Traditional Scottish Honey Buns

While many have heard of scones, shortbread and lots of other tasty Scottish bakes, few have heard of traditional Scottish honey buns. I have to agree as I too had never heard of them either.

As this is Burns Night I thought I’d share this oh so Scottish cake recipe with you. Okay, so it’s not a haggis recipe but we are in the right country at least.

I only discovered honey buns when I was researching my book Simply Scottish Cakes & Bakes.

When you are writing a cookbook like that you end up trawling through lots and lots of research with information dating back centuries.

Ingredients for honey buns

Be warned though, these are seriously sweet treats and contain sugar, honey and icing sugar.

They are definitely not for you if you are on any sort of diet or even contemplating avoiding sugar!

It’s not all about sweetness though, there are some other goodies in these honey buns; 

Almonds, walnuts and orange zest give both flavour and texture to these wee buns.

How to make honey buns

This is a bit like making treacle scones and the like.

You are melting the honey with the butter and then putting tis into the dry ingredients and forming a dough.

A simple white icing and a walnut half tops off the honey buns in style.

I was lucky enough to find these cute tartan cupcake holders when I made them for my book.

Try as I might I have never managed to find them since.

How long will these keep

They will keep for about 3 days in an airtight tin. You can freeze them though (without icing) for up to 3 months.

These are pure sweet indulgence. Come on Pooh Bear would do a backflip for these honey buns they are such a sweet treat.

This was my favourite photo from the shoot I did for the cookbook. The publisher didn’t see the funny side though…..

This recipe comes from my book Simply Scottish Cakes & Bakes.

Looking for more Scottish bakes to try at home? Then check these out before you go;

Traditional Scottish snowballs

Abernethy biscuits

Edinburgh gingerbread

Drop scones (aka Scotch pancakes)

Traditional Scottish treacle scones

Gingernut biscuits/gingersnap cookies

Finally, if you do try this recipe don’t forget to leave a comment/star rating below as I just love to hear from readers. Want more Larder Love? Then follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter and sign up for my newsletter too of course.

Photos And Tips AboveMost of my recipes have step by step photos and useful tips plus videos too, see above.

Honey Buns

Karon Grieve

These sweet and tasty traditional Scottish buns are super easy to make and the perfect tea time treat

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Comment Bookmark Saved! Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Course baking

Cuisine Scottish

Servings 6 people

Calories 380 kcal

Ingredients

 

MetricUS Customary

• ▢ 3 tbsp honey runny stuff
• ▢ 50 g sugar
• ▢ 50 g butter
• ▢ 115 g plain allpurpose flour
• ▢ 1/2 tsp Bicarbonate Of Soda
• ▢ 25 g walnuts chopped
• ▢ 25 g ground almonds
• ▢ 1/2 orange zest grated
• ▢ 1 egg beaten

Topping

• ▢ 230 g icing sugar
• ▢ 2 tbsp cream cheese
• ▢ 6 walnuts walnut halves to decorate

Metric – US Customary

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4
• Place cupcake liners in 6 hole muffin tin
• In a small pan gently heat the sugar, honey and butter until all the sugar has completely dissolved. Let this cool for 5 minutes.
• Sift the flour and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl and add chopped walnuts, ground almonds and the orange zest.
• Stir the beaten egg into the cooled sugar mixture and slowly pour this into the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
• Spoon into the muffin cases until each is about 2/3rds full.
• Bake for approximately 15 minutes or until puffy and golden brown in colour.
• Remove from oven and let them sit in the tin for 5 minutes before tipping on to a wire rack to cool completely.
• To make the topping sift the icing sugar into a bowl and stir in the cream cheese one tablespoon at a time. It is up to you how much you use, just depends how you like your frosting.
• Spoon on top of the honeybuns and top with a walnut half.

Nutrition

Calories: 380kcalCarbohydrates: 72gProtein: 5gFat: 9gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 34mgSodium: 128mgPotassium: 84mgFiber: 2gSugar: 55gVitamin A: 124IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 39mgIron: 1mg

My Top Tips*Always read the full recipe first. *Assemble all your ingredients and everything you need before you start. *For baking check the size of tins I’m using as this makes a big difference to your cakes. * I use medium sized eggs unless otherwise stated. * I use extra virgin olive oil unless otherwise stated. * I use unsalted butter unless otherwise stated. * Check out My Preserving Kit!

Tried this recipe?Mention @LarderLove or tag #LarderLove