For most of my childhood, we lived 1,500 miles away from my maternal grandparents and were only able to see them every few years. For that reason, I have very few memories of them. What I do remember were their thick accents and the treats they greeted us with when we visited them–European chocolate bars and fresh birdie buns with butter and strawberry jelly. If you aren’t familiar with birdie buns, they are delicious sweet buns that are shaped to look like a bird asleep with its head tucked under its wing.
My grandmother, about whom I am slowly writing a book, was of German descent but lived in Communist Ukraine during WWII. Her family had very few modern conveniences, and her childhood with one of loss, lack, and uncertainty. My grandfather was Austrian and also had a very difficult upbringing–his home was bombed, and he lost both his parents at a young age.
At that time in the United States and Canada, you could easily visit buy a loaf of bread from the local grocery store, but my grandmother’s family had to make all their bread from scratch. My grandmother passed away 10 years ago, but in her honor, I recently made a batch of birdie buns using her recipe (birdie bun recipe below). They tasted exactly as I remember!
Birdie Buns
Ingredients
- 1-1/2 cups milk
- 1/2 cup lukewarm water (85F/30C)
- 2 tsp granulated sugar
- 2 packs active dry yeast
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 7 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
Instructions
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Scald milk, and cool to lukewarm. (To cool quicker, pour milk into a cookie sheet.) Set aside.
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Place water in a large mixing bowl. Add 2 tsp sugar, and stir until dissolved. Sprinkle yeast over water, and let stand 10 minutes.
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Stir yeast mixture well. Stir milk (scalded and cooled to lukewarm) into yeast mixture, and add 1/2 cup sugar, salt, eggs, butter, and half the flour. Beat with a wooden spoon until smooth.
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Add enough of the remaining flour to make dough easy to handle. You might not need the full 7 cups. You can use your hands (make sure to flour them) or a wooden spoon for this step.
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Using your hands (flour your hands and work surface) or a mixer, knead the dough until smooth. This will take about 10 minutes. The more you knead, the better the consistency of the buns.
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Make the dough into a ball, and place in a greased bowl. Turn the dough in the bowl a few times so the dough is covered in the grease and won't stick to the bowl. Cover with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place until dough doubles in size (60-90 minutes).
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Punch the dough down, and let rise (covered) again until almost double in size (30-45 minutes).
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Form dough into balls that are the size you want your buns (recipe should make about 24 buns). Then, form each bun into a birdie (see pictures below). Place birdie buns on lightly greased cookie sheets. Allow buns to rise another 30 minutes. Buns can be baked in simple balls, although the birdie shape provides a unique twist.
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Bake buns for 18-20 minutes (until starting to turn golden brown but still soft). Either bake convection at 325F (with pans on racks 2 and 5) or regular bake at 350F (one pan at a time on middle rack).
Recipe Notes
Dough will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, although it is best when used right away. To prepare the dough to keep in the fridge, allow it to rise once, and then grease the top well and cover with wax paper and a damp cloth. Refrigerate and use as needed.
Birdie Bun Tutorial
Use your hands to roll each ball of dough into a snake shape.
Fold one end over the other, like so…
Pull one end under the other and up through the center.
Then pull tight.
Thank you for the recipe. It sounds delicious.
Joan, Marion and Marilyn
Ellie: The Birdie Buns look good that they were making me hungry.
That’s for sharing the recipe.
This is exactly the same recipe I just discovered and made over Thanksgiving and once since then because they were so good! Only difference is we just roll them into a spiral rather than the birdie shape.
Wow, what a coincidence! The recipe I posted is an old family recipe. Maybe the person you received it from had a connection with my grandmother.
Ellie
Bread recipes are a formula, as are a lot of recipes in baking. I’m not surprised that more than one person has a bread recipe that’s similar to or identical to another person’s recipe. There’s a necessary ratio of liquid to dry, and a chemical/biological need for things like yeast and sugar and salt, in certain amounts.
When I cook, I don’t measure or follow recipes. When I bake, I measure everything to the ounce and follow recipes to the letter.
Did your maternal grandparents speak German with your mother when she was a child?
