Saffron and White Chocolate Buns
These saffron and white chocolate buns are soft, pillowy, and lightly sweet, with the delicate aroma of saffron and pockets of soft, creamy white chocolate. You can make them as overnight buns for an easy morning bake or enjoy them fresh from the oven, golden and fragrant.
If you are new to spelt flour and would like to know more, please check out my tutorial: The Beginner’s Guide to Spelt Flour.
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| Saffron and white chocolate buns |
| Saffron in baking |
| A tip for soft, fluffy buns |
| Cream cheese in bun dough |
| Ways to prepare saffron bun dough |
| Baking sweet buns |
| More saffron baked recipes |
Saffron and white chocolate buns
It’s saffron season in Sweden, and I couldn’t resist celebrating with a little baking. I wanted to incorporate the elements of Sweden’s beloved lussekatter, but with a softer bun.
These pillowy buns are lightly sweet, delicately scented with saffron, and filled with white chocolate that melted into the dough as it is baked. The saffron gives a subtle, distinctive flavour and a brilliant golden hue, while the white chocolate adds richness without overpowering the tender dough.
Cream cheese in the dough ensures a soft, melt-in-the-mouth texture, and whether you use regular or spelt flour, the result is a sweet, aromatic bun that’s hard to resist. The aroma while baking fills your kitchen with warmth, making them a treat that delights both the eyes and the senses.
The buns can be made with spelt or all-purpose (plain) flour, and the recipe yields 15 good-sized buns.
Saffron in baking: history, uses, and flavour
Saffron is one of the world’s most treasured spices, harvested from the delicate red stigmas of the crocus flower. Its history stretches back thousands of years, with origins in ancient Persia, Greece, and Egypt. Traditionally prized for its vibrant golden colour and aromatic qualities, saffron has long been used to elevate dishes both visually and in taste.
While saffron is often used in savoury recipes such as risottos, paellas, and stews, it also has a long tradition in baked goods. In Spain, it flavours festive breads and pastries, while in India, it is added to sweets like shrikhand breads and rich desserts. In Iran, saffron is used in a variety of sweet breads and cakes for celebrations, giving them a luxurious aroma and colour. Great examples include Koloocheh (Persian cookies or small filled pastries) and Gaz, a nougat-like sweet from Isfahan, flavoured rosewater.
In baking, saffron contributes subtle warmth and complexity, giving dough a rich golden hue and a distinctive floral note with gentle honeyed and earthy undertones. Even a small pinch transforms ordinary buns and breads into special, aromatic treats.
A tip for soft, fluffy buns: bake rolls close together
One of the secrets to these buns’ soft, pillowy texture is how they’re baked close together. When rolls are placed right next to each other, they rise upwards rather than spreading outwards. This happens because the dough supports each other as it expands, creating a slightly squished shape that keeps the interior light and tender. The walls of each bun trap steam during baking, which helps maintain moisture and prevents the crust from becoming too hard.
This is a trick I use for everything from my giant spelt buns to hot dog rolls. It’s a simple way to achieve soft, fluffy buns with a tender crumb and a slightly squished, bakery-style appearance.
Cream cheese in bun dough: why it works
Another way to keep the buns soft is adding cream cheese to the dough.
Cream cheese enriches the dough with both fat and moisture, which improves the overall structure and tenderness. The fat in cream cheese coats some of the flour proteins, which slightly reduces gluten formation, resulting in a softer, more delicate crumb. At the same time, the moisture it contributes keeps the dough hydrated, helping it rise fully and maintain a pillowy texture. Unlike butter alone, cream cheese holds onto moisture during baking, so the buns stay soft for longer and don’t dry out as quickly. It’s a subtle trick, but it makes a noticeable difference in the lightness, tenderness, and overall mouthfeel of the finished buns.
It works beautifully with saffron and white chocolate, adding a subtle creaminess that keeps the buns tender and soft without affecting the delicate flavours of the other ingredients. Combined with the technique of baking the rolls close together, cream cheese is what gives these buns their irresistibly soft, melt-in-the-mouth quality.
Ways to prepare saffron bun dough
This saffron and white chocolate bun dough is soft, slightly sticky, and incredibly versatile. You can prepare it using a bread machine, stand mixer, or by hand depending on your preference and equipment.
Start by gently warming the milk and infusing it with saffron to release its flavour and colour. Then combine it with butter, cream cheese, flour, sugar, salt, and yeast to form a dough.
- Bread machine: Simply add all ingredients to the machine and select the “dough” programme. The machine will knead and proof the dough for you, giving you a soft, ready-to-shape base.
- Stand mixer: Use a dough hook to knead the mixture for about 10 minutes. The dough should remain slightly tacky but hold together well. After kneading, cover and let it proof until it has doubled in size.
- By hand: Knead on a well-floured surface until smooth and elastic, while still slightly sticky. Allow to proof in a covered bowl until doubled.
