Zeeuwse bolussen with coffee, you are and will remain a (childhood) favorite. What a delicious treat. These sticky sweet buns with caramelized cinnamon sugar. Eat them with a bit of butter, and you won't be able to resist these treats. And with this recipe, you can easily make them yourself.
Zeeuwse Bolussen - Dutch Cinnamon Rolls
We used to eat Zeeuwse bolussen every weekend when I was young. My mother got them at the town market. Sweet buns that are all gooey. Eating and keeping clean hands is almost impossible. And these sweet rolls don't just taste good; the smell of these homemadebuns is irresistible.
The Zeeuwse bolus is, of course, available everywhere in Zeeland (a province in the South-West of the Netherlands). But beyond that, it's much harder to buy them. That's why I was looking for a tasty recipe. And after a lot of trying, baking, and remaking, I now have the perfect recipe for you.
And do you love sweet rolls? Then these chocolate hazelnut turnovers, monkey bread muffins or easy cranberry cinnamon rolls are also delicious!
This recipe is adapted from the blog mammatjevanalles (Dutch).
From now on, you can make these sticky sweet Zeeland bolussen yourself quickly and easily. The taste is SUPER and your whole house smells wonderful! You will always make this yourself from now on!
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With cinnamon sugar
I made this recipe, as I remember it, with delicious cinnamon sugar. It melts in the hot oven, caramelizes, and becomes nice and sticky. And that sticky layer glues around the bun precisely as it should.
What do you need for Zeeuwse Bolus?
To prepare this Zeeuwse Bolussen - Dutch Cinnamon Rolls, you need the following ingredients. You can find the correct amounts in the recipe card at the bottom of the blog:
- Yeast: This recipe uses ⅓ oz. (8 grams, two teaspoons) of instant yeast. If you prefer to use fresh yeast, you need ⅔ oz. (16 grams). If you use dry yeast, you also require ⅓ oz. (8 grams). Note: with both fresh yeast and dry yeast, you must first dissolve the yeast in lukewarm milk.
- Sugar and Cinnamon: By mixing these two, you get a delicious cinnamon sugar that you can use to coat the outside of the buns. This cinnamon mixture caramelizes in the oven, making it gooey and deliciously sweet. Sometimes brown sugar is used, but because of the cinnamon, this is not necessary.
- Flour: Use regular all-purpose flour for these sandwiches.
- Milk: Use whole milk it makes the bolus fuller in flavor.
- Butter: Use unsalted butter.
- Flour: Use regular all-purpose flour for these buns.
- Egg: Makes the bolussen firm and have a rich taste. Use an egg size M at room temperature.
How to prepare Dutch Sticky Cinnamon Buns
You can find a printable recipe with a step-by-step description at the bottom of this blog.
- Prepare the Bolus dough. Mix milk, butter, egg, flour, and yeast in a bowl and knead with a mixer with dough hooks. Because the dough is quite sticky, I recommend not kneading it by hand ;-). After 2 minutes, add the salt and mix for another 8 to 10 minutes until the dough feels elastic and soft. Place the dough on a baking sheet and slide it into an oven that is turned off. Place a fireproof dish at the bottom of the oven and pour boiling water into it. Close the oven door and let the dough rise for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, mix the cinnamon with the sugar in a bowl and spread the cinnamon sugar on a plate.
- Make rolls of dough. Divide the dough into ten pieces. This is easiest by weighing the dough and dividing the total weight by ten. Each piece of dough should be that weight. Roll out each piece into a tube about 6 inches (ca. 15 cm) long. Roll each piece of dough through the cinnamon sugar plate. Place the rolls on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Put the baking sheet back in the oven. Empty the baking dish and refill it with boiling water. Close the oven door and let it rise for 15 minutes.
- Form the Dutch cinnamon rolls. Remove the dough from the oven and continue rolling out each strand until it is approximately 12 inches (ca. 30 cm) long. Roll for a second time in the sugar until well coated. Form a Bolus by wrapping each dough roll around three fingers in a circle, and then pressing the last piece in the center. Place back on the baking sheet. Empty the baking dish and refill it with 1 cup (0.24 l) of boiling water. Close the oven door and let it rise for 35 minutes.
- Remove them from the oven and place under a tea towel. Leave the empty baking dish in the oven.
Preheat the oven to 480 °F (ca. 249 °C). Just before baking, pour boiling water into the baking dish. After 20 minutes, bake the Zeeuwse bolussen until golden brown for 6 minutes. Take them out of the oven and turn them around immediately (while the sugar is still a little melted, you can still do that). Let them cool further.
Tips, Substitutions, and Variations
- Lactose-free—Replace the butter with vegan margarine and the milk with soy milk. The taste will change slightly, but it is still excellent.
- Stuffed bolussen - Let the bolussen cool to room temperature and cut horizontally in half. Pipe a delicious swirl of thickened vanilla pudding on the bottom half. Then put the cap back on the bolus. Here you will find a delicious recipe for homemade vanilla pudding.
