Sticky Matcha Buns Recipe

A sticky matcha buns recipe for lovers of matcha and sticky roll buns alike.

There's matcha in every component of this sticky matcha buns recipe: matcha in the bread dough itself, matcha in the filling, and matcha in the icing.

The bread dough itself is a relatively simple one, made even easier by using instant yeast (also known as fast action yeast or 'easy bake' yeast). With this kind of yeast, you don't have to 'wake it up' by mixing it with a little warm water or milk first – you just dump it straight in with the other ingredients and it gets straight to work.

For the neatest, swirliest buns, I use unscented, unflavored dental floss to cut the roll of dough by wrapping a length of floss around the log of dough once, crossing the ends over and then pulling – but a nice sharp knife is also fine.

You can also watch me make this on my YouTube channel, Tashcakes:

Ready? Let's go.

(Makes six rolls.)

Ingredients for Buns:

30g unsalted butter
100ml boiling water
100ml cold milk
300g strong white bread flour
1 heaped tbsp matcha, sifted
50g caster sugar
Pinch of salt
1 tsp easy bake yeast

Ingredients for Filling:

25g unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
50g light muscovado sugar
2 tsp matcha

Ingredients for Icing:

100g icing sugar
1 tbsp matcha
Cold water (15ml?)

To Glaze:

A few tbsp milk

Method:

1. To make the buns, pour the hot water over the butter in a small heatproof bowl or saucepan and swirl until the butter has melted. Add the milk.

2. Add the dry ingredients into a big bowl and stir in the liquid mixture, forming a dough with your hands.

3. Knead on a lightly-floured surface for about five minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Pop into a lightly-oiled bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave to rise until doubled in size (30 minutes to two hours, depending on how warm your room is).

4. Grease a loaf tin with a little vegetable oil.

5. Punch your now-risen dough down and, on a lightly-floured surface, roll it out into a roughly 30x30cm square.

6. Spread on the 'filling butter' evenly over the surface, sprinkle over the muscovado sugar, and sift the matcha on top.

7. Roll into a sausage shape, cut into six equal portions, and place in your loaf tin. Cover with clingfilm and leave to rise again until doubled in size.

8. Halfway through the dough rising for the second and final time, preheat the oven to 180°C.

9. Once fully-risen, lightly brush the tops of the buns with a little milk and bake your rolls for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown and bubbling.

10. Stir the icing ingredients together. After you take the rolls out of the oven, let them cool a little for about 10 minutes before drizzling over the icing while they're still a bit warm.

Enjoy, and have fun.