Tips for handling sticky dough: The dough is naturally soft and tacky, which is what gives the buns their light texture. Flour your hands and work surface lightly, and add extra flour sparingly only if necessary. Be careful: adding too much flour will make the dough stiff and can result in dense, dry buns.
Once the dough is ready, it can be divided, rolled, filled, and shaped into buns. This flexible dough works beautifully whether you want to bake immediately or refrigerate overnight for a slower rise.
Baking sweet buns: overnight or same-day method
One of the best things about this saffron buns recipe is its flexibility. You can make them as overnight buns to develop richer flavours, or bake them fresh the same day for a quick treat. For overnight buns, shape the dough with the filling, cover with clingfilm, and refrigerate. About an hour before baking, take the buns out to bring them to room temperature, then bake as usual.
If you prefer to bake immediately, let the shaped buns rest under a tea towel for about 30 minutes. This allows for a brief proofing. Then, place them in the oven. Either way, these soft saffron and white chocolate buns come out perfect; golden, fragrant, and deliciously moist.
Saffron and White Chocolate Buns
Ingredients
Dough (see note 1)
- 250ml (1 cup) milk
- ½ gram (¼ tsp) saffron
- 75g (⅓ cup) butter (chopped into small pieces)
- 100g (3½ oz) cream cheese
- 500-550g (4 cups - 4½ cups) spelt flour (see note 2)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 75g (⅓ cup) sugar
- 7g (2 tsp) dried yeast
Filling:
- 70g (⅓ cup) butter (room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 100g (3½ oz) white chocolate (chopped)
Extra ingredients:
- 1 egg
- pearl sugar (optional)
Instructions
DOUGH
Bread Machine:
- Warm the milk gently in a pan until just lukewarm, then add the saffron. Let the mixture sit for around ten minutes.
- Pour the saffron and milk into your bread machine pan, along with the butter and cream cheese. Add 500g (4 cups) flour and the remaining dough ingredients. Set your machine to make the dough.
- On a very well-floured surface (the dough will be very sticky) work in just as much flour as you need to make a soft, pliable, but still a little tacky, dough.
Stand Mixer:
- Warm the milk gently in a pan until just lukewarm, then add the saffron. Let the mixture sit for around ten minutes.
- Pour the saffron and milk into your stand mixer bowl along with the butter and cream cheese. Quickly mix together.
- Add 550g (4½ cups) of flour, and the remaining dough ingredients. The dough should be sticky, but if you need more flour, just add a little at a time. Be careful: too much flour will result in dry bread.
- Switch to a dough hook (if you have one) and allow the mixer to knead the dough for around 10 minutes, just until soft. The dough will still feel a little tacky to the touch, but will be able to slowly drop off the hook.
- Cover the dough and leave to proof (until it has doubled in size - usually about an hour).
- When the dough is ready, knock it back, and on a floured surface, form into a rough ball.
For both methods:
- While the dough is in the stand mixer or bread machine, beat the butter and vanilla together for the filling. Then, chop the white chocolate into chunks.
- When the dough is ready, divide it into two roughly equal parts (this makes it easier to work with). Put one half aside.
- Take the other half, and on a floured surface, work on the dough, rolling it out into a long, fairly thin, strip (around 23cm x 40cm / 9" x 15").
- Spread half of the butter mixture almost all over the dough, but just leaving a thin edge all the way round.
- Sprinkle half of the chopped chocolate over the top.
- Carefully roll the dough up as tight as you can, and then place the roll with the seam facing down.
- Grease a dish or line an oven tray.
- Using a sharp knife, cut into fairly think chunks (around 1½cm thick) and place close to each other in a buttered pan or dish (the closer you put them, the more squished they become, causing them to rise up rather than spread).
- Repeat the above with the second half of the dough, placing on the same tray or in the same dish as the others.
- Beat an egg and wash the tops of the buns, then sprinkle some pearl sugar (if using).
Overnight buns:
- Cover the buns with clingfilm and pop in the fridge.
- Take the buns out about an hour before you want them, and allow them to come up to room temperature.
Bake immediately:
- Cover the buns with a tea-towel, and allow them to rest for about 30 minutes.
Both methods:
- Pre-heat the oven to 220ºC (430ºF).
- Bake for around 15-20 minutes, just until the tops are nice and brown (be careful not to overcook as they will dry out).
- Leave to cool for little while, then scoff them while still warm! Enjoy!
Notes
- I have made the dough using both a stand mixer and bread machine with identical results. I have not made the dough by hand, but I see no reason why you couldn't do so!
- You can use spelt or regular flour for this recipe (just use the same amount).
- In Sweden we have something called dried yeast. It is used both in warm liquid to proof and also added directly to flour. I am aware that the US has two options for dried yeast, and I believe instant yeast is the most similar for the purpose of making this particular bread.
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