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Easy Homemade Raisin Buns

Easy Homemade Raisin Buns

These fluffy, not too sweet, raisin buns made with yeasted dough make a perfect breakfast, brunch or snack.

This raisin bun recipe is so fluffy, delicious and easy to follow (perfect for beginner bakers). Made with yeast, milk, flour, raisins, egg and sugar. Perfect for breakfast, brunch, afternoon tea or as a snack.

The raisin yeast rolls taste great on their own or spread with jam, nutella or butter. Feel free to cut down on the raisins or leave them out completely, if you’re not a fan like my father in law just make chocolate buns instead.

What you’ll need to make raisin buns:

  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 125 ml (about 1/2 cup/ 4.4 fl oz) lukewarm milk
  • 260 g (2 cups + 2 tablespoons/ 9 oz) plain flour (all purpose flour)
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 medium egg
  • 30 g (about 3 tablespoons/ 1 oz ) butter, melted
  • 100 g (2/3 cup/ 3.5 oz) raisins
  • 2 ½ teaspoons dry yeast

You’ll also need:

  • about 1 teaspoon sunflower oil for greasing
  • 1 egg yolk and ½ tablespoon milk
  • about 1 tablespoon melted butter to brush the buns after baking
  • baking sheet and parchment paper

How to make yeast buns with raisins

Begin by combining lukewarm milk, 2 tablespoons flour (from the 260 g (2 cups + 2 tablespoons/ 9 oz)), 1 tablespoon sugar (from 2 tablespoons sugar) and yeast in a jar. Whisk well and let the mixture stand for 5 minutes.

In the meantime combine the remaining flour, the remaining sugar, egg and salt in a large bowl. Pour over the yeast – sugar mixture. Start mixing, while adding the melted butter.

How to knead the sweet yeast dough for raisin buns

Knead the dough very well, until you see bubbles in the dough or until it’s no more sticking on the walls of the bowl. I normally knead my dough like this:

1) If I’m kneading it with the hand mixer, I knead the dough for about 8 minutes at low speed and then for 5 minutes on medium high speed.

2) With the kitchen machine I knead the dough for 7 minutes at low speed (speed 1, on Bosch kitchen machine) and for 3 more minutes at medium high speed (speed 3).

3) With the hands, I knead the dough for about 10 to 12 minutes. If the dough is sticky when kneading with the hands, just oil them with few drops of vegetable oil. If you’re using a heavy duty kitchen machine, please knead your dough for maximum 7 minutes in total. Otherwise you will be overworking the dough.

Using one hand, remove the dough from bowl and grease with 1 teaspoon sunflower oil. Put the dough back, turn in well so that it is completely covered with oil.

Cover with cling film and then with kitchen towel. Let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until dough has doubled in size.

How to incoporate raisins into the yeast dough and shape rolls for raisin buns

After 1 hour remove the dough from the bowl and put it on a working surface. Gently flatten the dough with your hands.

Put the raisins in the middle of the flattened dough and carefully press them into the dough and fold.

Then shape it into a long baguette form. You want to retain the air bubbles in the dough intact so that you’ll have nicely fluffy buns.

Cut the baguette roll into approximately 8 equal rolls. Cut the roll in the middle first, it makes it easier to cut the rest of the rolls.

Form the rolls into buns and put them on a baking sheet lined with a parchment paper. Cover and let rise for another 30 minutes.

In the meantime preheat the oven to 180°C (356 °F) with both up and low heat. Then beat an egg yolk and about ½ tablespoon of milk in a small bowl.

After the second rise brush the raisin yeast rolls with the egg wash.

Bake for 20 minutes or until nicely golden brown. Immediately after baking remove the raisin buns from oven and brush with melted butter. Done!!

How to soften rasins

If the raisins that you’re using are hard, just pour hot water or apple juice over them to make them soft. Let the raisins soak for about 10 minutes before draining them. You could also soak the raisins in rum if kids won’t be eating them.

Love this Raisin Bun Recipe? Try my raisin buns without yeast and German Easter bread recipes, too.

Print Recipe
5 from 8 votes

Easy Homemade Raisin Buns

This raisin bun recipe is so fluffy, delicious and easy to follow (perfect for beginner bakers). Made with yeast, milk, flour, raisins, egg and sugar. Perfect for breakfast, brunch, afternoon tea or as a snack.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Rise Time1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time2 hours 10 minutes
Course: afternoon tea, Breakfast, Brunch, Snack
Cuisine: European, German
Keyword: baking, homemade buns, how to, raisin buns, Rosinenbrötchen, sweet yeast rolls with raisins, yeast buns
Servings: 8 raisin buns
Author: Ester | esterkocht.com

Equipment

  • baking sheet and parchment paper
  • Hand mixer/ Stand mixer (OPTIONAL)