- Currant bolussen - Soak, 2 oz (ca. 76 g). (60 grams) of currants in hot water for 10 minutes and pat dry. Spread them on a plate. When the dough tubes have been rolled to 12 inches (ca. 30 cm), cover them with cinnamon sugar and then press the rolls on the plate with currants. Form a bolus and continue with the recipe. This is a variant of the Ghent bolus.
- Ginger boluses—This variant resembles the Jewish ginger bolus. Grind 1 cup (150 grams) of white almonds finely with 1 cup (200 grams) candied ginger to get a lovely ginger marzipan. Divide the ginger mixture into ten pieces and roll it into a thin tube of about 10 inches (ca. 25 cm). When you have rolled out the lines of dough to 12 inches (ca. 30 cm), flatten them with the rolling pin. Place a roll of ginger paste on it and fold the dough around it. Press the seam shut. Now form the dough into a bolus and continue with the recipe.
- You get the best Zeeuwse bolussen by letting them rise briefly in a moist environment.
- Then, heat the oven very hot and bake the bolus briefly in a humid environment. This caramelizes the sugar.
Zeeland Boluses are sweet, cinnamon buns that originally come from the Dutch province of Zeeland. They have a soft, bread-like texture and are covered in a delicious cinnamon-sugar coating.
Did you make this delicious recipe? Tag #byandreajanssen via Instagram! I love to see what your creation looks like and regularly share the most beautiful photos of you! Did you like this recipe? Then leave a rating on the recipe card! Your feedback helps other home cooks and me enormously.
Need more inspiration?
- You can find video recipes on my YouTube channel.
- And don't forget to save the recipes on Pinterest, so you can easily find them again next time!
📖 Recipe
VIDEO
RECIPE CARD
Ingredients
- ⅞ cups milk, lukewarm
- ¼ stick butter, unsalted, room temperature
- 1 egg, size M
- 2¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons yeast, instant
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, grounded
All my recipes are written both in Metric (gram / ml) and US Customary (cups / pounds). Here you can select which type of amount you would like to see.
Instructions
- Mix the milk, butter, egg, flour, and yeast in a bowl.⅞ cups milk, ¼ stick butter, 1 egg, 2¾ cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons yeast
- After 2 minutes of mixing, add the salt and knead further (by hand or mixer) until you get a smooth and elastic dough (about 10 minutes).¾ teaspoon salt
- Place the dough on a baking tray and slide it into the oven.
- Put a heatproof oven dish on the bottom of the oven and pour 1 cup (250 ml) of boiling water into it. Close the oven door and leave the dough to rise for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, mix the cinnamon and sugar in a bowl and spread them on a plate.1 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Divide the dough into ten equal pieces and roll each piece into a string of about 6 inches (ca. 15 cm).
- Roll that string through the sugar mixture and place it back on the baking sheet lined with baking paper.
- Put the baking tray back in the oven. Empty the oven dish and pour 1 cup (250 ml) of boiling water into the oven dish. Place it again on the bottom of the oven.
- Close the oven door and leave the dough to rise again for 15 minutes.
- Remove the dough rolls from the oven and roll them out further until you have approximately 12 inches (ca. 30 cm) long strings.
- Roll the dough again through the sugar-cinnamon mixture.
- Shape each strand into a bolus form by rolling the dough around three fingers and secure in the middle.
- Place the boluses on the baking sheet.
- Put the baking sheet in the oven. Empty the oven dish and pour 1 cup (250 ml) of boiling water into a bowl. Put the oven dish on the bottom of the oven.
- Place that bowl in the oven and shut the door.
- Let the bolus rise for 35 minutes.
- Remove the bolussen from the oven and place them under a tea towel while you preheat the oven to 480 °F (ca. 249 °C). Put the empty oven dish back into the bottom of the oven.
- After 20 minutes, fill the oven dish with 1 cup (250 ml) of boiling water.
- Bake the bolussen in the middle of the oven for six minutes.
- Take the sweet bread out and turn them right away. Let them cool further.
Notes
This recipe is made in a conventional oven with top and bottom heat. However, because you place an oven dish with hot water at the bottom, you can also make this recipe in a convection oven (otherwise, the boluses will dry out too much). Then lower the temperature by 35 °F (20 °C) to 445 °F (ca. 229 °C). 4. Lactose-free - Replace the butter with vegan margarine and the milk with soy milk. The taste will change slightly, but it is still excellent. 5. - Keep it moist - You get the best Zeeuwse bolussen by letting them rise and bake in a humid environment. You do this by placing a baking dish with boiling water in an oven. The steam keeps the dough moist. That improves the taste and structure of the boluses!ough moist. That really improves the taste and structure of the boluses! 6. - Storage
- Room temperature - Store the bolussen for up to two days in an airtight container. The structure deteriorates quickly. TIP: Before eating it, heat the bolus in the microwave for 20 seconds on full power.
- Freezer - Freeze the buns immediately after baking and pack them individually. You can store them like this for up to a month. Let them thaw in the package at room temperature. Heat them in the microwave for 20 seconds before eating them.
Nutrition
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