas, if using, and knead that through too. You can do this with your hands or with the dough hook again.
- Remove the dough from the bowl then brush the bowl with a little oil. Place the dough into it and flip it over so that has a light coating of oil all over. Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit in a warm place for 1 to 1 ½ hours or until doubled in size.
- ASSEMBLING THE FINGER BUNS: Grease a 26x30cm (10x12 inch) baking tray generously with butter.
- Punch down the dough and transfer it to a clean work surface. Cut into 12 even pieces (weigh them if you want to be precise).
- Roll each piece into a smooth log about 3x11cm (1 ¼ x 4 ¼ inch). Place on the baking tray 1-2 inches apart. Cover lightly with plastic wrap again and let them rest and rise for another 45-60 minutes until doubled again and they look puffy and soft.
- Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan forced) / 350F.
- BAKE: Bake for around 15-18 minutes until golden brown (or until the internal temperature registers 88C/190F).
- Let the buns cool almost to room temperature before icing or the icing may just roll right off.
- ICE: Combine the icing sugar with milk (a little at a time) and mix until you have a thick yet slightly runny consistency (more sugar to make it thicker and more milk to thin). You want it to level out in 10-12 seconds or so but not be so runny that it just runs straight off the buns.
- Add a drop of food colouring and stir well to combine. Add more if required, until you have a nice pale pink colour.
- Spread the icing quite thickly over the top of the buns then dip them in 100’s and 1000’s or scatter over desiccated coconut.
- Serve. These are lovely cut in half, spread with butter.
- Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.
Notes
- Tablespoons: I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon (equal to 4 teaspoons). Check yours before measuring.
- You must activate active dry yeast before adding to the dough – as per step 1 of the recipe. Instant dry yeast does not need to be activated but you can ensure your yeast is working by taking this step anyway.
- Nutrition details are approximate only - scroll below the recipe to find the full nutritional information.
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Nutrition information is approximate only and derived from an online calculator. The brands you use and any changes you make may cause variations.
