There’s some bakes that are almost too simple to work but somehow they do. And not only that they are somewhat iconic. Iced Finger Buns are certainly one of those bakes!
A classic sweet dough, topped with a layer of icing; talk about the simple pleasures in life! But when it comes to the perfect mix of sweet and carbs, Iced Finger Buns have it nailed.
Always my first choice of treat from a bakery, it seemed fitting that I’d give baking them a go. Plus the kids love them too, so I knew they’d be a big hit with our entire household.
My personal favourite way to finish them is by dipping the just-iced buns in some desiccated coconut. The kids however love anything with a coloured icing (pink or yellow are the classics for iced buns) or with some sprinkles attached. And if you want to go all out glutton, slice the bun in half and fill with some fresh whipped cream! Suddenly a simple unassuming bun becomes the bake of your sugar-coated dreams.
Highly recommend trying out the iced buns. Easy to follow recipe and they taste divine!
Eagle-eyed readers may notice that I’ve used the same sweet dough that is in one of our most popular recipes; Cinnamon Buns. It is much sweeter than your standard yeast dough but surely we’ve all given up on the healthy eating New Years resolutions by now anyway…?
These Iced Finger Buns do take a bit of time to prepare, purely due to the rise times…but don’t let that put you off! They really are minimal effort, with maximum gain, with only the pain of waiting through in-between stages holding you back. And even then, that’s surely the perfect excuse to have a cuppa and maybe make a traybake or two while you wait?
Ingredients:
Milk
Whatever milk you have to hand will work fine but if you are buying some just for this recipe, definitely opt for full fat…Lets not be doing things by halves!
Caster Sugar
The dough is definitely on the sweeter side and that is thanks to the sugar. You could change to Golden Caster Sugar for a more caramel-y taste, should you desire.
Easy Yeast
There’s a few options out there for yeast but easy is by far, well, the easiest! Plus it’s packaged in perfect amounts (you’ll need two sachets for this recipe).
Butter or Margarine
Either will do and it’s personal preference to which you choose. I opt for margarine as a way to omit the dairy but whatever you choose, just be sure it’s at room temperature before baking.
Free-range Eggs
These will help your dough bind together and the yolks will give the dough that lovely golden colour. I don’t tend to stress to much about the size of eggs, as long as they’re free-range.
Plain Flour and Strong White Flour
The best of both worlds in this dough! Plain flour is a nice light flour which lends itself well to the texture of these Iced Finger Buns. But the combination of strong white flour and it’s additional gluten helps to maintain the real doughy consistency.
Icing Sugar
Without this, we’d just have some plain, sad looking buns. Add some colour, top with sprinkles…whatever your heart (and sweet tooth!) desires!
Iced Fingers are perfect for:
• Community coffee mornings.
• Indulgent occasion breakfasts.
• Kids birthday parties.
• Learning to bake with Yeast.
Ingredients
- 240 ml Milk
- 140 g Caster Sugar
- 14 g Easy Yeast (2 sachets)
- 115 g Butter (softened)
- 2 Free-range Eggs (beaten)
- 300 g Plain Flour
- 250 g Strong White Flour
- 200 g Icing Sugar
Instructions
- In a small pan warm the milk until it's just past lukewarm. Pour the milk into a large bowl.
- Add the sugar and yeast to the milk and gently stir with a spoon until the sugar has dissolved. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and let the mixture sit until the yeast is foamy; this should only take 5-10 minutes.
- Add the softened butter to the milk mixture and beat with a wooden spoon until it is broken into little pieces. Gradually add the eggs, ensuring they are mixed through.
- Gradually add the flours to the mixture whilst continuing to stir and bring the ingredients together. Once all ingredients are combined, continue to use your wooden spoon until you have a soft dough, at which point turn the dough out onto a well floured surface and begin to knead the dough.
- Continue to knead the dough for 10 minutes, before rolling it into a ball and transferring it to a lightly oiled bowl and covering with a damp tea towel. Leave the dough in a draught-free place until it has doubled in size (around 1-2 hours).
- Lightly grease a 12"x9" baking tin and set aside. Once your dough has doubled in size, turn it out onto a floured surface and knock back the dough, before evenly dividing into 12 pieces.
- Using your hands, form each piece of dough into a rough sausage-like shape before placing in two rows of 6 in your pre-greased baking tin. Cover again with a damp tea towel, leaving in a draught-free place until the buns have doubled in size (again, 1-2 hours).
- Once the buns have completed their second rise, bake them in a pre-heated oven at 180°c (160° for a fan assisted oven or Gas Mark 4) for 15-20 minutes until golden in colour and have a hollow-like sign when gently tapped on top.
