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We’ve always called these piroshki, but they are also known as buchty. They are amazingly soft. Mom made these while our relatives were visiting and I received several phone calls requesting the recipe. There’s a secret ingredient in these.
It is our friend, Canadian flour (i.e. flour made in Canada). Before your criticize my use of this specific flour, hear me out. I’ve tested regular all-purpose flour, cake flour, and Canadian flour. 148 piroshki (buchty) later…
Bleached all-purpose flour works and they turn out good, but not AWESOME. You need around 7 cups of bleached all-purpose flour if you decide to go this route (please please keep reading and maybe I’ll change your mind).
Cake flour buchty turned out really really soft, but the dough was just thick, but still really really soft and they were eaten up anyway. You just need to buy 2 boxes of cake flour (it took the first box, plus another two cups or so; way more flour than the other two. I think it was nearly 9 cups; I got frustrated and stopped counting, plus cake flour is the priciest option).
Canadian Flour (flour that is made in Canada): I returned to what my mom uses and let me tell you they were “let’s do cartwheels for the first time in 10 years” good (I don’t advise that. You’ll probably require physical therapy and look incredibly awkward in the air so try to resist the urge). You will have the urge. Canadian flour is sold at Cash and Carry, at Winco (under the honey dispensers) and I hear it’s sold in Sam’s club. If you know of other places, please let me know!
P.S. It only looks complicated with the 40 pictures. It really isn’t .
Ingredients for Mom’s Famous Buchty/Piroshki:
2 cups warm milk (heated in micro 1.5 minutes in micro)
1 1/3 Tbsp (i.e. 1Tbsp + 1 tsp) active dry yeast
6 1/2 cups + 1 Tbsp bleached all-purpose Canadian flour *measured correctly
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 sticks butter (12 tbsp) (salted or unsalted) melted so it’s warm not hot
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
filling:
4 cups pitted cherries or berries or 1 tvorog cheese recipe
Sugar (about 1/2 cup)
glaze:
2 Tbsp water
1 rounded Tbsp sugar
How to Make the Best Cherry Buchty/Piroshki:
Preheat your oven to 360 °F at step 13.
1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, add warm milk and sprinkle the top with 1 1/3 Tbsp yeast. Let sit for 5-7 five minutes. Add 1 cup flour and 1/4 cup sugar. Whisk together until blended and let it rise at room temperature for 30 minutes. It will rise faster in a warm place – put it in the shade if its warm outside.
2. Whisk in 3 eggs, 12 Tbsp warm melted butter and remaining 3/4 cups sugar and 1 tsp vanilla
3. Using the dough hook attachment on low, stir in the flour half a cup at a time. Mix a total of 15 minutes on low speed. You know you’ve added enough flour when the dough is no longer sticking to the walls. Dough will be smooth and elastic. It will feel slightly sticky but should not stick to your hands.
4. Transfer to a large bowl and let rise 2 hours until it is tripled in volume. Again, it will rise faster in a warm room or outside in the shade on a hot day.
Meet my sweet little niece who happened to be eating lunch at the same counter 🙂
5. While it’s rising, pit your cherries. I should tell you that the cherry pitter pictured here is great for large scale cherry pitting jobs such as freezing.
6. On a clean non stick surface, make a log out of your dough and cut into six equal pieces.
(She liked taking pictures, and poking at the dough. )
7. Work with one piece at a time and roll into 13-14 inch circles
8. Use a pizza cutter to cut 8 even triangles
9. Put 1/2 tsp sugar in the center of each triangle
10. Place 3-4 cherries over the sugar.
11. Pinch the two edges together over the cherries and seal all the way down. Seal the dough To the base and the front
12. Pinch the next two corners together toward the center and roll forward.
The goal is to have a tight seal so the cherry juice doesn’t escape during the baking process.
Preheat oven to 360 °F
13. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Place Piroshki on lined baking sheet with the tail end down, about 1/2 inch apart. Let piroshki rise for 30 minutes to 1 hr while the oven preheats.
14. Bake for 20-25 min till golden brown. After they are done, brush right away with 2 Tbsp water/ 1 rounded Tbsp sugar mix.
Buchty - Sweet Cherry Filled Buns

Ingredients
- 2 cups warm milk, heated in micro 1.5 minutes in micro
- 1 1/3 Tbsp i.e. 1Tbsp + 1 tsp active dry yeast
- 6 1/2 cups + 1 Tbsp bleached all-purpose Canadian flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 sticks butter, 12 Tbsp (salted or unsalted) melted so it's warm not hot
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
filling:
- 4 cups pitted cherries or berries or 1 tvorog cheese recipe
- Sugar, about 1/2 cup
glaze:
- 2 Tbsp water
- 1 rounded Tbsp sugar
Instructions
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, add warm milk and sprinkle the top with 1 1/3 Tbsp yeast. Let sit for 5-7 five minutes. Add 1 cup flour and 1/4 cup sugar. Whisk together until blended and let it rise at room temperature for 30 minutes. It will rise faster in a warm place - put it in the shade if its warm outside.
