World Traveler Recipes: Buhtle (Jam-Filled Sweet Rolls)

It has been a while since I had Buhtle, and the other day I remembered how tasty they are and had a craving for them. So I searched for some recipes online and came up with my version of them. I am pretty happy with how they came out, even though I'm sure that if I made them again, they would probably come out even better. They taste best when they are still warm, but the next day they do dry a little, so if you would like them to be more moist, you can add more butter.

Buhtle are sweet rolls filled with jam, marmalade or can be even filled with Nutella. I tried a few with Nutella this time as well, and they were very tasty! But whenever I think of Buhtle, I remember eating them as a child and loved them with apricot jam. Those are my favorite! :-P

First, I would like to tell you a little bit about Buhtle. Buhtle is a Bosnian / Serbo-Croatian name for Buchteln and they originated in Bohemia. They are sweet rolls made of yeast dough, filled with jam (or even poppy seeds or curd) and baked in a large pan so that they stick together. They are served as a dessert, but can also be served as a main dish.

So, this is how I made them:

Ingredients:

(Serving Size: 6)

Yeast:

1 dcl (about 7 tablespoons or a little bit less than half a cup) of lukewarm milk
1 packet of yeast
1 tablespoon of sugar

Dough:

1/2 kg (about 4 cups) of all purpose flour
10 dkg (about 0.4 cups) of sugar
10 dkg (little bit less than a stick) of melted butter (the rest of the butter will be used at the end)
1.5 to 2 dcl (between 11 and 14 tablespoons) of lukewarm milk
1 egg
1 packet of vanilla sugar
pinch of lemon zest (I used lime zest since I did not have lemons in the house)
pinch of salt

Filling:

jam or
marmalade or
Nutella

Topping:

left-over melted butter
granulated sugar

Procedure:

For the yeast, warm up the 1 dcl of milk a little bit, add 1 packet of yeast and 1 tablespoon of sugar and put aside in a warm place for it to rise and start bubbling.

In the meantime, melt the butter and let cool a little.
For the dough, warm up the rest of the milk, add the egg, and mix well.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, lemon peel, vanilla sugar, yeast mix, milk and egg mix, and the melted butter.

Using dough hooks, mix the ingredients until the dough is not sticky and you are able to pull it away from the bowl and form into a ball. Add more flour if the dough remains sticky and knead some more.

Cover the dough and let it rise in a warm place for about 1-2 hours until it doubles in size.

After the dough doubles in size, knead a little with your hands, and then form into 15 small balls of equal size. Flatten them a little so that it is easier to work with them.

Fill each one with a teaspoon of your favorite filling, like seen in the photos below. I used apricot jam, wild raspberry jam and Nutella.

Close each one by covering the jam with dough, then twisting and sealing the dough, like it is shown in the photo below. The twisted and sealed dough should be facing down in the pan.

Place all the Buhtle into the baking pan lined with wax paper like it is shown in the photo below. They should be touching. Let them rise for a few more minutes.
Top with remaining melted butter and apply evenly.
Sprinkle with granulated sugar if you wish. (I did not add much since I did not want mine to be too sweet.)