Jagodzianki Recipe

What are "jagodzianki"? Delicious buns with blueberry filling! In Polish "jagoda" (read: yagoda) means blueberry. Blueberries are great for cakes, tarts, buns, pierogi filling and dessert toppings.

I have heard many stories about how making the yeast cake can turn bad. I finally tried it, and you can see results of my work. Buns could be a little bit softer, but like for my first time, they turned out really nice... My husband and I, were enjoying jagodzianki for two days only! This means that they are disappearing quickly... :)

The common mistake while cooking and baking is eyeballing the ingredients :)) It might work with sugar or spices that we are familiar with, but certain proportions should be saved. I used my coffee cup to measure milk and this was my mistake. It is larger than a traditional 250 mL glass. My dough turned out really loose, so I kept adding more flour to it. Luckily, my jagodzianki did not turn out as hard as rock!:) It is very  important to stick to the recipe, especially while making a yeast cake.

I looked up many recipes and modified them a little, so I could use instant yeast instead of fresh yeast. I have one more recipe to try and I will keep you posted. But first, I need to do some jumping jacks, before I decide to bake a second set of these delicious buns :)

Recipe (yield: 10)
Filling:
1 pint (250-300g) blueberries
2-3 Tbsp sugar (granulated or confectioners sugar)
*vanilla sugar (optional)

Wash blueberries, mix with sugar (blueberries tend to get sour during cooking) and set aside.

Crumbs (optional):
50 g flour
25 g sugar
25 g cold butter

Mix with wooden spoon, set aside.

You can make more crumbs. The proportions are: whatever amount of flour, then half on this amount would be sugar and another half would be butter (as above 50, 25 and 25).
I decided to make them, because I love them! Instead, you can brush your buns with watered egg (whisk one egg with one teaspoon of water) and sprinkle them with some sugar before baking, or use confectioners sugar after baking. Both options are great.

Dough:
1 cup (250 mL) milk
16 g vanilla sugar or 1 tsp vanilla extract
40 g butter
1 lb (450 g) flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
7 g instant yeast
1 egg

1. Place parchment paper on a cookie sheet.
2. Combine milk, vanilla sugar and butter in a small pot and cook over medium heat until butter dissolves in milk. Let it cool.
3. In a big bowl mix flour, yeast, salt and sugar. Add cooled butter and milk, egg, and knead the dough. The dough will be loose and sticky, no need to add flour. 
4. Form a ball and cover it with a clear foil or clean, linen towel. Set aside in a warm place. Let it raise for one hour.
5. Divide the dough into 10 parts. TIP: Spray your hands with oil or cooking spray (I used PAM spray). Flatten each part of the dough in your hands, put blueberries in the center and stick the sides together. Shape round balls. Place them on a cookie sheet, cover and leave for 30 minutes. They will double their size :).
6. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
7. Sprinkle crumbs on the top of jagodzianki or brush them with egg. You can also leave them as they are.
8. Bake for 18-20 min or until they start "catching" brown color.
9. Cool and sprinkle with confectioners sugar.

Smacznego! Enjoy!

Jagodzianki are great for breakfast! Enjoy with a cup of milk or coffee!