Special Christmas offer: Get your first box 50% off! When signing up to our best value monthly plans 3, 6 or 12 months. Don’t miss out on our most popular offer.
Use code; FIRSTBOX50_OFF
BUTTER EYE BUNS
TOTAL TIME: 2H
Finnish butter eye buns, or voisilmäpullat, are a beloved Finnish classic, simple and deeply comforting. Picture this: a soft, golden sweet bun with a buttery, sugar-filled “eye” baked right into the centre, melting slightly as it bakes and creating the perfect balance of sweetness and richness. No frills, just pure comfort.
Found in bakeries and homes all year round, butter eye buns are a staple of Finnish coffee culture, where taking time for kahvi ja pulla (coffee and bun) is practically sacred. They’re the kind of bun everyone grew up with—familiar, reassuring, and impossible to eat just one of.
As they bake, the aroma of butter, sugar, and freshly baked dough fills the kitchen, instantly transporting you to a Finnish café. Sometimes the simplest things really are the best.
Time to bake, brew a coffee, and enjoy this timeless Finnish classic—one buttery eye at a time.
1. MIX THE INGREDIENTS
Heat 450 ml milk until lukewarm but not warmer than that. You can check the temperature by placing your finger in the milk. If it feels room temperature and not hot, it is at the desired temperature.
Pour the milk into a large bowl or mixer and stir in bag a (yeast) until dissolved. Add bag b (flour) and mix briefly, then add bag c, 150 g soft (room temperature) butter, and 1 egg.
Tip: Add the butter last to get a more elastic dough.
2. DO A GLUTEN TEST
Knead the dough for a good 10 min to make sure gluten threads has formed. To ensure that the dough has achieved the desired consistency and the gluten strands have developed properly, do a gluten test. Take a small portion of the dough and gently stretch it. The dough should exhibit elasticity, appearing thin and fine. You should be able to pull the dough without it breaking. If the dough does break, it indicates that further development is needed. Place the dough back in the mixer (or by hand) and work it for an additional minute to enhance gluten formation. If the dough feels too sticky, add a little flour from bag f as needed.
Cover the bowl with a tea towel and let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
3. SHAPE THE BUNS
Divide the dough into 20 equal pieces.
Shape each piece into a smooth bun, by grabbing a piece in your hand, then gently cup it with your other hand, and do a circular movement, until you get a round ball with nice tension in it. We do this both to get the beautiful round shape but also to get stronger gluten threads, that will hold the gases created by the yeast. This will result in fluffier softer buns.
Place the buns on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Let them rise for 1-2 hours, or until they have almost double in size. This time can vary quite alot depending on the temperature in your kitchen. A warm kitchen will require a shorter rise, where as a cold kitchen will result in a linger proofing (buns resting & rising) time
or until almost doubled in size and soft and bouncy to the touch.
Tip: If your kitchen is cool, place the trays in a turned-off oven, place a bowl of boiling water in the bottom of your oveb to create a humid, warm, draft-free environment.
4. PREPARE BUTTER & EGG WASH
Preheat your oven to 200°C (conventional) or 180°C (fan-forced).
Take 100g cold butter and cut it into 20 equal pieces by halving repeatedly until evenly portioned. In a small bowl, crack 1 egg, add a splash of water and a pinch of salt, and whisk lightly to make an egg wash.
When adding a splash of water and pinch of salt to the mixed egg, you help the egg to dissolve, which means you get a more even thin layer of egg wash on your buns. Resulting in beautiful shiny buns without any pieces of "omelette".
Tip: Keeping the butter cold helps it hold its shape during baking and creates a defined “butter eye” in the centre.
5. FILL AND FINISH THE BUNS
Using your fingers, make a indentation in the centre of each bun, about 1 cm wide. Place one piece of butter into each indentation. Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon of sugar from bag d directly onto the butter.
Carefully brush the buns with the egg wash, avoiding the butter and sugar centre. Finish by sprinkling pearl sugar from bag e around the sides of each bun.
6. BAKE AND ENJOY
Bake the buns in the middle of the oven for 10–15 minutes, or until beautifully golden and lightly glossy. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before serving.
Enjoy warm with a cup of coffee or a cold glass of milk.
Tip: These buns are best eaten fresh, but can be frozen once cooled. They can be reaheated in the microwave, or for a few minutes in a hot oven or airfryer.