Hungarian Lemon–Cottage Cheese Bukta (Soft Sweet Yeast Buns)My favourite fluffy bukta — filled with creamy túró, lemon zest, and vanilla.

✨ Soft Lemon–Cottage Cheese Bukta – Fresh From My Kitchen to Yours

There’s nothing more comforting than a tray of warm, pillowy bukta straight from the oven — soft, golden, and lightly dusted with powdered sugar. This is the taste of home, the smell of childhood Sundays, and the sweetness we all need during the holidays.

🥣 Introduction

There’s something magical about Hungarian bukta. Soft, fluffy dough wrapped around a sweet creamy filling — it’s the kind of dessert that always disappears from the table first. This cottage cheese–lemon version is one of my favourites because it combines the comforting taste of túró with the freshness of lemon zest.

In Hungary, bukta was a classic weekend treat. My mom made it often, and that smell — warm dough, vanilla, and citrus — still feels like home. Today I baked these for our school bake sale, and they turned out just as soft and delicious as I remember.

In this post, I show you my full recipe, including the dough and the filling. The shaping and folding video is on my TikTok and YouTube, and you’ll find the recipe card below for easy reference.

🧡 Ingredients

Dough (Tészta) — for one tray

• 500 g all-purpose flour

• 1 pack (7 g) instant yeast

• 250 ml warm milk

• 80 g sugar

• 75 g melted butter (room temperature, not hot)

• 2 egg yolks

• Pinch of salt

• 1 tsp vanilla sugar (optional)

Note:Your old dough-making video on TikTok or Youtube shows the exact mixing steps. You can mention it under the post.

Filling (Túrós–Citromos Töltelék)

• 500 g cottage cheese or farmer’s cheese

• 3 tbsp sugar (adjust to taste)

• Zest of 1 lemon

• 1 tbsp lemon juice

• 1 egg yolk

• 1 tbsp semolina or flour (optional, helps thicken)

• Vanilla sugar (optional)

⭐ Instructions

1. Prepare the Dough

1. Warm the milk until lukewarm, not hot.

2. In a bowl, mix flour, yeast, sugar, salt.

3. Add milk, melted butter, egg yolks and vanilla.

4. Knead until smooth and soft (about 8–10 minutes).

5. Cover and let rise for 1 hour until doubled.

(If you prefer visual guidance, watch my dough-making video on TikTok.)

2. Make the Filling

1. Mix cottage cheese with sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, yolk and semolina.

2. Taste and adjust sweetness or lemon.

3. The filling should be creamy but not runny.

3. Shaping the Bukta

1. Roll out the risen dough into a rectangle.

2. Cut into equal squares.

3. Add a spoonful of filling in the center.

4. Fold and roll each piece into a small bun.

5. Place them tightly next to each other in a buttered baking pan.

6. Brush with melted butter.

(My 26-second video shows this whole process — shaping, filling, placing into the pan.)

4. Baking

• Bake at 180°C (356°F) for 25–30 minutes, until golden.

• Dust with powdered sugar while still warm.

• Enjoy fresh — they stay soft for two days.

✨ Soft Lemon–Cottage Cheese Bukta – Fresh From My Kitchen to Yours

There’s nothing more comforting than a tray of warm, pillowy bukta straight from the oven — soft, golden, and lightly dusted with powdered sugar. This is the taste of home, the smell of childhood Sundays, and the sweetness we all need during the holidays.

🍋 Tips for Perfect Bukta

• Don’t overfill — cottage cheese melts slightly during baking.

• Tight placement in the pan makes them extra soft.

• Lemon zest is key for a fresh flavour.

• Use farmer cheese if you want a more traditional taste.

🎥 Watch the Video

➡️ TikTok: link

➡️ YouTube Short: link

Shaping + stuffing is shown beautifully in the video.

⭐ Read More Hungarian Recipes

• Hungarian Mézeskalács (coming tomorrow)

• Hókifli

• Classic Chicken Soup

• Hungarian Beef Stew