Choose a ready-made currant or raisin bun as a wholemeal option only if the packaging says ‘wholemeal’. According to the Netherlands Nutrition Centre, a brown colour alone doesn’t mean bread is wholemeal. If you want to choose the flour and dried fruit yourself, you can bake wholemeal currant buns, but it takes more time. The buns are a snack to enjoy while baking pepernoten (Dutch spiced biscuits), not an ingredient for the pepernoten dough.
You want a currant or raisin bun, but don’t want to assume it’s wholemeal based on its colour or the term ‘multigrain’. Check the wholemeal claim first, then compare the fibre per 100 g in the nutrition information.
A small, ready-made fruit bun is easy to share during a pepernoten-baking session. Lidl lists mini wholemeal raisin buns as an in-store product; check the packaging and availability in your local shop.
You want to decide for yourself which flour, dried fruit and salt go into the buns. Albert Heijn Allerhande’s wholemeal currant bun recipe is a useful starting point, but it does take time to prepare.
Choose this if: you want a small bun to enjoy straight away while baking pepernoten and the packaging says ‘wholemeal’.
The trade-off: the range in shops can change, so check the label and availability when you buy.
Choose this if: you want to choose the flour, dried fruit and salt yourself. Albert Heijn Allerhande’s recipe uses 350 g wholemeal wheat flour for 8 buns.
The trade-off: you’ll need to make the buns separately, so they won’t be ready straight away for your baking break.
| What to consider | What should you check? | Who is this most important for? |
|---|---|---|
| Wholemeal and fibre | Look for ‘wholemeal’ on the packaging. Then compare the fibre per 100 g in similar buns. | If I want a fruit bun that’s clearly wholemeal, I don’t want to judge by its colour. This certainty matters most to around 42% of consumers. |
| Size and availability | Check the size, the current product listing and whether the buns are available in your shop. | When I’m spending an afternoon baking, I want to be able to hand out small buns without baking something else first. Having something ready to eat is the priority for around 33% of consumers. |
| Choosing your own ingredients | For packaged buns, read the ingredients and allergen information. If you’re baking them yourself, choose your flour, fruit and salt carefully. | I’d rather bake my own if I want to decide what goes into the currant buns. For around 25% of consumers, having this control is the main reason for choosing this option. |
A bun with raisins and currants isn’t necessarily wholemeal. Jumbo describes its ordinary Raisin and Currant Buns as white wheat buns and lists 2.8 g of fibre per 100 g.
Check for a wholemeal claim on the current label and use the nutrition information per 100 g to compare similar products.
Jumbo no longer lists its mini wholemeal raisin and currant buns in its online range. ALDI’s listing for mini wholemeal raisin buns was for a past promotion.
Check whether the product is available in your shop shortly before you buy, rather than relying on an old listing.
The term ‘wholemeal’ doesn’t tell you what other ingredients or allergens a particular bun contains.
Read the full ingredients and allergen information on the packaging you’re buying, especially if someone needs to avoid certain ingredients.
You can’t tell which type of salt has been used in a product from its Dutch origin or the name ‘currant bun’ alone.
Check the ingredients list if the type of salt matters to you. According to the Netherlands Nutrition Centre, the label on packaged bread states whether it was made with bakers’ salt.
Albert Heijn Allerhande has a recipe for anyone who wants to bake their own wholemeal currant buns.
Jumbo’s product listings show why ordinary and wholemeal fruit buns shouldn’t be treated as the same thing.
Lidl lists mini wholemeal raisin buns for in-store purchase.
ALDI has listed both mini wholemeal raisin buns and ordinary raisin and currant buns.
PLUS Wholemeal Rolls are an alternative bread option if you don’t need currants or raisins.
Check whether the packaging says ‘wholemeal’. According to the Netherlands Nutrition Centre, bread labelled this way is wholemeal; a dark colour, seeds or the term ‘multigrain’ aren’t a substitute for this claim.
Compare the wholemeal claim and the fibre per 100 g first, rather than relying on the product name alone. Jumbo describes its ordinary Raisin and Currant Buns as white wheat buns and lists 2.8 g of fibre per 100 g.
No, currant buns are a separate snack to enjoy while baking, not an ingredient in pepernoten dough. Albert Heijn Allerhande’s wholemeal currant bun recipe is a separate baking recipe.
Read the ingredients list on the packaging in question. According to the Netherlands Nutrition Centre, the label on packaged bread states whether it was made with bakers’ salt; don’t assume this based only on the shop or product name.