- Allow the buns to cool in their tin before icing. To ice the buns, mix 200g of icing sugar with a little cool water (start with a teaspoon and gradually add more as needed – it's easy to add more water but not easy to correct too much). You want a thick gloopy texture if you intend to spread the icing, or a slightly thinner consistency if you intend to pour the icing or dip the buns.Optional: Add a little colouring or flavouring to your icing, or top with some desiccated coconut.
Would love to make theses but need ingredient amounts in Standard U.S. form I.e. lbs. ounces, cups, etc.
Hi Kathy.
We are based in the UK and so our recipes follow the metric system which is used here. If you Google a “recipe converter” you should be able to change the ingredients to your preferred values.
Thank you for your quick response. I will do that!
Can the dough be made in a stand mixer with a dough hook?
Like Mary MC I would like an answer to this question PLEASE
Yes it can, I make all mine in a kitchen air, do dry ingredients first but only half the sugar, then add the butter and the eggs and finally the warm milk with the other half of the sugar and instant yeast, ive tried multiple recipes and this one is half way thru it’s first proofing, xx
Just baked these, they’re delicious!!
Easy to follow recipe. Worked out perfect with very tasty results! Take a bow Baking With Granny x
Would these freeze well do you think?
Freeze lovely
Hello, I’ve only got fresh yeast at the moment. Will that work for these buns and if so, how do I adapt the recipe? Thanks
Normally 3 x the amount of instant yeast = fresh yeast (14 x 3 = 42g). I haven’t tried but don’t see why it wouldn’t be OK?
Absolutely fantastic! It’s my first ever baking iced buns and I have chosen the perfect recipe. The result is awesome, it inspire me to bake more. Thank you so much xx
First time I’ve made iced buns and definitely chose the right recipe to do. Easy to make and are delicious! Definitely be baking more…. thank you! :)
Absolutely perfect Iced buns Best recipe I have used and will only use from now on. I sliced them open and added strawberry jam, plus used ‘Sugar and Crumbs’ strawberry milk shake flavoured icing sugar for the topping and they were delicious. Thank you
Just made these, way better than my previous recipe. Such a great texture to the dough.
I had alot of trouble with this mixture. It was so sticky it was like trying to kneed chewing gum!! I have a quartz worktop so the temperature is perfect for kneading? Did I do something wrong? Its on its first prove atm but I had to add lots more flour to make it even slightly payable!!!
Let’s see if ut rises!?
What did I do wrong?
I found it very sticky too. I added in a little more strongbflour until it was still soft but easier to handle.
These ice buns are delicious every 1 loves them can if add currants in them if so how many plz thank you
First attempt at baking any kind of bread like dessert. So glad I came across this recipe as I’m not very good at following cooking instructions! Haha
Couldn’t believe it actually turned out perfect – fluffy and delicious.
Thank you baking with granny for sharing your wonderful recipe
gloopy mix had to keep adding flour didnt rise went in bin
I had the same problem and kept adding flour till it was very sticky rather than gloopy. Fortunately it rose beautifully…
Hi, I was wondering if these would work if I mix these and let them rise, then pop then in the fridge and bake them the next morning?
These came out perfect! Soft and fluffy buns! The only reason I’m giving 4 stars is because they were huuuge in height lol. One would need prehensile jaws to take a bite hahaha. My kids were intimidated and overwhelmed by the size of them but once I cut them in thirds they were demolished piece by piece :-)
Hello Amy. I had the same issue as some of the other bakers. My dough was far too sticky to knead and I had to keep adding flour to my marble top to stop it from sticking in order to knead it. Probably added quite a bit of flour in the end and subsequently my dough would not rise. Very disappointing. Please could you or anyone else offer a solution to this?
I’ve made these twice and had the same problem:the first time they rose the second time they didn’t and I had to try to rescue them-another knead and more yeast. Okay but with slightly stodgy results.(Nothing goes in the bin in my kitchen if it can be rescued! LOL)
I’m going to try using a lot less liquid this time but the same amount of yeast and flour. I’ll let you know how I go.
But I should add that the first batch were delicious. I’ve been looking for a recipe for these half my life since I left Scotland. They are exactly what we used to buy from the tuckshop at high school.
This is brilliant recipe- best iced buns ever! Thank you for sharing, will sure make it again and again x
I found the dough wet to begin with, but with a lot of kneading flour, and silicone mat, and a bit of faith they have risen well and taste amazing. I used golden castor sugar and super quick yeast. Lovely.