A bun is a small, usually sweet, bread

Bread

Bread is a staple food prepared by cooking a dough of flour and water and often additional ingredients. Doughs are usually baked, but in some cuisines breads are steamed , fried , or baked on an unoiled frying pan . It may be leavened or unleavened...

. Commonly they are hand-sized or smaller, domed in shape, with a flat bottom. A bun can also be a savory bread roll

Bread roll

A bread roll is a piece of bread, usually small and round and is commonly considered a side dish. Bread rolls are often used in the same way as sandwiches are—cut transversely, with fillings placed between the two halves.-Various forms:...

 similar to a bap or barmcake.

Basic buns are usually made using flour

Flour

Flour is a powder which is made by grinding cereal grains, other seeds or roots . It is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cultures, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history...

, sugar

Sugar

Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...

, milk

Milk

Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother's antibodies to the baby and can reduce the risk of many...

, yeast

Yeast

Yeasts are eukaryotic micro-organisms classified in the kingdom Fungi, with 1,500 species currently described estimated to be only 1% of all fungal species. Most reproduce asexually by mitosis, and many do so by an asymmetric division process called budding...

, cardamom

Cardamom

Cardamom refers to several plants of the genera Elettaria and Amomum in the ginger family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to India and Bhutan; they are recognised by their small seed pod, triangular in cross-section and spindle-shaped, with a thin papery outer shell and small black seeds...

, and butter

Butter

Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying...

. Sometimes they contain sultanas and currants

Zante currant

The Zante currant , or currant are dried berries of small, sweet, seedless grape variety Black Corinth . The name comes from the Anglo-French phrase "raisins de Corinthe" and the Ionian island of Zakynthos , which was once the major producer and exporter...

 as well, and the iced bun

Iced bun

An iced bun is a bread roll made to a sweet recipe with an icing sugar glaze covering the top . In some bakeries they are decorated as Ballet Slippers or other whimsical shapes/characters....

 is topped with an icing

Icing

Icing may refer to:* Atmospheric icing, occurs when water droplets freeze on objects they contact, very dangerous for aircraft* Aufeis, also called icing, a sheet-like mass of layered ice that forms from the freezing of successive flows of groundwater...

 and sometimes filled with jam. Other fillings do occur. Varieties of buns do exist, such as round sticky buns, currant buns or iced buns.

"Bun" can also refer to a kind of filled dumpling, as Chinese baozi

Baozi

A bāozi or simply known as bao, bau, humbow, nunu, bausak, pow or pau is a type of steamed, filled bun or bread-like item in various Chinese cuisines, as there is much variation as to the fillings and the preparations...

 and the Lutonian Halapchi.

A bun can be long and skinny, short and round, and or come in many different shapes and sizes.

In North England, a bun is also a name for small cakes, e.g. sponge buns, currant buns and butterfly buns.

To bun is also a slang

Slang

Slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used socially. Slang is often to be found in areas of the lexicon that refer to things considered taboo...

 expression for smoking marijuana.

See also

• Boston bun
  Boston Bun
  A Boston bun is a large spiced bun with a thick layer of coconut icing, prevalent in Australia and New Zealand. Traditionally the bun contained sieved potato, and modern versions sometimes contain raisins. It is often served sliced, to accompany a cup of tea. The origin of the name is unknown.In...
  
  
• Hamburger
  Hamburger
  A hamburger is a sandwich consisting of a cooked patty of ground meat usually placed inside a sliced bread roll...
  
  
• Cinnamon bun
• Hot dog bun
  Hot dog bun
  A hot dog bun is a type of soft bun shaped specifically to contain a hot dog. The original purpose of this bun was to make it possible to eat hot dogs without burning ones hands....
  
  
• Mantou
  Mantou
  Mantou, often referred to as Chinese steamed bun/bread, is a kind of steamed bun originating in China. They are typically eaten as a staple in northern parts of China where wheat, rather than rice, is grown. They are made with milled wheat flour, water and leavening agents...
  
  , or Chinese steamed bun
• Hot Cross Bun
  Hot cross bun
  A hot cross bun, or cross-bun, is a sweet, yeast-leavened, spiced bun made with currants or raisins, often with candied citrus fruits, marked with a cross on the top. The cross can be made in a variety of ways including: of pastry; flour and water mixture; rice paper; icing; two intersecting cuts...
  
  
• Saffron bun
  Saffron bun
  A saffron bun, in Swedish lussebulle or lussekatt, is a rich yeast dough bun that is flavoured with saffron and cinnamon or nutmeg and contains currants. In Sweden, no cinnamon or nutmeg is used in the bun, and raisins are used instead of currants. The buns are baked into many traditional shapes,...