Polish Jagodzianki: Sweet Yeast Buns Bursting with Farmers-Market Berries

Whisk the flour, yeast and sugar in a large bowl. Add the warm milk, 2 eggs and vanilla, and mix to a shaggy dough.

Serves 10

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup whole milk, warmed to 105F
• 2 large eggs, plus 1 for egg wash
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups fresh blueberries or bilberries
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 cup sugar, for the filling
• 1/3 cup flour, 3 tablespoons sugar and 3 tablespoons cold butter, for streusel
• Powdered sugar, for dusting

Instructions

1. Whisk the flour, yeast and sugar in a large bowl. Add the warm milk, 2 eggs and vanilla, and mix to a shaggy dough.
2. Knead 5 minutes, then work in the softened butter a spoonful at a time, followed by the salt. Keep kneading 8 to 10 minutes until the dough is smooth, elastic and only faintly tacky.
3. Cover and let rise in a warm spot 60 to 90 minutes, until doubled.
4. Toss the berries with the cornstarch and 1/4 cup sugar. The cornstarch is not optional — without it the juice runs out and welds the buns to the pan.
5. Rub the streusel ingredients together with your fingertips until they form coarse crumbs, and chill until needed.
6. Punch down the dough and divide into 10 pieces. Flatten each into a 4-inch disc on a lightly floured surface.
7. Mound a heaping spoonful of berries in the center of each disc, then gather the edges up and over and pinch them firmly shut. Roll seam-side down between your palms to seal.
8. Arrange seam-side down on a parchment-lined sheet, leaving room to spread. Cover and let rise 35 to 45 minutes, until puffy.
9. Brush with beaten egg, scatter streusel over the tops, and bake at 350F for 22 to 26 minutes, until deep golden and hollow-sounding.
10. Cool at least 20 minutes before eating — the filling is molten straight from the oven — then dust with powdered sugar.
11. Jagodzianki appear in every Polish bakery window for a few short weeks each summer, made with jagody, the wild bilberries foraged from forest floors that stain fingers and lips a deep violet. They are so tied to the season that Poles genuinely mark the calendar by their arrival and disappearance. Cultivated blueberries make an excellent stand-in, and August at any farmers market is exactly the right moment to buy them by the quart.

Nutrition (estimated, per serving)

• Calories: 340 kcal
• Protein: 7g
• Fat: 11g
• Carbohydrates: 55g
• Fiber: 3g
• Sugar: 22g
• Sodium: 190mg