They did. German was her first language, but once her oldest sister started school, they started speaking English at home so her sister would have an easier time at school.
Ellie
That’s interesting. Thank you for answering! I am from Germany, that’s why I am curious. I suppose your mother forgot her German after your grandparents stopped using it.
Surprisingly, she has retained quite a bit, as she uses it to keep in touch with her cousins, uncle, and aunt. What region of Germany are you from?
Ellie
Good for your mother! I am from Berlin.
I visited Berlin as a child. Very neat city. I was amazed at how well the history of the wall had been preserved. That was 14 years ago though. I’m curious if, as it has become more urban, the historical sites (like Checkpoint Charlie, etc) have not been as well maintained?
Ellie
Wow, it’s nice that she kind of grew up bilingual. This is usually very beneficial.
I don’t think that much has changed over the last 14 years in terms of maintaining historical sites. Checkpoint Charlie is still a very popular site to visit for tourists, especially for Amercians.
That’s good to hear!
To the Berlin person – I had a relative who escaped from East Berlin in the 1960’s in the false bottom of a fruit truck. Now there’s a book waiting to be written…….
Wow, that would make for a fascinating book!
They look so good. Can’t wait to try this recipe, I can smell them now… Jane
Thanks, Jane! Let me know what you think of them.
Ellie did u make them??? Cause your bread making has improved 100%!!!!! They look wonderful!!!!!
I did. Thank you, Justine!
I would suggest to anyone who is not familiar with yeast dough – watch some instructional videos online first. There’s a knack to learning how to knead properly. It’s also important to know what to look for in the dough when it’s properly kneaded and risen for each recipe (the texture, the springiness, the blisters under the surface, the shine, etc.). Forming risen dough so it has some surface tension as it bakes is another good skill to master. I first learned by watching Julia Child, then I studied some more and practiced a lot. To me, yeast dough is a living, breathing thing that requires special care and handling for the best results. The science behind bread-making is fascinating.
Have you ever posted a picture of your grandmother? I like to hear stories like this that are attached to food. I have strong memories of my grandma attached to food.
As a matter of fact, I have posted a picture of myself with my grandmother. There is one on this post: https://anashvillewife.com/update-on-my-wwii-book/
What kind of food did your grandmother make?
Ellie
Hay Ellie
Did your grandmother have a low german background?
‘Cause I’ m from germany and at home we’re speaking low german! And we make those buns too! But we call them krüsel (low german)! They are so delicious when they’re fresh out of the oven! Yummy
Hi there. Does low German mean Northern Germany? That’s why Google tells me that it means. If it does, then yes, my family is from the Northern part of Germany. Do you live in the city or in the country?
Ellie
Low german is actually a dialect! You can hear that dialect more in the northern part of germany! Around the north see! People who don’t understand our “language” often say it sounds like dutch and english!
I’m from the northern part of germany(NRW)! On vacation we often go to the north sea! It’s only 400 km far from us!
Your bread looks very professional. I am from Germany and the bread you are making is hefeteig or sweet yeast bread which is very popular during the holidays here. Your grandmother’s family must have preserved their German heritage 🙂
Thank you! 🙂
The recipe looks almost exactly like butterhorn recipes. I did try it the other day, thanks to my Bosch mixer for all the mixing and kneading and instead rolled them up in a butterhorn as I was pressed for time to do it the birdie way. Made beautiful butterhorns! Also on some of them I sprinkled brown sugar and cinnamon before rolling them up. Umm ummm 😋 ‘‘twas wonderful cinnamon buns with some butter and mug of milk 😉 Thankyou for reminding me to treat the family to sweet buns again!
Oh one thing I did different on the recipe was use bread flour instead of the all purpose. I should try it I guess with the all purpose to see what makes the difference. I’m not a big bread maker but when I do make something down that line I have always used the bread flour for its “springy” “chewier” gluten. Does anyone know when bread flour should be used and not used? Or does it matter? Idk, my buns turned out wonderful anyway. But I was curious.
Thanks for sharing how you made them, Candi. Glad your family enjoyed them! And great idea to add brown sugar and cinnamon to some. Like a cinnamon bun, but much less sugary. Love it!
Ellie