St. Lucy buns are soft, sweet breads flavored with candied orange peels and optional raisins or chocolate chips.
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St. Lucy Day
Our family celebrates St. Lucy Day the only way we know how: with food! Her feast day on December 13 falls in Advent. I love having a mini-celebration as we prepare for for the (second) biggest feast of the year: Christmas! (Second in our house only to Easter!)
If you want to learn more about St. Lucy and the traditions associated with her feast day, check out my new FromSinnersToSaints post here.
St. Nicholas Day
As a side note: since today is the feast of St. Nicholas, I should mention that my kids woke up to find a small orange or cutie and a few chocolate coins in the church shoes that they left out by our fireplace.
The reason that Santa brings more presents at Christmas (and only small treats on his own feast day) is because he knows that Jesus’s birthday is more important than any saint’s feast day, even his own.
I’m still preparing a recipe to celebrate St. Nicholas Day. Check back December 2025!
St. Lucy Buns Ingredients
This recipe were adapted from a recipe from the book: Advent and Christmas in a Catholic Home by Helen McLoughlin (Amazon link).
Flour: all-purpose flour. Measure by gently spooning flour into measuring cups and then level off the top. Alternatively, measure by weight.
Salt
Yeast: active-dry yeast
Sugar: a smidge of granulated sugar to encourage the yeast to bubble
Warm Water: Aim for a temperature between 95-115°F to activate the yeast. Too hot will kill the yeast, so be careful.
Warm Milk: Skim, 2% or whole milk will work fine. Aim for a temperature between 95-115°F to keep the yeast happy. Too hot will kill the yeast, so be careful.
Butter: soften the butter by leaving it out at room temperature for at least 30 minutes (or more if your kitchen is cold!). To hurry the softening along: cut your butter into small pats.
Sugar: granulated sugar for a sweet, yummy bun!
Dried/Candied Fruits: You can use any dried or candied fruits you want, as long as they end up being at least 1 cup of add-ins. I love the bright zesty flavor that Candied Orange Peels (click for recipe) give this bread! I either use all Candied Orange Peels or 2/3 cups Candied Orange Peels and 1/3 cups raisins.
Because my kids aren’t big fans of raisins, this year I used 1 cup of Candied Orange Peels and 1/3 cup mini-semisweet chocolate chips. So yummy! Here’s a picture of one cut into slices!
If you want to change up the add-ins, you can use any candied citrus peel, fruit-cake mix, raisins, golden raisins, or craisins. Or go wild and try your own additions!
Be sure to use at least 2/3 cup orange peels to get that bright, citrusy flavor.
Egg Wash: 1 whole egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of water. This makes the baked buns a beautiful, shiny brown. I forgot the egg wash once and the buns didn’t look nearly as pretty! (But they still tasted divine!)
How to Make St. Lucy Buns
The Sponge Method
These St. Lucy Buns are made with the Sponge Method of bread baking, meaning that all of the liquid, the yeast and about half of the flour are mixed together first and allowed to rest and rise. This creates a lighter, fluffier bread with a more complex flavor.
Make the Sponge
Activate the yeast by mixing it with a small amount of sugar and warm water. When it’s bubbly, add the warm milk.
Carefully beat in the butter, sugar and half of the flour. Your “dough” at this point will look more like a “batter”. Cover and rise for a couple of hours.
Here’s what your sponge will look like after rising. It fills the bowl twice as much as before and the top is pocked with popped air bubbles. It looks really light and fluffy.
Finish the Dough
Add the salt and enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. Knead with your mixer’s dough hook or by hand until smooth and elastic.
Let rise again.
Shape the Buns
If you want large buns that you can cut into slices (especially good for buttering!), separate the dough into 12 pieces.
If you want smaller, more individual-sized buns, separate your dough into 18 pieces.
There are many different ways to shape St. Lucy Buns, but my favorite shape is the classic “S” swirl shape. It kind of looks like glasses, which is perfect for the Patron Saint of people with eye problems!
