Hot cross buns are traditionally made on Good Friday and in fact I made them with my daughter on Good Friday. I posted them on Easter weekend on my Instagram. But they don’t need to be limited to just one day of the year. These little sweet buns are perfect to serve with tea or coffee any time of the year. When I am baking, I usually substitute up to half of the all purpose flour with whole wheat flour. I like the added fiber and love myself a second serving because they are less guilty. This recipe is from ‘King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking’ cookbook.
What are hot cross buns?
It is believed that these soft and fluffy sweet yeast buns have been around from 14th century. The cross on top represents the crucifixion of Jesus. Dried fruit and spices are added to the dough for flavor. Hot cross buns were originally made with chopped, candied citrus peel, but they can be subbed with currants or other dried fruit (cherries, apricots, cranberries and so on).
Ingredients
The dough to make these whole wheat hot cross buns is enriched with dry milk powder, egg (I use egg replacer powder) and butter. These make the dough soft and very easy to work with. Here’s what you need to make these:
whole wheat flour - I use white whole wheat flour, but feel free to use regular. Using whole-wheat flour gives these buns a nice earthiness and makes them hearty. all-purpose flourorange juice - helps to mellow the bitterness of whole wheat flour instant yeast or rapid rise yeastcurrants or raisinssalt, light or brown sugarunsalted butter, choppedspices - ground nutmeg and cinnamon
Instructions
The process starts with soaking currants or raisins in rum to plump them up and add some flavor. Set aside. Make note that the currants are kneaded into the dough after the first rise. In a large bowl of a bowl of a stand mixer, combine all the ingredients, except for the currants/ raisins. Mix and knead until a soft, smooth dough forms. Then transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover and set aside to rise until the dough is quite puffy, about 1~2 hours.Lightly grease a 9"x2" cake pan.Gently deflate the dough and transfer to a lightly greased work surface. Knead in the currants/ raisins into the dough. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and roll them into round balls.Place the balls, smooth side up and about ¼" apart in the greased cake pan. Cover and set aside to rise for 1~1½ hours, or until they are nicely puffy and touching one another.Preheat the oven to 350°F. Uncover and bake the buns until they are light golden brown on top, about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven.Let the buns cool 15 minutes or so before icing. Don’t wait for too long, icing won’t stick to the buns.
How to make the cross on hot cross buns?
There are 2 ways of getting the cross design on hot cross buns.
Tips
Feel free to soak in water, if you do not want to use alcohol.Here’s how to bake the cross design into the buns: combine 3 tablespoons flour with 3-4 tablespoons water and make a thin paste. Then pour this into a ziplock bag, snip a corner off and pipe cross pattern on the buns right before putting them in the oven. Bake as directed in the recipe.To get a shiny coating on the hot cross buns, heat 2 tablespoons golden syrup until melted and then brush on warm buns. Let cool completely before serving.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 87. More Sweet bread recipes on the blog:
Apricot Sweet RollsSweet focaccia with dried fruitFour leaf clover rolls