- Whisk in 3 eggs, 12 Tbsp warm melted butter and remaining 3/4 cups sugar and 1 tsp vanilla
- Using the dough hook attachment on low, stir in the flour half a cup at a time. Mix a total of 15 minutes on low speed. You know you've added enough flour when the dough is no longer sticking to the walls. Dough will be smooth and elastic. It will feel slightly sticky but should not stick to your hands.
- Transfer to a large bowl and let rise 2 hours until it is tripled in volume.
- While it's rising, pit your cherries.
- On a clean non stick surface, make a log out of your dough and cut into six equal pieces.
- Work with one piece at a time and roll into 13-14 inch circles.
- Use a pizza cutter to cut 8 even triangles.
- Put 1/2 tsp sugar in the center of each triangle.
- Place 3-4 cherries over the sugar.
- Pinch the two edges together over the cherries and seal all the way down. Seal the dough To the base and the front.
- Pinch the next two corners together toward the center and roll forward.
- The goal is to have a tight seal so the cherry juice doesn't escape during the baking process.
- Preheat oven to 360°F
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Place Piroshki on lined baking sheet with the tail end down, about 1/2 inch apart. Let piroshki rise for 30 minutes to 1 hr while the oven preheats.
- Bake for 20-25 min till golden brown.
- Brush right away with 2 Tbsp water/ 1 rounded Tbsp sugar mix, than serve.
Be careful with those cartwheels.
I have to say that I love the Canadian flour! It really makes a world of a difference! I searched high and low where I live in FL and finally found some in the Russian Store (sooo overpriced!)…I went to Richards (whole foods store) and found it there as well, it was still a bit pricey ($1.50/lb) but less than what the Russian Store had it…very excited to try this recipe, thanks so much for your awesome blog!
Looks like you had quite a quest to find Canadian flour :). Im glad that you found some. This recipe won’t disappoint.
Our superwalmart in FL sells Canadian flour at the international section.
Awesome thanks!!
i just want to share some thing on flour, Canadian flour in general has a much higher protein content. the closest American equivalent would be bread flour- which is about 12%+ protein. Canadian flour in general is considered to be top notch by a variety of bakers, the protein level is usually around 14% for canadian flour.
That is so awesome to know, thank you for sharing 🙂
Just took them out of the oven! All I got to say is they are AMAZING! did not think its going to be that simple!
thank you for sharing!
Awesome!! Good job! I’m so glad you loved them 🙂
Thanks for sharing! By the way, for all those people looking for Canadian flour, I know that the Russian stores here in Sacramento, CA sell this flour. Not sure with other stores, but Good Neighbor Russian store in Sacramento sure sells it, and in big bags too, not the little bags normally found in regular stores.
Thank you!
Natasha…these look great and yummy! Love anyhting with cherries…..my Baba use to make Varenyky with cherries in the summer time when I was growing up.
Happy that everyone loves Canadian flour……and it is all due to the seeds that Ukrainian settlers brought to Canada over a century ago when they immigrated here to canada….and made Canada one of the major wheat growers in the world. I’ve always used Five Roses my whole life and my Family made ‘varenyky’ and ‘piroshki’ with them all the time’
Thanks for sharing…:-)
I couldn’t find the five roses brand anywhere except online and the price for shipping was more than the flour itself! I hope to find that brand and try it some day 🙂
Natasha……Don’t know where you live, but if you’re in a town near a Canadian border, 5 Roses Canadian flour is plentiful here in the U.S. I’m from Detroit, and 5 Roses can be found in many grocery and ethnic stores, from 5 to 40 lb. bags. Currently (2021) a 5.5 lb. bag is about $3.00 Detroit borders Windsor Ontario, so once in a while I’ll venture over to get some unbleached 5 Roses since they carry a larger variety.
Hi Oksana, thank you so much for sharing that with me! I bet our readers will find this helpful. We’re over on the West coast of the United States! 🙂
Thank you Natasha for this wonderful recipe! Once I buy some Canadian flour I will definitely make these! By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask you, what unit do you work on? I’m a nurse new nurse myself (in November, it will be two years), so im really proud of us Ruusian girls who become nurses 🙂
Oh you’re a nurse too? How awesome! I’m a tele nurse 🙂 what about you?
I work on a Transplant/Metabolic/Tele floor 🙂 Good luck to you in your nursing career!