Just like playing with play-doh in preschool, take a section of dough and roll it out into a rope as thick as your finger. Swirl each side in towards the middle to form the “S”.
Set each formed bun onto a greased baking sheet (or parchment-lined sheet) to rise one more time.
Here’s a couple of shaped buns just waiting to rise! The Candied Orange Peel is poking out of the side of the dough, but that’s ok.
Preheat your oven and prepare your egg wash.
Immediately before your buns go into the oven, brush each one with egg wash.
Bake until golden brown. At this point, your house will smell amazing!
How to Present St. Lucy Buns
Traditionally, the oldest girl dresses up as St. Lucy on her feast day (December 13th) and presents each person in the family with a bun.
Eat them as they are or sliced and buttered!
For a simple costume idea for your little “St. Lucy” and to learn more about the real St. Lucy, click here!
How to Store St. Lucy Buns
Store St. Lucy Buns tightly covered at room temperature for 2-3 days for maximum freshness. Or freeze for up to 3 months.
Can I Freeze St. Lucy Buns?
You bet! They freeze beautifully. Wrap tightly, place buns in a freezer bag or store in Tupperware. Freeze up to 3 months for best quality. They’ll be safe to eat for longer, but they’ll taste best in those first 3 months.
We have 3 birthdays in the first half of December, so this is a busy month for us! I try to make my St. Lucy Buns the last week of November to get a head start on my advent baking!
Happy Baking!
St. Lucy Buns
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ teaspoons active-dry yeast (0.25-oz package)
- 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 cup warm water (95-105°F)
- 1 cup warm milk (95-105°F)
- 4 Tablespoons butter, softened
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ⅔ – 1 cup Candied Orange Peels, diced
- ⅓ cup dried/candied fruits or mini chocolate chips (optional, see NOTES below)
- 6 cups all-purpose flour (750 grams by weight)
- 1 teaspoon salt
Egg Wash
- 1 egg
- 1 Tablespoon water
Instructions
- In bowl of electric mixer, combine yeast, 1 Tablespoon sugar and warm water. When bubbly (about 5 minutes), add warm milk.
- Beat in butter, sugar and 3 cups of flour. Your sponge will look more like a batter than a dough at this point. Cover and let rise 1 1/2 – 2 hours.
- Add in salt and enough flour to make a soft dough.
- Change to dough hook and knead 5 minutes, or knead by hand until smooth and elastic. Knead in dried/candied fruits. Let rise again until doubled, 1-2 hours.
- Separate dough into pieces, 12 for large buns, 18 for smaller buns. Shape buns by rolling into ropes and coiling into S-shapes to resemble glasses for St. Lucy, who is the patron saint of people with eye problems.
- Place buns on greased baking sheets or parchment paper. Allow to rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Beat egg with 1 Tablespoon water. Brush buns with egg wash immediately before baking.
- Bake at 350°F for 20 minutes for smaller rolls and 25 minutes for larger rolls, or until golden brown and cooked through.
Notes
- Make your own Candied Orange Peel with the recipe here.
- For the additional 1/3 cup dried/candied fruits, you can choose:
- 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips, a hit with kids and adults with a sweet tooth!
- 1/3 cup golden raisins soaked in hot water for 1o minutes and then drained (or regular raisins if you don’t have golden)
- Fruit-cake mix
- You can change around how much Candied Orange Peel you use and swap out for other dried fruits or peels, but I recommend keeping a minimum of 2/3 cup as Candied Orange Peel to keep the citrus flavor of the buns.
- To quickly soften the butter, cut it into small pats and leave at room temperature for 5-10 minutes.
- A large bun is big enough to cut into slices and share. A small bun is a personal-sized bread.
This recipe were adapted from a recipe from the book: Advent and Christmas in a Catholic Home by Helen McLoughlin (Amazon link).
What’s your favorite way to celebrate St. Lucy Day? Comment below!
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