Whether you refer to them as butteries or rowies, they are a delicacy to those of us based in the north-east – despite their high-calorie content, but none of us want to read about that.
For me, butteries have a nostalgic feel to them.
I always tucked into the crispy delights as a youngster – and I would chance my luck and request a second from whoever was handing them out.
I near always prevailed.
Despite not eating them quite as much as I used to, which my waistline would thank me for if it could, I never decline the offer of one to this day.
While I have enjoyed countless butteries from bakeries across the city and shire, including Ross of Chapel Street, Home Bakery Macduff, Ythan Bakery and The Bread Maker, I had never tried my hand at making my own.
Are they easy to make?
I had heard from multiple sources that the process can be testing. I’m not the greatest baker as it is, however, I do love a challenge.
I didn’t go the full whammy and seek out all the ingredients for myself, no. God knows what the end result would have been if that were the case.
Instead, I decided to place an order online with Col’s Baking Kits, a brand in Ellon, Aberdeenshire which sends their kits across the UK and was founded by former oil and gas worker, Colin Morgan.
They can also be collected at a line-up of stores across the city and shire which you can find on the business’ Facebook page.
While I opted for the buttery kit, there are also kits for scones, white and milk chocolate chip cookies, and softies. A nice balance of sweet and savoury.
What the kit does and doesn’t include
The package arrived three days after my order was placed. I was impressed because, from past experience of ordering food kits, the waiting period has been a lot longer.
After unboxing the goods, you’ll find:
- Yeast
- Dough mix
- Dusting flour
- Buttery paste
Other ingredients required that are not inside the kit include:
- Two large baking trays
- 7fl oz (roughly 200ml) lukewarm water
- Large bowl
- Measuring jug
- Plastic scraper
There are enough ingredients to make 12 butteries. A decent amount that I don’t think would last longer than two days in most households, including mine.
The kit’s ingredients are labelled Bag 1, Bag 2, Bag 3 and Pot A, making it impossible to confuse one with another.
How they are made
All in all, the process isn’t too difficult. This is purely down to how detailed the step-by-step guide provided by Colin is.
I added the yeast and water to a measuring jug and the dough mix to a large bowl, before combining the two with my hands in the bowl to form a dough.
This was left to prove for 45 minutes.
Afterwards, all I had to do was remove the dough, flatten it on a clean surface, spread it with a layer of buttery paste using my plastic scraper and, finally, form a dough ball.
The dusting flour then comes into play and is dusted over the dough ball, before forming it into a log shape and cutting it into 12 equal parts.
I divided these on two baking trays, which you don’t need to grease, pressed them into my desired shape and made sure there was plenty of space between each one. They then need to be set aside to prove for a further 55 minutes at room temperature.
Within this time, preheat the oven to 210C Fan/230C/450F/Gas Mark 8. After the 55 minutes is up, pop them in the oven.
Within moments my kitchen boasted the warming, homely aromas of a bakery. And after a 12-minute wait, the butteries were ready to come out.
Flaky and crispy on the outside yet soft on the inside, they were the finest butteries I had tried in quite some time.
The verdict
The only thing I would urge you to do is purchase a kit at one of the business’ stockists.
My shipping was priced at £4.51 and almost matched that of the kit itself at £4.99. I was a tad taken aback at that as I thought it was quite expensive.
I thought the process from start to finish was a lot of fun – and the butteries are delicious, too. It is definitely a pastime I would highly recommend for parents to do with their kids.
Price:
- The kit – £4.99
- Shipping – £4.51
To place an order online, visit www.colsbakingkits.co.uk/shop.