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 125 ml (½ cup/ 4.4 fl oz) milk lukewarm
  • 260 g (2 cups + 2 tablespoons/ 9 oz) plain flour/ all purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 medium egg
  • 30 g (about 3 tablespoons/ 1 oz ) butter melted
  • 100 g (⅔ cup/ 3.5 oz) raisins
  • 2 ½ teaspoons dry yeast (7 g (0.25 oz)

You’ll also need

  • 1 teaspoon sunflower oil for greasing
  • 1 egg yolk and ½ tablespoon milk to brush the raisin buns before baking
  • about 1 tablespoon melted butter to brush the buns after baking

Instructions

  • Begin by combining lukewarm milk, 2 tablespoons flour (from the 260 g (2 cups + 2 tablespoons/ 9 oz)), 1 tablespoon sugar (from 2 tablespoons sugar) and yeast in a jar. Whisk well and let the mixture stand for 5 minutes. In the meantime combine the remaining flour, the remaining sugar, egg and salt in a large bowl. Pour over the yeast – sugar mixture. Start mixing, while adding the melted butter.
  • Knead the dough very well, until you see bubbles in the dough or until it’s no more sticking on the walls of the bowl. I normally knead my dough like this: If I’m kneading it with the hand mixer, I knead the dough for about 8 minutes at low speed and then for 5 minutes on medium high speed. With the kitchen machine I knead the dough for 7 minutes at low speed (speed 1, on Bosch kitchen machine) and for 3 more minutes at medium high speed (speed 3). With the hands, I knead the dough for about 10 to 12 minutes. If the dough is too sticky when kneading with your hands, just oil them with few drops of vegetable oil. If you’re using a heavy duty kitchen machine, please knead your dough for maximum 7 minutes in total. Otherwise you will be overworking the dough.
  • Using one hand, remove the dough from bowl and grease with 1 teaspoon sunflower oil. Put the dough back, turn in well so that it is completely covered with oil. Cover with cling film and then with kitchen towel. Let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until dough has doubled in size. After 1 hour remove the dough from the bowl and put it on a working surface. There is no need to dust it.
  • Gently flatten the dough with your hands. Since the dough is nicely kneaded, it doesn't stick. Therefore extra flour for dusting is not needed here. Put the raisins in the middle of the flattened dough and carefully press them into the dough and then fold. Then shape it into a long baguette form. You want to retain the air bubbles in the dough intact so that you’ll have nicely fluffy buns. Cut the baguette roll into approximately 8 equal rolls. Cut the roll in the middle first, it makes it easier to cut the rest of the rolls. Form the rolls into buns and put them on a baking sheet lined with a parchment paper. Cover and let rise for another 30 minutes.
  • In the meantime preheat the oven to 180°C (356 °F) with both up and low heat. Then beat an egg yolk and about ½ tablespoon of milk in a small bowl.
  • After the second rise brush the raisin yeast rolls with the egg wash. Bake for 20 minutes or until nicely golden brown. Immediately after baking remove the raisin buns from oven and brush with melted butter. Done!!

Notes

  1. If the raisins that you're using are hard, just pour hot water or apple juice over them to make them soft. You could also soak them in rum if kids won't be eating them.

Did you make this raisin roll recipe? I’d love to hear from you! Simply write a review and add rating to it.

Recipe Rating




Glenn

Wednesday 5th of April 2023

Most impressed, the outcome was 'as expected' soft, fluffy texture and very tasty. Good job, recipes in the book now.

Andrea

Monday 13th of March 2023

Wonderful texture! These turned out better than what I typically purchase at the bakery. I added cinnamon and served them with cream cheese.

ALAN

Saturday 2nd of April 2022

I made these rolls today for a trial run before Easter. They remind me of a roll that my grandmothers made each year. Unfortunately, my dough did not turn out like the photo. Even after kneading in the Bosch mixer as described, it was somewhat clumpy and took quite a bit of effort to bring together with the raisins. While they didn't turn out like the photos or as I remember, their taste was great and the house smelled like my childhood. Any ideas what may have gone wrong? Many thanks in advance for your advice.

Ester

Sunday 3rd of April 2022

Hello Alan, I'm so glad to hear that these raisin buns brought back your chilhood memories. I'm sorry to hear the dough didn't work out for you. Did add more flour to the dough as indicated in the recipe? Next time you're making the buns, try observing the dough during the kneading process and add about tablespoon of sunflower oil or so if it seems lumpy until you have a beautiful dough. My 5 year old and I extra made these raisin buns this morning and took some photos. So I have updated the photos in the recipe. BTW, I think you will love this german Easter bread with raisins and candied lemon and orange peels.

Salma

Tuesday 8th of February 2022

Doubled the recipe. After making the rolled log, cutting it, I couldn’t make it into nice rolls. So I just pressed them down. Came out nice looking and tasted very good,

Gloriah

Wednesday 27th of October 2021

Hi Can I use instant yeast instead

Ester

Wednesday 27th of October 2021

Hello Gloriah, No problem, just use less yeast, about 1 ¾ teaspoons instead of 2 ½ teaspoons as stated in the recipe. I hope this helps.