Buntzel – noun – a cross between a Bun and Pretzel filled with something delicious and then baked.
I discovered Buntzels at the Manchester Christmas Markets in 2019, where I devoured one, and went back for seconds. Formerly known as the Hot Stuffed Bread Company, they rebranded in October 2020 to The Buntzel Bakery to better reflect their vision and products. Since our first encounter, I’ve often made a beeline for their stall at local markets, like Trentham and Congleton Makers Markets.
During the pandemic, the bakery launched local deliveries, and thankfully, the Cheshire-based company do in fact deliver to Staffordshire on particular weekends.
Just in time for Easter, The Buntzel Bakery box was launched at the end of March, featuring some of their best-selling products. It’s the perfect introduction to the brand, or if you’re undecided on what to order, and fancy a bit of everything.
With an introductory price of £25, you receive four of the best-selling Buntzels, two Korean Sweet Cream Cheese Garlic Buns, two Buntzel Hotdogs and two Cinnamon swirls with Vanilla Cream Cheese frosting.
The Buntzels included in the box are:
- Duck, Hoisin & Spring Onion
- Bacon, Cheddar and Chive
- Slow-cooked Beef Shin in ale with Cheddar
- Roast tomato, Pesto and Mozzarella
These little balls of stuffed, doughy goodness are to die for – and the slow-cooked beef shin and ale with cheddar is a firm favourite for me. The bacon, cheddar and chive comes a close second. They’re the perfect portion size for lunchtime, and can be eaten hot or cold. Personally, I prefer them warm having been popped in the oven for 15 minutes, and served with a little dipping pot of gravy.
The Buntzel Bakery have perfected their dough mix for that crisp pretzel outside, and soft, chewy middle, filled with perfect pairings of flavours for a real trademark taste and texture.
The Buntzel Hotdogs use that same delicious dough, spiraled around a frankenfurter sausage. When I was in high school, you used to be able to order something similar in the canteen – which we called a sausage swirl – and boy did this hit me in the nostalgia. A brilliant and unique take on a sausage roll.
Now, the Korean Sweet Cream Cheese Garlic Buns – I truly had no idea what to make of these at first. I had never seen anything like them before, but it transpires it’s a popular Korean street food, and sounded really exciting. This version uses a Buntzel dough, filled with a sweetened cream cheese, a garlic and herb cream cheese, drowned in special garlic butter and then topped with breadcrumbs and parmesan.
We popped ours in the oven for 15 minutes which saw the garlic butter and cream cheese soak into the dough. Honestly, after much apprehension, this ended up being one of my favourite items in the box as it was so full of flavour – like a luxury garlic bread with a hit of sweetness.
There was nothing more tranquil than making a cup of tea on Good Friday, and sitting on my bed looking out across the countryside with a Buntzel Bakery cinnamon swirl. The bun was huge, filled with dark and light brown sugar, cinnamon and butter, topped with a mouth-watering vanilla cream cheese frosting. The sweet and sugary treat was soft, sticky and absolutely *chef’s kiss*. Half would have been enough to satisfy a sweet tooth – but who wants to share something so beautiful?
The Buntzel Bakery offer free delivery on orders over £20, so I did what any rational thinking person would do and added extra items to my basket, seeing as I was saving money on delivery.
I opted for some of their ‘sticky buns’, including a Nutella sticky bun, and a bacon and maple syrup sticky bun.
The bacon and maple syrup one was unreal – similar to the classic cinnamon bun, but soaked in syrup and smothered maple syrup cream cheese frosting, topped with crispy pieces of candied streaky bacon. If you love food that’s both sweet and savoury, then you’ll be sold on this one. Chocolate lovers will adore the Nutella sticky bun, filled with Nutella spread with a chocolate cream cheese frosting and hazelnuts. It’s super indulgent and rich – but calories don’t count when they’re supporting a small business…
The Buntzel Bakery deliver across Staffordshire the first and third Saturday of every month, and across parts of Cheshire every weekend. The Buntzel Bakery box is definitely a great place to start, and if you’re planning a rule of six picnic, this box would have you covered!
