​In my house there is one recipe that is beloved by all; my great grandma Sophie’s bun recipe. There’s nothing better than one of these buns, fresh out of the oven, so hot they burn your finger-tips. They are heavenly soft and fluffy and they’re perfect for sopping up gravy with Thanksgiving dinner.

When my grandfather was a kid, living in Cape Breton, grandma Sophie would wake before dawn to see her husband off to the coal mines. Then she would do all the baking she had planned for the day, her staple being these buns. Then of course she would do one hundred other things before anyone else had risen, (that woman was nothing if not efficient). When the kids would wake, fluffy, golden-brown buns would be waiting and all nine of them would rush to the table to get one while they were hot.

​When my grandmother moved to Canada to be with my grandfather, great grandma Sophie moved in with them too. My grandmother worried about being accepted by her new family, but grandma Sophie welcomed her with open arms and they were soon as close as can be. The two shared a mutual love of cooking and baking and so the bun recipe was soon passed on. Sunday mornings were then filled with giggling and playful elbowing as they mixed, kneaded and baked.

Now, over fifty years later, grandma Sophie has passed, but her legacy remains. I, the third grandchild was named after her, we play cribbage with the rules she taught my mother, and her famous bun recipe lives on. Every summer when we visit my grandma there is always a fresh batch waiting for us, and on every Thanksgiving or Christmas the kitchen is filled with the nostalgic smells of yeast and butter. I never got to meet grandma Sophie, but she’s influenced my family in so many ways and left us with a wonderful recipe. 

​Ingredients:
1 cup warm water
1 tbsp yeast
1 tbsp sugar
1 egg
1 tsp salt
¼ cup oil (olive oil or vegetable oil)
About 3 cups white flour (give or take a little as needed)
1 tsp shortening

Step 3: Mixing the dough

---

Step 4: I need to kneed

Step 6: Before rising

Step 6: After rising

Instructions:

1. Pour water, yeast, sugar and salt into a bowl. Let sit until yeast is foamy. (about 5 min)
2. Add egg, oil and 1 cup of flour and mix with a wooden spoon until smooth.
3. Add flour a ½ cup at a time until you have added about 3 cups total (including the original cup of flour), After about the first cup it will become difficult to mix and you will need to use your hands.
4. Keep adding flour a little bit at a time as you knead until the dough is smooth and soft. 
5. Once dough is done, put 1 tsp of shortening on the top of the dough, underneath it and on the sides of the bowl to prevent it from sticking as it rises.
6. Put a clean damp dish towel over the bowl and leave to rest for 1 hour. The dough should rise to double the size over this time.
7. Take a cake pan or similar sized pan and grease well.
8. Take risen dough and punch it down. Pull off a golf ball sized piece of dough and and flatten it into a circle with your fingers. Fold sides over, then pinch into the middle and place into the pan smooth side up. Repeat with the rest of the dough, spacing buns evenly. 
9. Cover buns with the cloth again and leave to rise for 30 minutes.
10. After 30 minutes put pan into the oven at 350℉. Cook for 20 minutes until golden brown.
11. When buns are ready, take them out of the pan right away by inverting the pan onto a wire rack.
12. Lightly brush the tops of buns with butter and enjoy.​

Step 8: They're supposed to be the same size, but I believe in diversity

Step 10: Time to bake

Step 12: Delicious