I wonder how many of you have actually heard of butteries? These are a very Scottish bake and go by various names – Aberdeen Butteries, Rowies, Aberdeen Rolls – but I have grown up knowing them simply as butteries and that’s what I’m sticking with.
And what are butteries? Well they originated in Aberdeen unsurprisingly and are common place on the north east of Scotland. They are a laminated yeast dough – which means there are layers upon layers of dough all sandwiched with butter in between, just like a croissant is. Except, butteries also contain lard and are quite salty. And they are much firmer than a croissant. Okay, these are not a healthy option at all – I just wanted to try making them.
I followed the Hairy Bikers recipe which seemed straight-forward enough. Make a basic dough, let it prove, then start layering the dough with the mix of butter and lard. Break up the layered dough into buns and bake until golden and crisp.
I have to be honest, I have eaten butteries since I was wee, and knew they contained lard, but I had no idea they contained so much fat. Probably why they taste so damned good.
The baked result wasn’t quite as I had expected. As you cans see from the photos, the layers of dough are quite visible on top and underneath the butteries, not something you see on shop bought ones. But they did taste authentic enough.
Butteries are lovely toasted spread with a little jam, even though they are salty. Or some cold meat on top is nice too. People tend to spread more butter on them as well, but I may refrain from doing that in future, it would be just like butter on butter! Just don’t open them like you would a roll, butteries are meant to be enjoyed upside down with your desired accompaniment atop.
If you haven’t heard of them before, or even if you have, I do hope you give them a try, if the bucket load of saturated fats doesn’t put you off! Still, we are allowed to treat ourselves once in a while aren’t we?
Butteries
Butteries, Aberdeen Butteries, Aberdeen Rolls or Rowies! Adapted from Hairy Bikers
Cuisine: bread Category: roll Yields: 16
Prep Time: 2 Hrs 30 Mins Cook Time: 15 Mins Total Time: 2 Hrs 45 Mins
Ingredients
- 500 grams strong white flour
- 7 grams dry active yeast
- 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
- 350 ml warm tap water
- 275 grams unsalted butter, very soft
- 100 grams lard, very soft
- In a bowl place the flour, yeast, sugar and salt, ensuring the yeast and salt don’t come into contact at this stage. Pour in the water to make a firm dough – you may not need to use all of the water.
- Knead the dough on a floured surface for 10 minutes or for 5 minutes in a mixer with the dough hook attached. Place into a lightly greased bowl and cover. Leave in a warm place and allow to prove for one hour, or until doubled in size.
- In the meantime cream together the butter and lard and separate into 4 equal portions.
- After the hour, remove the dough from the bowl and knead for 2 more minutes then roll and stretch the dough out into a rectangle about 20cm by 40cm. Spread one quarter of the butter mix on two thirds of the dough. Fold the part of the dough without butter over onto half of the buttered part. Fold the remaining exposed buttered dough over the top. You should now have three layers of dough! (it’s quite tricky to explain!).
- Repeat the entire process three more times with the remaining portions of butter mix. This actually builds up hundreds of layers of dough, ready to puff up in the oven.
- Divide the dough into 16 equal pieces and form into balls and place them on to lightly greased baking trays. Flatten them into discs.
- Let prove for another 45 minutes and preheat the oven to 200C in the meantime.
- After the 45 minutes, bake the butteries into the oven for 15 to 18 minutes or until golden brown. Turn the butteries around halfway through baking to ensure even browning.
- Allow them to cool slightly before transferring to a cooling rack to cool fully.
- You are ready to spread your butteries and enjoy!