Hai Natasha! Again I am stunned of your perfect recipe and beautiful pictures! And yes I love bread (sweet one). Have one question 🙂 When you rest the dough, do we need to cover with something? Thanks! 😀
You can if you want to but it is not necessary to cover the dough. Thank you 🙂
these look amazing 🙂 i love this dough, perfect for the oven instead of the fryer. what do you recommend for savory piroshki? could I just leave out the sugar and vanilla, or do you think I should replace those with more flour maybe?
We haven’t tried it but if I did want savory rolls, I’d probably add the first 1/4 cup sugar and omit the 3/4 cup sugar. Vanilla is optional in savory buns. I’m not sure what the difference in flour will be. Just add enough so it is no longer sticking to the bowl as it mixes. Hope that makes sense (use only 1/4 cup sugar and maybe a little more flour)
Thanks for the tip! They turned out fabulous 🙂
I looked in our Sam’s Club here in South Carolina and I did not see the Canadian flour or any flour made in Canada:(
Oh man 🙁 it must be location specific. Do you have a cash and carry nearby? I think they have the best deal on it that I have found.
Alena, the Russian store sells Canadian flour in SC
Wow.. looks delicious! Can’t wait to make some. Btw, do you know if yellow (rainier is what they are called I believe) cherries will work for this? Is it possible to split this recipe in half (since it’s just my hubby and I in town and everone else is camping!)? I know some recipes don’t turn out as good when split in half.. I know odd!
Yes, you can reduce the recipe by half, just cut all the ingredients all in half. You can use 2 eggs and just add slightly more flour in the end if you need to. And, yes I’ve used rainier and they work great! 🙂
Amazing! They look yummy.
Natasha you said you canned some cherries, how do you can them?
I always wanted to can some cherries for the winter but not sure how.
Thanks
Ours got kind of messy. We were using a pressure cooker and although it worked out, it did get kind of messy. My mom told me about another method similar to canning cucumbers. You steam sterilize the jars, then you add cherries and add in boiling water and let stand 10 minutes, then drain the water into a pot, then re-boil the water and add some sugar and pour that same water over the cherries. With small jars, close the lid tightly and turn upside down on a towel. With large jars, you don’t need to turn them upside down. Hope that helps.
Can I use all purpose flour instead of Canadian? Or they wont be as good and tall?
It will still work but they won’t be quite as soft (please see the notes at the top of the post about the 3 flours I tested). Hope that helps 🙂
yes I see now. sorry about that=) looks like I have to plan a trip to cash and Carry=)
Natasha, can these be made from canned cherries? We don’t get much real sour cherries around this part of the states. Or may be out of frozen cherries?
Canned or defrosted cherries are fine, just drain the juice first.
Oh yum! These look sooo good!! Thanks for posting! I am definitely trying these out soon!
Hi Natasha,
they looks amazing. Thank you so much for the wonderful recipe. Can’t wait to try it. did you use chireshna or vishna? Thanks again.
Chireshna (sweet cherries)
ALL I CAN SAY IS WOW!!! AMAZING!
I THANK YOU, NATASHA, AND YOUR SWEET MOM FOR GIVING SO MUCH OF HER TIME FOR TEACHING US NEW RECIPES.
I APPRECIATE THAT. GOD BLESS YOU, LADIES 🙂
Thank you so much. And you are very welcome 🙂 I’ll pass your heartfelt appreciation along to my Mama. 🙂
Yummy!!! These are scrumptious :))) I will definitely make em.
Thanks, Natasha for your wonderful recipes:)
You’re welcome Lea. I hope you love them as much as we all do!
Natasha, we love Canadian flour also. I go 2 times a year to Vancouver and load up the car. We like going there for little trip with no kids and in return we bring mom flour. last year we brought about 50 bags for mom. She gives away a lot of it 🙂
Wow, you are definitely a fan of Canadian flour. I think I really need to re-try the bread you posted on facebook with the Canadian flour. I bet that is why it wasn’t quite as tall as yours; I was using just regular all-purpose. I feel like I’ve been spoiled with this Canadian flour business 🙂
it helps to have canada few hrs away.
I dont know why yours wasnt as fluffy but my always turns out good. I made 7 loafs on friday and gave away lots of them. Huge hit with my friends 🙂
I’m pretty sure it was because I didn’t use Canadian Flour.
Natasha, I am making those today. Thanks for sharing the recipe 🙂
Let me know how they taste 😀
Wowww..This looks so yummy!!! I cant wait to make it. Thank You=)
Your welcome Lidiya. It tastes even better than it looks 🙂
Natasha, they look fabulous!!! I love cherry in pastry. Can’t wait to make these 🙂
Me too! I will miss cherry season. We have just a few cups of refrigerated cherries left from our tree 🙁 I did can some however so I’ll use those later.