Hot Cross Buns! Hot Cross Buns! One a penny, two a penny, Hot Cross BUNS!
Hot cross buns! These festive Easter rolls are rolling with flavour! They are made of a lightly sweetened dough, studded with dried fruit, orange zest and a little dash of cinnamon! Apparently they were created as a sweet treat to end your fasting for lent, but don’t you worry, no fasting is required to indulge in these babies!
I forgot to take a picture before taking a bite…whoopsie!
Hot Cross Buns
Yield: 6 buns (I fit them into a 10”x6” loaf pan so they would bake into one another, but use whatever pan you like, or double the recipe and it will fit perfectly into a 9”x13” pan)
Once dough is shaped, preheat your oven to 350*F
Bun Dough:
2/3 cup Milk, warm but not boiling
1 teaspoon Instant Yeast
2 Tablespoons Butter, melted
2 Tablespoons Sugar
1 teaspoon Salt
1 Egg
1 1/2 cups Flour
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
zest of 1 Orange (or if your orange is giant like mine, I just tested 1/2 of it)
Dough Fruits:
1/2 cup Dried Fruit - I used raisins and dried cranberries
1 teaspoon Grand Marnier (optional)
Cross Dough:
2-3 Tablespoons Flour
enough juice of your orange (or water or milk) to get a nice consistency, about 1-2 Tablespoons
Egg Wash:
1 Egg
pinch Salt
pinch Sugar
Place your dried fruit into a small bowl, then cover with boiling water and set to the side.
In the bowl of your mixer, combine all the ingredients of your dough - milk, yeast, butter, sugar, salt, egg, flour, cinnamon and orange zest.
Using the dough hook on the mixer, knead the dough on medium-low speed for about 10-15 minutes or until the dough comes together into a sticky ball around the dough hook. This is a pretty sticky dough, but it should be VERY glutinous in you grab it and not be sticking to the sides of your bowl too much.
Drain your dried fruits and press out any excess moisture, then stir with the 1 teaspoon of Grand Mariner if you are using it.
Now pour your dried fruits into the dough and knead for 2-3 more minutes or until they are combined.
Place your dough into a greased bowl, cover, and let sit at room temperature until doubled, about 1 hour.
Once your dough has rested, place it onto a floured counter and lightly press into circle, then cut into 6 even pieces.
Roll each piece into a ball and place into a greased and lined baking pan.
Once all the dough is in the pan, cover it with some saran wrap, and let it sit at room temperature for about an hour, or until doubled.
While your dough is resting, mix together your cross dough - combine about 3 tablespoons of flour with enough orange juice to create a pipeable consistency (you can also use water or milk for this). Place this into a piping bag or a ziplock bag that you can cut the corner off of to pipe with.
For the egg wash, whisk together your egg with the pinch of salt and sugar.
Once your dough has rested carefully glaze the buns with your egg wash.
Now using the piping bag, pipe a cross on top of each bun.
Bake in a preheated 350*F oven for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown and delicious!
Time to eat before the Easter bunny gets to them!